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Avatar universal

Male self exam

Hi everyone.

I have been studying my body a little more closely recently and just had a question mainly about my right niple.
Most of the day I notice it is erect and looks normal (I think?) although I can see a faint line on it when erect. However , on occassions it shrinks and the nipple becomes inverted or restricted (I don't know the right term) but basically it has an indentation on the nipple . This normally occurs later on in the day and I wake up with the invertion/restriction but normally after about an hour it is erect again.
I feel a slight sensation in my breast but not sure if it is because I am thinking about it constantly.

Sorry if it is a silly question as I don't want to waste peoples time.

Please can someone kindly give me your feedback on this. I don't know if my right nipple has always done this or not. My left nipple invertion/restriction is hardly noticable but it is still there.

I am male , 36 years old.

Many thanks
5 Responses
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Avatar universal
Hi many thanks for your reply and sorry to hear about your dads b.c. I will get it checked out by the doc as soon as I can although getting an appointment at my docs here in the UK is like winning the lottery!

The weird thing is although flat my wife doesn't think it is properly inverted. (That is why I mentioned it above) does the whole nipple need to be invered as mine isn't it just goes fairly flat and has a thin horizontal line with a little dip / trench if you know what I mean.This also does not happen all the time just part of the day and normally when I am sitting or laying down. Sorry but it's difficult to describe and doesn't really look like other pictures on the internet of nipple inversion. Then again I can't find any pictures of males.

The other thing is that normally my wife would jump on something if she thinks I have anything wrong and send me to the docs but this time she certainly doesn't seem over concerned. She has a friend with breast cancer and said my nipple looks nothing like her friends.  

Anyway we decided I should go because it's best to be safe.

If anyone else has an info about this I really would appreciate as I do get anxious!!

I really don't know much about Breast cancer (certainly male b.c) and other cancers but I am becoming aware and send all my best wishes and regards to everyone on this forum.
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Avatar universal
Hi - I just wanted to encourage you to do as the doc here suggests and have it checked out.  Breast cancer is rare in men but there is a great deal of science suggesting the reason for this is not that men do not get bc at the same rate as women but that they are not screened until it is too late.  My father had bc and you are correct about his age, approx. 62 - it was discovered after an accident (he was putting up a fence and stepped on the shovel and it hit him in the chest - when the pain let up and probably because of it he was aware of a small lump that didn't receed with the rest of the trauma).  When it was discovered it was already Stage II - and yes he was in his early sixty's..   He had almost 15 years of life before he died from bc..


That all being said you might be spared his ordeal if you have this checked out and it is in its early stages..  He is Irish and my experience with the relatives in Europe is that they were not as forthcoming with other relatives and their cancers!  However I finally see that there was just too many cancers of the hormone kinds in the family..  I had a breast MRI at 52 (suggested because of my father's and family history) and was found with early stage 0 bc.. very very treatable and the outcome is almost total remission.. so get on it and take care of this now.. It might just turn out to be a hormone thing as men are just as suseptable to hormones as women..

Good luck and I hope this is just the normal eb and flow of life and our bodies!

Best
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Avatar universal
just to add my nipple seems to go like this when I am lying down or resting. When on the move and I check everything seems to be normal
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Avatar universal

Thanks for the information doctor. I know this may sound strange but I really couldn't tell you how long I have had this in my right nipple. I noticed about a week ago when I was lying down and was having a good old look over my body. I didn't take too much concern over it because the next time I looked it was back to normal. Over the last week or so I would say that 80/90% of the time I am awake the nipple looks normal and is erect. As I said it always seems to start to soften in the evening (like it is now) and then it has a horizontal line with a dip in it. I have the same line and dip ( which you can just make out) in the left one as well but it is very very small. It is not the whole nipple which is retracted or inverted just the horizontal line through the middle with what I call a dip in it. Is this the same thing?

I read it is rare in Males particulary in young to middle aged adults.(I am 36) Do you agree with this or know different? I am from the UK and no one in my family that I know of (except my father who has a skin cancer) diagnosed when he was in his early 60's.

Sorry for all the questions and I can't thank you enough.

By reading this do you think there is a real cause for concern then? If it was cancerous would it mean that I was at an early stage because I don't have other symptons or doesn't it work like that.

I appreciate all your feedback as soon as you can. I know that you are busy.

Many thanks again

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Avatar universal
Hi,
The most common sign of breast cancer for both men and women is a lump or thickening in the breast. Often the lump is painless. Other male breast cancer symptoms include:
Skin dimpling or puckering ,development of a new retraction or indentation of the nipple, changes in the nipple or breast skin such as scaling or redness ,nipple discharge .
From when have you been noticing this change in your right nipple?
You need to get it evaluated by a surgeon.After a clinical examination you may have to get a mammography done. A mammogram uses a series of X-rays to show images of your breast tissue. This test may be even more accurate in men than in women, because men don't have dense breast tissue that can make it difficult to distinguish abnormal from normal tissue or breast cysts.
ref:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/male-breast-cancer/DS00661/DSECTION=6
I would suggest that you get it checked, even if it turns out to be nothing serious you will at least be rid of your anxiety regarding the issue.
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