Hi, 

I'm 32 (almost 33) and I've just been referred to a breast clinic. Roughly for the last year and a half I've noticed that when my right nipple is soft the areola bulges out on one side. I went to the doctors back in February 2021, had a breast exam by my GP and she said she wasn't concerned as she couldn't feel anything. I got her to look at a photo of what I was on about as pretty much as soon as cold air hits my nipple it goes hard and then the bulge practically disappears and it looks normal. She had a quick glance at it but still said not concerned so I left and tried to put it out of my mind. Since then, now 10 months on I am obsessing over it again as I've began to notice a sharp pain and burning sensation on that breast towards my nipple too that comes and goes. The bulge when my nipple is warm and soft seems slightly bigger and even when my nipple is hard I'm now noticing that it protrudes ever so slightly more than the other one. I went back to the doctors and saw a different GP this time who gave me a much more thorough check over and she said I do have quite lumpy breasts. She was very kind and made a point of saying she couldn't personally feel any thickening or lumps in particular that she was concerned about and said that having naturally lumpy breasts can be totally normal but as I've also noticed this change in my areola she would refer me to the clinic and it would be a two week wait. This was back at the end on November and the earliest I've been able to book an appointment is 7th of January which, considering how long I've had these symptoms for now, isn't really much longer to wait but I am driving myself crazy with worry now. I have 3 young children, the oldest of whom has a brain tumour and is disabled and I'm just getting myself in such a flap over it now worrying that I have cancer and won't be here for them. 
 

I guess my question is does anyone else have any experience with these kinds of symptoms? When I have (extensively) googled things comes up about herniated nipples, tuberous breasts which I don't think I have when I compare mine to other pictures, and Gynaecomastia which actually seems to most fit my problem with the areola looking "normal" when it's hard and puffy when it's soft but then Google says this condition only affects men?!  Not sure whether it's worth mentioning but I breastfed all my children but this started about 3 years after I finished feeding my youngest. I have had a bout of mastitis in almost the exact same place where this bulge appears but I'm not sure if that is coincidental and there's no painful lump or redness etc and I can't actually feel a specific lump, if I try to gently pinch the bulge it feels very soft and then as I say practically goes away as soon as my nipple hardens up from air or any stimulation. 
 

thank you for reading, sorry my post is so long! Huge thanks to anyone who might reply x