I had a breast biopsy last October (2008) which, thankfully, came back negative.  I did have a marker inserted at the site of the biopsy and had an uneventful recovery. 

About two months ago (September 2009) I began noticing pain in the area of my breast where the marker is located.  It feels much like a bruise but has not gone away with time.  I have not contacted my physician as I just had my yearly mammogram and reported these pains to the radiology staff at the time of my x-ray and thought I'd wait to see the results.  They have since come back negative and the pain is still there and growing worse.

I plan to call my gynocologist and ask for a follow up.  There is definately something wrong.  Why it is happening a year after my biopsy and the insertion of the marker, I have no clue, but I will not let this rest until the pain is gone.

Good luck to you and please let us know what happens, as I will you...

I am sorry to hear that you have developed this pain. I hope for your sake it does not continue to get worse.

I ended up suffering for an entire month before finding any help. I was unable to get out of bed due to the pain. I was unable to perform my daily activities, work, school etc. If I did not take the pain medication I was perscribed I would literally wail out in pain and not even be able to stand up, even with the medication I would still be in severe pain to the point that I would vomit, I could only keep Pedialite down many days and was confused and groggy from the medicine. Beyond the pain though, I just began to fell ill. My overall well being was suffering.

In four weeks I saw 11 doctors. My Primary Care Physician was convinced, as well as I, that the marker was what was causing me the pain. The problem was that some of the doctor's I saw wouldn't even consider that it could be the clip. Flat out denied that it could even be possible. The doctor that inserted the clip was one of them, so she was of no help in my recovery. Eventually I was able to find multiple doctors who said that it could be the clip; sighting the days when no one believed there were latex allergies etc. After having a couple of different breast specialist that felt it could be the clip, or at the very least, that it shouldn't be ruled out, I fould a breast surgeon that was willing to remove it. I had the clip removed and felt better that very day. I had a little discomfort where the incision had been made to remove it, but I had no pain in my breast at all. Also, I had been medicated on narcotics the prior weeks just to control the pain and I have had to take since was a few tylenol the day after the surgery. It has been 1 week since the surgery and I am dong well and returning to work tomorrow.

The doctor who removed the clip said that she had only had one other patient in 18 years who had a reaction to the clip. However, the nurse I worked with during my wire locailzation said that she had two  patients. My point is that it does happen, and I think all too often it is dismissed. Also, do not believe that if it is the clip you would definitely have a rash on the outside of your skin. I didn't have a rash, and the dr. & the nurse said that none of their other cases had a skin rash either.

Unfortunately, I think I had to suffer as long as I did because the doctors will want to go through the process of ruling everything else out first; which on one hand I can understand-- but when you are the one with the pain you don't want to waste time with doctors who are just going to dismiss the possibility of it being he clip.

I wish you luck. You know your own body and if you believe it is the clip than I would go to as many doctors as it takes to find someone to help you. For me, when the doctors didn't have any reasons they could find for the pain I would say, why are we dismissing the clip if you don't have anything else to go on? Just remember that pain is a product of something else, an infection, reaction etc etc-- if you have pain there is a reason; and you just have to keep going till they find out what it is.

I have read some heatbreaking stories on here about women who have been suffering for 5 months etc wo believe it is the clip causing the pain but their doctors have told them it's not possible....just know you are not alone if that happens to you at first.

Good luck with everything. I will be thinking about you. Please keep me up to date on how you are doing.

kindly tell us the name & office address of your doctor who took out your clip. Thank you in advance. 

I had a biopsey almost 5 mo ago..had pain and a infection for over a month. I still get sharp stinging pain and always have a soreness that is like a constant aching in that breast. Nobody believes me that it might be the markers..all was well..no cancer..thank God..but this daily soreness keeps going on every day.  Finall got a Dr who is going to do an ultra sound..hope they find out what is causing this pain 

Although we can all be thankful for the medical science that makes detecting benign/cancerous lumps, etc. it is extremely stressful. I had biopsies done about a month ago and was totally stressed out and in pain off and on during the procedure, despiter having been able to use relaxation techniques in the past to get through painful situations. While the staff was very supportive they didn't seem to know what to do or think about the level of pain I was feeling. In the past, I have had a moderately high level of pain tolerance and also healthy awareness and intuition about what was going on in my body. When the titanium marker was inserted, I experienced sharp pain when the tissue was taken for biopsy and two of the biopsies were worse than the other two "clips" or whatever the right terminology is. In the past week or so I have begun to have pain in my breast at the site of the marker? or one of the needle biopsy areas. It feels like a deep bruise at times; other times it feels like a pinching sensation in my breast, localized to one of the biopsied areas. I will be discussing this with my doctor during my next visit.of course. I read an article recently about the high level of stress associated with repeat test, waiting for results, etc. I know from being a counselor/therapist that stress levels affect pain levels and pain levels then add stress, but the pain from the site, post reports coming back benign is still there, so stress isn't the only factor obviously here. I feel for everyone going through this. If I can get the word out there about the need for additional information and research in this area, I will. There has got to be a better way to help women with the psychological effects of these procedures. Ironically, I had no pain in my breasts prior to the biopsies/marker being put in. My pain is not as severe as what you are reporting. I hope things go well for you and that you get the answers you need about the clip removal. Best wishes to you in resolving the situation.

In July 2010, I had a biospy on my left breast and have had a strange feeling that something was left in the area.  I would feel a sensation of pain shooting up from the core of where the biospy was done.  I talked to a few ladies and one said maybe the surgeon left a marker in your breast.  "Marker" what is that?'  I immediately called the hospital to speak with the surgeon in September 2010 and told her my concerns about the pain and if there was a marker inside that I want it removed.  I was assured that if I am having pain, it is the cancer growing.  The marker was placed so that when I decide to have the lump removed the surgeon would know when it is located.. She also said that if the lump reduced in size, the marker stay in as an indicator of  it original location.  I was also assure that the marker was made of stainless steel and it will not turn or cause me any  health problems.  What I failed to mentioned was the on going itching body, by body itch including my hair.  I also experienced feeling dizzy while sitting.

I never gave much thought to my body since the biopsy, but here is what I have been experiencing:

1.  pain

2. itchey scalp and skin (I never had this problem before HONEST)

3. body temperaure feel hot (when i take my temperature it is normal, no it is not hot flash, I was able to manage the hot flashes by changing my diet, but since the biopsy I feel like by body has changed for the worse.)

4) headaches (before the biopsy, when ever I got a headache which was rare, I always knew why, because I some type of stress and was able to manage.  But now I do not know why the pain comes on so frequently.

 I was also feeling pressured about having my breast remove before the surgeon when on vacation. I had a second opinion at a well known hospital and the surgeon suggested not to take drastic measures of total removal but try reducing the lump and the first doctor said it measured 6 an and when the surgeon ran test the lump was smaller.  I really want to have this metal removed as soon as possible because i feel my health is at risk due to the symptoms I have never had until after the  biospy.  Thank you.

I had a needle biopsy because of suspicious calcifications in my right breast. When I had my needle biopsy I almost came off of the table because of the pain. It has been almost a month and I am still having pain in my breast. I am just wondering since I felt the clip left in my breast if the doctor did something wrong. I wish there was some information regarding this.

I am having the EXACT same problem.  Have had 2 breast biopsies (core and excisional over the past 6 weeks), and developed a hard  painful lump after each one.  I am going in this Wed (6/15/11) to have the 2 surgical stainless steel markers removed (they're not titanium) since I can't think of anything else that could be causing this horrible, debilitating breast pain.  I tested positive to nickel and cobalt this week, 2 products I've learned are in the surgical steel.  Would love to know if removing these will solve my pain, since my doctor remains skeptical, having never seen this before.