sore nipples

[SiN]

Edit - some important info I left out - this is NOT Dryness! this is like, reallly super thin skin.
I take vitamin E daily, as well as a multivitamin.
My hygiene is good and I wear bras of a variety of materials.
My soaps/detergents have varied muchly and I do not believe I am an allergy-prone person.



eh, I hope some of you can help me out here, I tried a google, and it's hard to get anything that does *not* refer to breastfeeding ...

problem : my nipples get sore and the skin where the nipple attatches cracks very easily.

they've not always been like this, but they have been funny for a couple years.
I used to have them pierced, and, for whatever reason, this started happening.
(i'd had them pierced for several years without problems)
I eventually took the rings out, hoping that my nipples would get 'happy' again.
but, even with routine handling them for cleaning (I still have to clean the piercing holes out occasionally) the skin can crack ..

and, as I've recently found out, any actual sexual touching of them does not work well, after only a short while they're a painful mess.

the cracked areas leak a bit of clear fluid (you know, the kind of stuff that bodies tend to ooze out when skin is broken).

aaaaanyways - anyone experience this before? Any ideas of what I can do to prevent this?
healing is pretty straightforward - clean and neosporin.

but I cannot stand being so fragile.

advise, pl

ease, wonderful ladies?

[amonkie]

Are you using Really hot water when you shower? If it's like any other kind of really dry skin that can't heal, the hot water probably isn't helping. Your skin needs lubrication to stay healthy - have you thought about taking any Vitamin B, E, or fish oil supplements?

[Meditrina]

When I was nursing my son, I had problems with cracked nipples. I know you are not nursing, but maybe you can use what I used anyway. I used Lansinoh, it is 100% Lanolin. It helped heal the cracks and kept them from drying out and cracking again.

I hope you can find something that will help clear this up, I know how painful it can be.

[maleficent]

are you sure it's not an allergic reaction to something? Laundry detergent, soap, etc...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by maleficent

are you sure it's not an allergic reaction to something? Laundry detergent, soap, etc...

this is a good point... could be allergies...

Also, allot of women don't realize that they might need to actually lotion their breasts... i tend to have very dry skin, especially in the fall/winter months,which was causing some cracking on my nipples... so i always lotion my breasts/nipples after i shower and that has fixed the problem.

Do you apply lotion to your breasts? if not, i would suggest trying it and see if it helps.

Sweetpea

[snowy]

I apply Nivea creme to mine to keep them happy...otherwise they start getting dry, flaky, and cracky during the winter months. Keeping them well-moisturized works wonders.

[Grasshopper Green]

Sportswidow beat me to it...Lansinoh is the best. I'm sure any good moisturizer would work, but lansinoh is good because it doesn't have any chemicals/fragrances in it (which is why it's recommended for breastfeeding mothers). A tube of it will last a very long time, too.

[hunnychile]

Tea Tree Oil is your friend. It's totally organic and heals everything.

Good luck. Also do you wear nylon bras? Perhaps cotten for a while will make you feel more comfortable during the healing process. poor baby!

[5757]

Oooh. Tree oil sounds good. Sin - I have a question about the piercings - sorry it's off subject. I hope you don't mind.

Anyway, when you got your nipples pierced, did it change the shape of them? You know when your nipples arent hard, they are soft. . . so with the rings or bars in, were they always hard? I don't mean to be so off subject, I was just thinking of having it done.

As far as the dyrness, something I use if I have a 'dry' prob is bag balm. You can find it in any drug store. I know it's kind of strange to think of using something on your body that farmers use on cows boobies, but it works!!
Comes in a green square tin, red writing on the outside of the tin.

Even if it's not dryness, bag balm would be good as far as a preventative measure ensuring that the cracks will stay away!!

[SiN]

no, no, no, and no edited my original post also ...

HEALING is not a problem. NOR is DRYNESS.

PREVENTION - that is the problem.

(sorry if I sound a bit short right now, I'm just busy ...)


what I'm thinking/wondering .. is if this could be some sort of chronic fungal infection? or something else weird like that?

also considering that the pain/cracking is only where the nipple is attatched to the areola. so, that is where any moisture would be likely to collect ... and things breed in warm moist areas...

is this making sense?

and, if this could be the case, hunnychile, you could be spot-on with the tea-tree, I'm aware of it's antifungal properties, and may very well give that a try. and, a fungal infection could be lingering in the old piercing holes.

I'll probably also get some of that Lansinoh stuff, as that intuitivly sounds nice and soothing right now.

so yeah, thanks for the replies, lovelies! It all helps, even if i'm kinda cranky right now

[amonkie]

Who wouldn't be cranky feelin not so good in that really sensitive place ...

only other thing I could think of as a preventative measure would be anything that might help stimulate skin growth so that it's NOT so superthin, hence my vitamin question. Sounds like you are doing that already, this sight might be helpful: (it's promoting a skin regenerative product)

http://www.skinbio.com/breasts.html

Copper-peptides are used clinically for wound healing and for skin healing after laser resurfacing and chemical peels. They help stimulate the skin's regenerative processes which repair the skin's protective outer barrier, increase new capillary formation (angiogenesis), increase the production of collagen and elastin which improves skin elasticity and firmness, and the increase the water-holding proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that hold moisture in the skin and are the only "true" moisturization of skin. They also activate the skin's system (called metalloproteinases) that removes damaged proteins such as in scars and sun damage marks and reduce the skin’s production of the scar producing factor, TGF beta.

[*Nikki*]

I am thinking it is a fungal type infection.

[noodle]

I'm terribly allergic to lanolin, so if you have sensitive skin, try it elsewhere first! You can also check with a dermatologist and have them swabbed to find out for sure, but there is a product that thickens and strengthens the skin... I cannot for the life of me remember the name, dangit. I just know it's rx only and used especially for people that have areas that are tortured so much that they don't heal enough to form a callous. You don't want a callous on your nips.

Does the neosporin work if you keep using it after the cracks already heal? Sometimes the antibiotic creams can work really well proactively to keep the skin clean and supple while the previously cracked areas strengthen without tearing again. Subcutaneous fluid is there to keep the skin supple from the inside and promote healing, that's what's leaking out. Avoid peroxide and alcohol to clean them as well... aim for the tea tree oil or witch hazel which won't dry any thin skin out. Arnica cream/gel will stimulate blood flow to the area and promote healing (usually used for bruising, but I put it on an incision on the really fragile skin on the side of my foot that tore all the time once it closed up and it healed faster than anything else). Good luck, SiN... we're all feeling for you.

[raeanna74]

Sounds fungal to me. I got thrush (fungus/yeast/whatever you want to call it) on my nipples while breastfeeding. They cracked and oosed clear fluid from the cracks - not the milk I was producing. They recommended that I ...
1. put Clortrimazole cream on my nipples at least three times a day
2. walk around without my bra or anything on top if I could to let them be exposed to the air and dry, and
3. use Lanolin (or lanisoh) as often as I wanted.
4. use a mild soap for washing.

I was rid of it in about a week and I was nursing that whole while which meant that in theory it could have healed faster otherwise.

The rest of the advice here all sounds great, including the tea tree oil and arnica. I believe there's another fluid that you can apply called blue gentian - it will stain your clothes though if you get it on them. Read up on it. It's a natural antifungal.

[SiN]

sorry i've not gotten back to this earlier.
it's been a crap week, and it has nothing to do with the nipples.

they've been doing ok, the soreness from the open cracks was gone earlier in the week, but they're still oozing a bit of fluid.

anyways, I'm glad i'm not way off base with the fungus suspicion.

i finally (remembered to) buy some tea tree oil today, just put some on there.

@ raeanna, thanks especially for your advise, i've been trying to go braless around the house more, as much as I hate it ...

if the tea tree works, great, if i need something stronger i'll get some Clortrimazole cream (I'm assuming it's OTC). Haven't gotten any lanolin stuff, forgot to look for it at Target today.

anyways, i'll report back when i notise some improvement.

They're probably going to be .. um, manhandled again this weekend, and i know they will still suck, but hopefully by the following weekend i'll notise some improvement.

thanks bunches ladies, I appreciate all of you

[raeanna74]

I forgot to mention that the time when I got the fungal infection on my nipples was AFTER beginning nursing and developing cracking nipples due to poor latch. A fissure in the skin is an opening for fungal infection to take hold more quickly. Which would stand to reason that since you had the piercings it took hold.

The Clortrimazole cream is marketed as atheletes foot cream. You could get Lamisil too possibly but Clortimazole is milder. Clotrimazole is a fungistatic - does not allow the fungus to grow. Lamisil is fungicidal - kills the fungus.

The Lanolin/Lanisoh I had to as the pharmacist for but did not need a prescription. For some reason several pharmacies I know keep that behind the counter.

Good Luck.

[snowy]

I buy my clortrimazole in dual packs at Costco because it's a very good all-around anti-fungal to have on hand (treats yeast infections like a charm, AND it's WAY cheaper than Monistat or other OTC treatments). Highly recommended--my mom used it to clear up a fungal infection on her knee from an old indoor soccer injury and my dad uses it for athlete's foot. Very multipurpose and easy to find

Hope it helps you, SiN