Lump Around Nipple

[Shive75]

Hey everyone,

This morning as I was showering, I noticed tenderness and what felt like a sort of lump around my right nipple.  Later on, during some spare time at work, I looked around on the web for some info about what it might be, and managed to work myself into a low level panic over it.  After calming down, I have decided to wait until early next week, see how it is, then make a doctor's appointment if it hasn't gone away.

Any thoughts on what it might be or if waiting until next week is an all right thing to do?

Thanks

[CCF-RN,MSN-rf]

Dear Shive75:  Because the lump is tender - and most breast cancer is not painful - it is quite possible that this is a cyst or some other non-cancerous problem.  Waiting a week may be a reasonable thing to do as long as it doesn't get larger.  If you are worried, you may want to schedule an appointment anyway - if only for peace of mind.  If you decide to wait a week and this doesn't go away, you should see a doctor to have it evaluated.

[surgeon]

there's no point in an online guess, really: without feeling it, knowing your age and hormone status, etc it's only a wild guess at best. However, it's safe for any newly appearing lump to wait a week or two to see if it goes away, especially in a woman who is premenopausal. It's ok to see if it goes away after finishing a period. But ANY persisting lump needs evaluation.