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Permanently cracked, weeping nipples

27 replies

strumpet82 · 06/12/2010 09:33

Not a very nice topic I know. Blush

For about 3-4 months now, my nipples have been weeping a yellow oily substance.

At first, my nipples cracked, and then started weeping, and now the skin on whole nipple on both breasts is broken, red and weeping.

I've been to the doctor. He asked if I was pregnant/breastfeeding (no to both).

He gave me kamillosan (didn't work), then penicillin thinking it might be an infection (didn't work).

I dress my nipples with dressings, but the skin never seals itself as everytime I take the dressing off, it sticks with this oily substance and leaves them red raw again.

I've seen the nurse as well, she told me I'm using the right dressings, but nothing has helped.

Please, any advice for me?

I don't want to go back to the doctor for a third time :-(

OP posts:
ItchyTitch · 10/07/2022 20:22

I know this is a super old thread, but I came across it a year or so ago while trying to find ways to deal with my nipple problem and now I've found my own solution, thought it might be helpful to post for someone else.

I had extremely weepy painful nipples, and would sometimes notice small pus filled blisters on them (kind of like pimples). I suffer from pretty bad eczema and very dry skin, so figured it was somehow related.

My skin is also very reactive to my own sweat and this sometimes causes infected hair follicles too. I noticed that wearing non-breathable polyester bras definitely caused worse weeping and infection and clothing rubbing against them also was causing them to remain raw and weepy and they would stick to the fabric which meant my skin was damaged further when I removed my clothing. I started taping wound dressing over my breasts to protect them, but my skin would react to the adhesive in the tape and cause eczema flares on my breasts. I tried switching to breast pads, but the plastic waterproof backing caused sweating and more problems!

The doctors that I spoke to (during Covid - so just had phone appointments and had to send pictures) said it was an infection, like impetigo, the first advised wearing a sports bra or sleeping bra without seams to reduce rubbing and prescribed Fucidin H, which worked at first but then stopped working after a few days and the same happened with the second prescription of Betnovate and an oral antibiotic.

This whole thing had been going on for a couple of years and I felt like I'd tried everything (including the suggestions in the previous posts). I thought I was forever doomed to itchy, weepy, spotty nipples. Then one day I decided to try some E45 Itch cream, that I'd actually bought for a different eczema issue. I wore a fairly securely fitting sports bra, put a decent sized blob of the E45 Itch cream onto a pair of those circular flat cotton wool pads (the type for removing makeup) and just put them over my nipples, secured only by the sports bra. The E45 Itch cream contains a numbing agent, so this was very soothing for the nipple pain. After a while I began to notice a real improvement.

I'm not entirely cured, so have to just maintain this as a routine, but the improvement is seriously significant. I still get the little spots when I'm on my period, so it seems they are hormone related, but they don't spread and cause the weeping, cracking and bleeding now that I use my E45 method. The pads tend to move around off the nipple a little more now that my nipples are healed and less sticky, but doing it every day after a shower and before I get dressed still seems to keep major problems at bay.

In the beginning, when my nipples were still quite raw, I found that at night it was better to put a fresh set of E45 cotton pads on and sleep in my bra to stop me accidentally scratching in my sleep, rather than 'letting them breathe' as is often recommended, but now they're healed I can sleep topless.

If I need to wear a padded t-shirt bra (for lift and to stop nipples showing!) I will sometimes wear a sports bra with a cotton padded bra (they sell in M&S) over the top, and that seems to be okay for me now too - though I would avoid if spotty or weepy.

Sorry for the incredibly long post! I'm hoping my long long story might be helpful to someone, as I know how desperate it feels when nothing seems to work!

PurplePumpkinDream · 10/07/2022 21:49

I can’t believe GPs don’t refer to the Breast Clinic! I’ve got referred for much less and was very grateful to be seen quickly and checked thoroughly.

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