A nipple, a cellphone camera -- and a diagnosis

Cellphone cameras are so handy, aren't they? In a bizarre little article in the British Medical Journal, doctors describe how a woman, by taking quick snapshots of her nipple, was able to provide clear evidence of the symptoms she was experiencing -- and as a result, a diagnosis was made.

The article, "Lesson of the Week: An underdiagnosed cause of nipple pain presented on a camera phone," described a 25-year-old breast-feeding woman who was experiencing extreme transient pain in the nipples. The nipples, in addition, changed color:

--First white, with tingling,
--Then blue, with a burning pain,
--Then red, with the pain fading away.

(We kid you not.)

The patient carefully took photographs of her nipples in each of these states, presented them to her doctor, and a diagnosis of "Raynaud's phenomenon of the nipple" was made. What happens is this:

WHITE -- blood vessels constrict (cut-off in blood supply leads to whiteness)
BLUE -- remaining blood in the nipples turns blue because it becomes deoxygenated, and that's the color blood turns when the oxygen in it is used up
RED -- the vessels dilate, and fresh, oxygenated blood re-enters the nipple.

This occurs when the temperature drops below a certain key level, one that depends upon the patient in question.

As the paper explains, the patient should: Avoid exposure to cold. Breast-feed in warm environments. And wear warm clothes.

--Rosie Mestel

Comments

[h]

Oxygenated blood is red. When it's deoxygenated, it is a darker red. Unless the lady is a mollusc, then her blood is also red.

Do your research.

[rocco]

obviously the author of this recap has never breastfed nor is married to someone whose ever breastfed.

--First white, with tingling,
--Then blue, with a burning pain,
--Then red, with the pain fading away.

(We kid you not.)

Who is 'we' anyway? You speak for the entire Los Angles Times?
the above bulleted symptoms are not eyebrow raising with anyone familiar with breastfeeding

[Raymond Zakhari, NP]

A dermatologic event monitor. What a great idea. Low tech but great results.

[redplanet]

This is news? I take pics all the time like that. But I don't rush to doctors like she did. Most can be researched online. It's not hard, then you don't have to overburden the medical system with common sense issues. If she had gone to sites on breast feeding she could have learned she really had nothing odd.

[Paleta Fresca]

And now our government probably wants to charge her with "sexting".