any thoughts or advice out there?

any thing you can give me for advice would be greatly appreciated, as stated, sore breasts, roughened skin, more around the areiole along with black discharge also, some form of growths around the aeriola (however you spell this word!!) WOW, 46 and still have trouble spelling!! just bare with me! I appreciate any and all help, knowledge you can give me, as you can probably tell this is my first time doing anything like this! thank you, gilleygirl

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

There can be several causes of this soreness, rough areola skin and black discharge.  The first reason is a condition called papilloma of the breast which is a benign condition that can cause nipple discharge which are usually bloody or blackish.  Another is infection of the areola and underlying breast tissue with bacteria or fungi.  Paget's disease, though uncommon can also explain the condition.  However, for any of these conditions, malignancy should always be ruled out.  I suggest you take this to your doctor for proper examination, and he may request imaging studies like mammogram or ultrasound.  If he thinks it is an infection, then he can administer the proper antibiotics.  Regards and God bless..