What to do if it hurts when you touch your nipples

The problem of nipple pain is relatively common in clinical practice, and there are many reasons that may cause people to experience nipple pain. In addition to some physiological reasons, the factors that need to be considered at this time also include the impact of disease factors. The measures for dealing with nipple pain caused by different reasons are also different, and need to be considered in combination with the actual situation. So what should you do if it hurts when you touch your nipples?

1. When the nipples are exposed to cold or touched, the nipples become hard due to increased hormone secretion. At this time, slight pain and discomfort may occur when touching the nipples, which is a normal physiological phenomenon. During the breastfeeding period, incorrect breastfeeding habits may also lead to nipple cracks, which are acute inflammatory changes and cause nipple pain when touched. Local disinfection and application of erythromycin ointment can be used for symptomatic treatment. When suffering from cystic breast hyperplasia, the pain worsens before menstruation. When severe pain occurs, it may spread to the nipple, and the nipple will hurt when touched. For example, when suffering from acute mastitis, it may cause local infection of the nipple, and purulent infection of the nipple will cause the nipple to become red, swollen, hot and painful, and the nipple will hurt when touched. Multiple factors can cause the nipple to hurt when touched.

2. Nipple pain when touched can be divided into physiological factors and pathological factors. Physiological factors mainly refer to excessive force of touch, which causes acute damage to the nipple, redness and swelling of the nipple, accompanied by severe pain. Pathological factors mainly refer to nipple fissures or acute mastitis. During lactation, nipple fissures are caused by incorrect breastfeeding posture, and the nipples show acute inflammatory changes. When the infection spreads further, it can lead to diffuse breast infection, with redness and swelling of the breast accompanied by severe pain. Touching the nipple at this time can cause the pain to worsen.

3. If you have persistent nipple pain, you need to pay attention to the possibility of breast mass, especially if it is accompanied by nipple bleeding, orange peel-like changes or depressions in the breast skin. You need to rule out the possibility of breast cancer. It is recommended that you go to the hospital as soon as possible to complete breast color ultrasound or mammography examination, and surgical treatment if necessary. If your nipple hurts when you pinch it, excluding physiological factors, you should immediately go to a regular hospital for a breast ultrasound examination to identify the cause of the pain and actively treat it, which can usually be cured. In daily life, you should also eat a light diet and avoid eating too much spicy and irritating food. At the same time, wash your nipples and keep them clean.