spidergrrl
09-07-08, 16:47
Don't you hate it when you manage to get two unrelated incidents within several days of each other? Because somehow you convince yourself that if it goes away after a day or two, it'll be okay, but then if something happens in the same area, it MUST be __________insert fatal disease here__________.
About a week ago, I swapped razors for a cheaper kind and got some beautiful razor burn under my left armpit. Ouch! But that was okay, I've felt that enough times to not really care! :D Later on that week, I got a bumpy thing just under the surface of the skin and it hurt a little and felt really like a pimple (one of the lurking kind under the skin, not a blackhead or what have you). I showed hubby and he very seriously felt it (I praise a man who can feel his wife's armpits without giggling!) and said he thought it felt like it was VERY close to the skin and it looked irritated to him. Between my new workout regime, changing deodorant, and the razors, I was okay enough to wait a couple of days to see if it went away. I switched back to my old deo (no aluminum) and used a better razor and tried to wear shirts that didn't rise up under my arms too much (you know the kind that have a sort of cap sleeve that tends to rub against the under arm).
So it went away. Hurrah! It was completely gone for three days. Then I worked out again last night and I woke up this morning with a sore armpit. There is no lump that I can discern, even I squish around near my nodes. I have to be careful of that, because squishing anything around can lead to pain, which I of course will assume is from something else entirely. So, I gently felt around and felt nothing at all except that if I push in at the very bottom of my armpit, it hurts a little. It also hurts if I squeeze my arm into my side and contract those muscles.
I have a new plan of action for myself that I MAKE myself use if I start to think I have some sort of overnight debilitating or fatal disease. If I am assuming that it's something bad (the very worst it could be), then I must also try just as hard to assume it's the very least it could be. So now I'm coming up with things it could be (and they're actually pretty good arguments, I think):
1. I worked out and sweated like a madwoman last night, so it could just be irritated again.
2. There's no lumps or bumps, BUT my tendons and muscles (particularly the pecs) in that area are tight and sore (both sides, but more on the left), which I'm assuming could definitely cause pain.
3. I took two aspirin under the assumption that it might be inflammation of the muscles and/or tendons and it helped a bit.
4. I sort of doubt I'd develop one of the more unusual signs of breast cancer (pain) overnight.
5. My sports bra is too small. That, I think, is going to be the culprit. I usually wear a tee or a sports bra that fastens in the back, but last night I wore an over-the-head model that rode up a bit and I'm betting the part that went round my arms dug into that already-irritated-though-healing armpit.
6. Both armpits look exactly the same.
7. I have no other ill health. No fever, no loss of appetite, no nothing.
Side note: I did change BCP last week and it's a different sort of hormone. Could that cause anything, do you think? I have previously been on that kind, but they had a shortage and I had a different type for about a year and a half.
Anyway, I am FORCING myself to assume the best and wait two days to see how it is. If it's the same or worse, I will make an appointment. This is the only method I can take to keep myself from going bonkers. I know that I have the ability to call the doctors and sometimes I do sit thinking, "I know I'll be calling him in two days!", but it makes me feel better, like I'm humoring myself. And then if it's better, I can just relax about it and be glad.
About a week ago, I swapped razors for a cheaper kind and got some beautiful razor burn under my left armpit. Ouch! But that was okay, I've felt that enough times to not really care! :D Later on that week, I got a bumpy thing just under the surface of the skin and it hurt a little and felt really like a pimple (one of the lurking kind under the skin, not a blackhead or what have you). I showed hubby and he very seriously felt it (I praise a man who can feel his wife's armpits without giggling!) and said he thought it felt like it was VERY close to the skin and it looked irritated to him. Between my new workout regime, changing deodorant, and the razors, I was okay enough to wait a couple of days to see if it went away. I switched back to my old deo (no aluminum) and used a better razor and tried to wear shirts that didn't rise up under my arms too much (you know the kind that have a sort of cap sleeve that tends to rub against the under arm).
So it went away. Hurrah! It was completely gone for three days. Then I worked out again last night and I woke up this morning with a sore armpit. There is no lump that I can discern, even I squish around near my nodes. I have to be careful of that, because squishing anything around can lead to pain, which I of course will assume is from something else entirely. So, I gently felt around and felt nothing at all except that if I push in at the very bottom of my armpit, it hurts a little. It also hurts if I squeeze my arm into my side and contract those muscles.
I have a new plan of action for myself that I MAKE myself use if I start to think I have some sort of overnight debilitating or fatal disease. If I am assuming that it's something bad (the very worst it could be), then I must also try just as hard to assume it's the very least it could be. So now I'm coming up with things it could be (and they're actually pretty good arguments, I think):
1. I worked out and sweated like a madwoman last night, so it could just be irritated again.
2. There's no lumps or bumps, BUT my tendons and muscles (particularly the pecs) in that area are tight and sore (both sides, but more on the left), which I'm assuming could definitely cause pain.
3. I took two aspirin under the assumption that it might be inflammation of the muscles and/or tendons and it helped a bit.
4. I sort of doubt I'd develop one of the more unusual signs of breast cancer (pain) overnight.
5. My sports bra is too small. That, I think, is going to be the culprit. I usually wear a tee or a sports bra that fastens in the back, but last night I wore an over-the-head model that rode up a bit and I'm betting the part that went round my arms dug into that already-irritated-though-healing armpit.
6. Both armpits look exactly the same.
7. I have no other ill health. No fever, no loss of appetite, no nothing.
Side note: I did change BCP last week and it's a different sort of hormone. Could that cause anything, do you think? I have previously been on that kind, but they had a shortage and I had a different type for about a year and a half.
Anyway, I am FORCING myself to assume the best and wait two days to see how it is. If it's the same or worse, I will make an appointment. This is the only method I can take to keep myself from going bonkers. I know that I have the ability to call the doctors and sometimes I do sit thinking, "I know I'll be calling him in two days!", but it makes me feel better, like I'm humoring myself. And then if it's better, I can just relax about it and be glad.