Nipple piercing reaction or breast cancer concern?
I have had quite the scare the past few months. In early august I got nipple piercings in both breasts. After around 3 months I noticed a strange lump under my areola on the left breast. It was round, movable, and sort of squishy. The skin around my breast appeared normal at this time. The lump seemed to grow and shrink depending on the day and was painless and nontender. It worried me for a bit but I had difficulties setting an appointment due to Covid and insurance conflicts. I finally had an appointment set for a checkup for last month which was then canceled due to my provider being “unavailable". Since it was a small lump and very movable under the skin I didn't think too much of it - assumed it was a cyst and just decided to “wait it out" (bad judgment I know)
Since then my mysterious lump has…popped? I'm really not sure what happened. I woke up one morning and the lump was gone but the area felt tender. Over the next few days a bruise formed under the skin and it appears like fluid is trapped under the skin. This bruise has not gone away since it appeared roughly in mid December. The skin around the bruise is often dry and flaky. Some days the bruise looks worse than other days but it never fully disappears. Some days there seems like there is fluid trapped under the skin and other days it seems flat and simply bruised. The “edges" of the bruise feel a bit more firm than surrounding tissue. I once again have an appointment set for Jan 20 but Covid has made this ordeal such a nightmare. The bruise is right next to my areola and is about an inch and a half in diameter
I am only 24 and have no history of breast cancer in my family. I am wondering if this is more likely a reaction to my piercing or if it can be something more.
Comments
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Hi Jillian
Given your young age, and you have nipple piercing recently, chances are that it is not breast cancer. It could be reaction, infection in that piercing area. Of course, it’s best if you got it checked out by your doctor. Jan 20 is around corner, so hopefully you will be just fine0 -
Jillianavra, welcome to BC.org! We are sorry that you are experiencing these changes and they are causing you concern. We second what tntnsd says. Breast cancer is not a common diagnosis at your age. Nevertheless it is important for the health and wellbeing of your breast to understand what's going on, so we're glad you finally made an appointment. We hope that you will quickly learn the cause of your bruise and that it will not be attributed to cancer.
Please come back and let us know how it goes!
Best wishes,
From the Mods
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