To ask a question from the medical professionals that use this forum- enlarged pores/ peau d'orange

[EmilyRosiEl]

I was just wondering whether slightly enlarged pores on the underside of breasts are considered peau d'orange or does the breast always become tight and leathery with peau d'orange?

Are there any benign causes of peau d'orange? (I'm not pregnant)

Is IBC the only form of breast cancer to cause peau d'orange?

Thank you! I know I should probably see my GP to ask this but I have an urgent referral to a breast clinic for next week and I don't want to bother them too much.

Have you ever had children? My friends mum had this and it turned out it was just a side effect of having birthed and fed three babies in her life (several years ago) and this combined with being a bit older had taken its toll and this was just one of the side effects. I don't think it's always a bad sign, try not to worry too much. My pores enlarge all over my body occasionally - it can be linked to hormones, sweat, etc. Breasts are just another body part so can be affected for innocent reasons too. Hope everything goes well for you, I'm sorry you're having this worry! Health worries are the worst things xx

I'd definitely ask at the breast clinic.

Hi Leannakate, no I haven't. I only really joined the forum to ask from people who may have experienced similar. I'm 30 still fairly young. I hope it's just something normal/hormonal :)

Thanks teanandtoast!

• to ask people, not to ask from people!

You're doing the right thing by having it checked out - there's a couple of other similar questions about breast changes on AIBU at the moment and if you read the responses you'll see the vast majority of people saying that they got sent to the breast clinic to have something similar/worrying and it turned out to be nothing. So try not to worry too much before your appointment! Breast changes can happen as a result of lots of things and even if you haven't had children your body can still go through hormonal changes. It's much more likely that it's nothing serious! I do think that health campaigns to raise awareness of symptoms are good, but they do tend to also cause a lot of panic among people who have the symptoms for a far less serious reason (of course I think it's worth it to raise awareness but I have had quite a few huge panics in my time about similar things and then been checked out to find out it was nothing serious at all). Of course you'll be worrying now but try not to let your imagination run wild and focus on the fact that it's much more likely to be nothing serious! Xx

Thank you Leannakate! Hopefully it will turn out to be benign. My thinking has definitely run away with me about this- I've not really experienced health anxiety about my own health before but have been terrified over this!

Thank you for helping!

Get it checked. Better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks Petal! It's a bit worrying but I'm going to see a breast consultant/surgeon on Wednesday so I'll know more then. I'm only 30 so I'm hoping it's not IBC but I know it can affect younger people.