How to treat, prevent abnormal breast discharge

How to treat and prevent abnormal breast discharge are healthy tips that will help you manage fluid leaks from your nipple in one or both breasts. It’s most common in women in late pregnancy and immediately after childbirth. Nipple discharge happens for many reasons. Most of the time, there are normal, harmless reasons why women have nipple discharge even when they aren’t pregnant or lactating. Hormones, lactation, or sexual arousal can be normal causes of nipple discharge. Abnormal causes could be from tumors, infection, or rarely, breast cancer. But Nipple discharge in men is always abnormal.

Signs of normal and abnormal breast discharge

A normal nipple discharge comes from several milk ducts and is usually a thin, cloudy, whitish, or almost clear fluid. However, the discharge may be in other colours, such as gray, green, yellow, or brown. The discharge comes from both breasts and occurs only if you squeeze your nipples.

Abnormal discharges vary in appearance depending on the cause. It might happen from squeezing the nipples or breasts. Or it might happen on its own, called spontaneous. The discharge comes through one or more of the ducts that carry milk. The color of your nipple discharge typically depends on the cause. For example, yellow discharge indicates an infection, while greenish brown or black may suggest mammary duct ectasia. Also, the fluid might look milky, clear, yellow, green, brown, gray, or bloody.

And if there’s an infection in your breast, your nipple discharge may contain pus. Also, the breast swells and feels tender, painful, and warm.  Similarly is the redness of the skin, most often in wedge shape, and enlarged lymph nodes in the armpit on the same side.

Common causes

The texture or consistency of nipple discharge may point to the causes. So depending on the causes, nipple discharge can be thin, thick, or tacky like glue. However, since nipple discharge is rarely a sign of something serious, like breast cancer, causes of harmless nipple discharge include:

• Hormonal imbalances or changes (like during menstruation or menopause).
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding (chestfeeding).
• Medications, including birth control pills and some antidepressants.
• Noncancerous cysts.
• Nipple stimulation or friction from clothing.
• Sexual arousal.
• Injury to your breast.
• Stress.

Diagnosis

Healthcare providers diagnose nipple discharge with a physical exam and discuss your medical history. Tests they use to identify the cause of the discharge include:

• Imaging: Your provider may order tests like a mammogram (breast X-ray), ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help them find a cause.
• Biopsy: If a physical exam or imaging tests show an abnormality, your provider may take a sample of breast tissue for further testing.
• Hormone blood test: Your provider takes a blood sample to measure thyroid and prolactin levels.
• Ductogram: Your provider injects a contrast dye into your milk ducts and then looks at your ducts with a mammogram.

Care and treatment

Treatment for nipple discharge depends on the cause. Your treatment may involve:

• Change or stop a medication.
• Remove a lump or cyst.
• Take out a milk duct.
• Go on medications like antibiotics for breast infections.
• Treat the condition causing the discharge.

If there’s no apparent cause for your nipple discharge, you may not need any treatment. Leaving your nipples alone and not squeezing them may be the only treatment. Your healthcare provider may recommend a follow-up exam or mammogram to be sure.

Prevention

You can stop or reduce your breasts from discharging by avoiding repeated breast stimulation. For instance, avoid stimulating the nipples during sexual activity. Don’t wear clothing that causes a lot of friction on your nipples. Use breast pads to absorb nipple discharge and prevent it from seeping through your clothing.

When to call a doctor

It’s important to have a doctor examine your breasts and determine the cause of any nipple discharge. For instance, whether new nipple discharge, lasts longer than a few weeks or the discharge:

• Leaks from one breast only.
• Happens without breast stimulation.
• Bloody or pink?
• Develops in a man or boy.
• Occurs in women over 40.
• Comes with lump, redness, or breast pain.

Conclusion

One of the good news about how to treat and prevent breast discharge is that nipple discharge is usually not cancer, and shouldn’t be cause for worry. But it can be a sign of an underlying medical condition so it’s always a good idea to check it out. A doctor will examine your breasts and run any imaging tests that may be necessary. Also, monitor how to treat and prevent breast discharge, including your symptoms, and discuss treatment for nipple discharge with your doctor. However, in most people, nipple discharge goes away over time or with the right treatment.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/smelly-dischargehoto