Scared. Could I have IBC?

[Diskid86]

I am a 31 year old female, no kids, with a family history of traditional breast cancer. Early last month I noticed a red bump on one of my breasts that I thought was a pimple, but it didn't have a head. After a couple of weeks it hadn't gone away. I started examining it and found it had what looked like an "eye" in the center, going down into the lump. I squeezed it and got a small amount of pus out of the eye. I was relieved to believe it was a pimple, but after another week or so it still hadn't gone away. I squeezed it again and got a small amount of oil. After that it started to seem to be getting better. The area where the red bump was is now not raised or bump/lump like, but I can still tell where it was as the former area of the bump is now a black/blue and looks like a tiny bruise. However, when my cycle started this month I noticed redness surrounding the now purple spot. Sometimes it itched, sometimes it didn't. After a couple of days into my period the redness went away. Sometimes throughout the last week the redness would come and go. I wasn't that concerned since it wasn't constant. Now that my cycle has ended the redness is back (and hasn't gone away yet), and I was horrified to find when I took my bra off to shower earlier that the area I've had redness issues with now also has thickened skin. The thickness is only confined to the area that is red, which surrounds the purple dot where the former bump was and is a little larger than a quarter. The purple dot is relatively small, maybe the length of my fingernail. The dot and red area is a few inches above my nipple. This has all taken place over a period of about a month and a half. I'm horrified because I can't find anything online with thickened skin on the breast being anything but IBC; I was hoping maybe I had some kind of infection of something (even though with no kids I'm not breastfeeding). I will note that I do have a good bit of loose skin on my breasts due to weight loss, so I'm not sure if this could be a factor of skin issues. Could anyone give me some peace of mind that maybe this isn't IBC? Can anything else cause localized thickening of the breast skin besides IBC? What do you think this could be? (I don't mind hearing any ideas, even if you do think I'm looking at IBC - I really just want some thoughts of possibilities as to what this may be.) Regardless I'm calling my OB/GYN tomorrow for an appointment

[made2b2gether]

hi. Before you just to any conclusions, best is to see a breast specialist. They can diagnose you and do a needle biopsy if necessary. Either way, the sooner you have it looked at, the sooner you will know if it is merely a rash or a dermatological issue or if it is indeed IBC. You should have it looked at. Have them do a Visual check, a breast exam by hand, and an Ultrasound and a Mammogram. A specialized doctor will recognize IBC or at least doubt it simply by looking at it. So before you panic or search so much on the web, alleviate your fears by seeing a professional at the earliest. It could be nothing, and the web is not a source to self diagnose.

Wishing you luck and relief after you meet with a breast specialized professional at a major health center / hospital.

[Aildaly45]

Hi I was dignoised with IBC on october 1st 2015

The first appt i had at the breast clinic dignoised an infection and gave me antibotics which helped a little when i was back for my 6 week check up the doctor doing the ultra sound noticed my skin was thickend and sent me to the main consultant he did a biosopdy and i have stage 3 grade 3 bc

A 10cm tumor dignoised by an mri

I have recovered now and am back at work

I had 2 mammograms and both times nothing showed up

My breast used to get very hot i had pian and my nipple was interverted

Ask for a biosopy and scan and breast mri make sure of a correct dignoised

Good luck

Aileen

[Nixh]

Hi, totally agree with other posts, you need to go and see a doctor. You're making the area sore and bruised by squeezing and prodding and even if there's nothing there you could cause an infection which is very painful.

I know how worrying family history is (mum and 2 maternal aunts died of bc) and looking back I probably should have seen the signs something wasn't right with mine before I was diagnosed but the fear is huge as you've seen first hand the consequences. Have to say though that the unknown is far worse than the known,

Have my fingers and toes crossed for you that it's just a pimple or cyst 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Nix x

[carolinenailsea]

Of course you must be very worried. As the ladies say, go to see your doctor asap. Hopefully its nothing sinister but you need to know what is causing it . Good luck Caroline xx

[MarinaMama]

I hope that you have had a biopsy by now or have somehow put your mind at ease. I was recently diagnosed with IBC, I had a punch biopsy of a lesion (they looked like bug bites at first) and a core biopsy following an abnormal mammogram. Good luck to you!