I was terrified of having this done as heard it was very painful.  My sister had breast cancer the same time as me, she had her surgery before mine so was honest when she told me it was extremely painful.   She's a nurse and was amazed that there was no numbing of the nipple area.  She advised me to buy Emla cream over the counter to stop the pain.  She was absolutely right, thank goodness for her.  I applied the cream about an hour before and covered it with cling film - I would recommend you buy the proper plaster to cover the cream as it was a bit messy and I got in a panic that it wouldn't work.  

It worked a dream - I didn't feel a thing!!  I asked the nurse who administered the injection why they didn't use Emla cream before, she said it was purely down to cost!  I was horrified.   Ladies please, do yourself a big big favour, get some Emla before your injection and I promise you, you won't need to worry about it.  I also watched some posts on U Tube on how to apply, just to make sure I got it right, but it's not rocket science.

I just felt bad for my sis, who had a horrible experience and she's a Specialist Nurse!