Judy,
Yes, it is possible that mom "retracts" from allowing a full latch
in anticipation of discomfort.  I usually point out to a mom who has
damaged nipples that even when we correct what caused the damage,
there may well be some residual discomfort until they heal.  I tell
her to ask herself if it feels like pain from what's already there
or is baby adding to the pain.  There should be at least some
improvement in how it feels once baby is latched effectively.  I
tell her this residual discomfort will be the worst the first few
sucks and she may have to resist the understandable tendency to move
a little more slowly when bringing baby on to breast.  I suggest she
run an ice cube over her nipple just before latching.  This will
"dull" the nerve endings enough to get her past that initial
discomfort.
We have just started using hydrogel dressings for those moms who
present with damaged nipples.  Of course, this is in addition to
working on correcting whatever caused the damage in the forst
place.  The moms LOVE them and often come back for more if they are
not fully healed before it needs replacing.  There are 2 kinds on
the market made especially for nursing mothers.  We use the
"Maternamates" primarily because we were able to get those first.
We currently have a couple moms (with bilateral fairly equal damage)
using that one on one side and the "Soothies" that we got as samples
on the other to see if one ia any better than the other.  Not an
organized research, just a casual "let's see if there's any
difference" approach.

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