I had two lumpectomies in December and January. I had DCIS which had become invasive but the area of invasion was 4mm. Lymph nodes were checked and cleared in the second op.
I had radiotherapy ending 5th April
in the last few weeks my nipple has become increasingly sore and tender and feels solid and almost rubbery. I have very little skin sensation there. But it is tender inside and feels solid.
im not sure if this is to be expected or is worrying … is it just a side effect of radiotherapy
Hi Dolly,
It could be a side effect of radiotherapy.
I had 2 weeks of radiotherapy last December and a few weeks after my nipple was very swollen.
I used Aveeno moisturiser on it twice a day and it healed in a few weeks.
If you are worried you should speak to your breast care nurse. I always feel guilty when I have to call them for my worries because I don’t want to bother them, but really that’s what they are there for. They can then tell you if there is anything else that could help it heal.
Take it easy,
Katie x
I too finished 5 days radiotherapy in April and now have a painful nipple! To start with I had very few side effects - I even wondered if they’d actually turned the machine on!! It’s only in the last few weeks that my nipple has been feeling constantly sore and painful, with sort of odd shooting pains and tingles radiating from it into deeper in my breast. It’s nothing too painful to need painkillers but it’s just rather wearing…by evening it’s uncomfortable to wear a bra - and even more uncomfortable not to! It feels completely different when touched to my other nipple and I’m wondering if I’ll ever get my old nipple back!? I haven’t wanted to ring anyone as I’m not in a lot of pain and I was just assuming it was recovering from radiotherapy, it’s interesting to hear you’re having a nipple problem. Have you been able to get a bra that doesn’t rub and that supports?
I really identify. In the end I went to see a nurse practitioner on the breast care team … convinced they were going to say my nipple, which is still bluish grey from the dye, feels like hard rubber (though I have no feeling in it it feels like hard rubber to the touch) and is seemingly dead, had to come off! She said it is lymphoedema which also explains the distended pores over much of the breast.
Considering it has no feeling it aches and yes, gets worse during the day. I am having to wear a decent sports bra in bed again (I’m a large booby girl) as it aches. Apparently I will be referred to the lymphoedema clinic but they don’t like to see people until at least 6 months after radio as the breasts are still changing.
it looks disgusting which doesn’t worry my, my page 3 days are long gone, feels disgusting and hurts a fair bit. The nurse wasn’t at all worried.
Sorry to hear that you are both having pain as well and that you have lymphoedema.
I went to the breast care nurse as well. She did a thorough examination and my pain is fibrosis which is scar tissue from radiotherapy. The swelling is lymph fluid, but because mine swells and then drains naturally they think it’s not lymphoedema.
Although the nurses had told me the pains were normal when I spoke to them on the phone, it wasn’t until I went and got it checked out that I could relax and stop worrying.
I still get pain and swelling but it doesn’t worry me now.
I hope that the pains ease for us all.
Keep in touch
Katie