Nipple Sensation 1+ year after Lumpectomy

Flygirl652

had a lumpectomy in April 2017, and had some weird sensations after surgery. My surgery site would vary from being numb to having an aching pain. The numbness and/or pain would radiate from the incision site to my nipple. This eventually faded and went away, but I have had an altered nipple sensation ever since.

It's to the point now that I don't like for the nipple to be touched at all, because it really just feels weird and uncomfortable. Which is obviously a downer when I want to make love to my partner, who has been wonderfully patient and supportive,but I've reached my own limit with this.

Has anyone dealt with this before, and do you have any tips or tricks to either get the old, pleasant sensation back, or adjust to this new one? I was expecting after a year that this would have gone away.

Moderators

Hey Flygirl

The boards can be a little slow over the weekends so we're bumping the topic for you and hope others chime in with their experiences

beach2beach

Hi,

I had a nipple sparing dbl mastectomy. They told me I may or may not regain sensation, but nerves regenerate. Im almost a year out. I have regained much sensation, and I'll be honest, some pain with too much play but I had a total mastectomy..so it is certainly different than your situation. I'd still expect to give it some time. In answer to your question, I guess I'd say I've adjusted to these new feelings, but I go along as much as I can as I previously did. Who knows, you may find it does get better with more time.

Flygirl652

Thanks for sharing your experience. I certainly didn’t have as much done as a mastectomy, but nerves are nerves. Luckily I don’t feel pain, just ‘different,’ which varies between no feeling, too much feeling, and tingling (sometimes with fire) with no rhyme or reason.

I had marked a year to see what happens because that’s when I reached ‘peak healing’ as it were, after my Mohs surgery for skin cancer. I haven’t had any new nerve improvement after a year with that one, and it’s been 5 years now. So I’m thinking I may be stuck with what I got

I really wasn't expecting any nerve damage to come from my lumpectomy, given the location and relatively small size of the tumor. But I also had a military doc, so I guess I got what I paid for 🙄. Too bad this one can’t be solved with some Motrin and water...