When women are recommended to conduct regular self-examination of the mammary glands, special attention is called to draw on the allocation of them. Because the presence of this indicator can be a symptom of various diseases, because the norm of excretion from the mammary glands are only for nursing mothers.
What does the discharge from the breast mean?
Only the doctor will be able to say what the discharge from the breast means and prescribe the treatment, but it is not always required. In addition to the terrible diagnoses that imply long-term treatment, discharges from the mammary glands can speak about the peculiarities of the functioning of your body. For example, for many women, clear secretions from the mammary glands (uninvolved and unstable) are considered normal and do not indicate any pathology. There are also frequent discharge from the breast during late pregnancy, this colostrum is formed due to the active preparation of the mammary glands for the forthcoming lactation. But if a woman is not pregnant, and there are discharges and do not pass by herself, then an appeal to a mammologist is mandatory.
Discharge from the mammary glands: causes
That the doctor could determine the causes of the appearance of secretions from the mammary glands, it is necessary to tell as much as possible about their nature. Excretions from the breast are white, brown, purulent, bloody, dark, yellow, green. Also, the discharge from the mammary glands may not have a color and be transparent. Isolations are distinguished not only by color, but by viscosity - dense, watery or completely liquid. Also, when going to see a specialist, you need to think about when there are discharge from the chest (with pressure or arbitrarily) and about the presence of additional symptoms - chest pain, temperature, headaches, visual impairment. After examination and further research the specialist will diagnose. The most common causes of the appearance of discharge from the chest are the following diseases.
- Ectasia of the milk ducts. With this disease, inflammation occurs in one or more ducts. The discharge from the chest in this case is sticky, thick black or green. Ectasia occurs most often in women aged 40-50 years.
- Galactorrhea. This condition is caused by an excess in the body of the hormone responsible for the production of breast milk. The secretions are usually milky, brownish or yellow in color. Also galactorrhea can be caused by hormonal imbalance due to oral contraceptives, a pituitary tumor, or a decrease in thyroid function. In addition, the galactorrhea can develop with constant stimulation of the mammary glands.
- Intra-flow papilloma. This is a benign tumor located in the milk duct. Intra-flow papilloma is often observed in women 35-55 years. The reasons for its occurrence are unknown, although there is an opinion of the onset due to stimulation of the nipple. With papilloma, there is often a discharge from the breast of the blood.
- Mastitis, which passed into an abscess - a cluster of pus. Also, an abscess can form in nursing mothers due to infection in the crack on the nipple. In this case, the breast often hurts and increases in size, discharge purulent. There may also be a fever and redness of the skin.
- Breast Injury. In this case, the allocation occurs spontaneously and is yellow, bloody or transparent.
- Fibrocystic mastopathy. Allocations are yellow, green or transparent. The disease is very common - about half of all women suffer from this disease of varying severity.
- Mammary cancer. Allocations may have a different character, but bloody spontaneous secretions from only one breast should be especially alert. In this case, urgent consultation mammologist. A special form of breast cancer is Paget's disease. It is not common, 1-4% of all malignant tumors of the mammary glands. Symptoms other than bloody discharge are itching, redness, burning, peeling of the nipple skin and areola, the nipple can be drawn inside.