Bruised-feeling nipples and weird bump 18 mths in

[gotadifferentnamenow]

This feels like a collection of disparate stuff but perhaps it's all related. Help, please. :(

I went back to work a week ago. Until then 18mo had been with me all the time and nursed v frequently (every 2hrs ish). He's now away from me 7hrs a day 5 days a week and has adapted just fine - as, I thought, had my boobs; they're full rather than empty by the end of day, but never painful or properly engorged. He feeds a lot in the night still.

The last couple of days, both nipples have felt very bruised. I can't see any obvious change in latch or position but he is definitely teething. (When is he not teething, though?)

This morning he bit me really badly and when I looked at my breast, I saw a small - smaller than peasize - lump on the areola. Not sure if caused by bite or there already.

Any ideas at all what's going on, and whether I can fix?

Bump.

Can't decide whether to try to hand-express the bump assuming it's a plugged duct (which I am obv mindful of as a possibility given rapid reduction in feeding frequency), or leave well alone assuming it's from the bite.

How are you doing now? My DS (18 months) is teething and My nipples get manhandled when this happens.

Thanks for the reply. Definitely a plugged duct and fairly stubborn too! Would be much easier if he'd stop biting though. Last night I started thinking about weaning for the first time and I'd always imagined we'd be going for 3+ yrs. :(