What to do if you have breast discharge

Breast disease is the most common disease among women. Some women find that their breasts sometimes discharge secretions during breast self-examination, and this is during the non-pregnancy and non-lactation period. In medicine, this kind of breast fluid discharge is called nipple discharge. Nipple discharge is one of the common symptoms of breast disease. The editor will introduce it to you below.

1. Common symptoms of nipple discharge: can be divided into physiological discharge and pathological discharge

2. Pathological discharge refers to the natural discharge from one or more ducts on one or both sides under non-physiological circumstances and unrelated to pregnancy and lactation, which may be intermittent or continuous from several months to several years. Nipple discharge mainly refers to pathological discharge. According to the different characteristics of nipple discharge, it can be divided into seven types, namely milky, serous, serous-bloody, bloody, clear water, multi-color viscous and purulent. Among them, serous and bloody are the most common, followed by milky and clear water, while viscous and purulent are less common.

1. Light yellow discharge: This is the most common type of discharge, which is seen in almost all breast diseases, with breast hyperplasia being the most common. Some of them are intraductal papilloma or breast cancer. Therefore, this requires vigilance.

2. Clear water overflow: colorless and transparent, occasionally sticky, leaving no trace after overflow. This discharge may be a sign of breast cancer and should be further investigated.

3. Bloody discharge: can be bright red, brown, light yellow, brown and other colors. This type of discharge is a dangerous signal and should be viewed with high caution. 50%-75% of these discharges are intraductal papilloma and 15% are breast cancer. If bloody discharge occurs after menopause, 75% of the time it is breast cancer.

4. Milk-like discharge: It is mostly physiological, such as shortly after weaning or miscarriage, and is not a manifestation of cancer.

5. Purulent discharge: mostly caused by duct ectasia and plasma cell mastitis.

6. True and false nipple discharge: False nipple discharge is common in people with inverted nipples. This type of discharge is mostly due to the accumulation of exfoliated cells on the nipple epidermis in the indentation, causing a small amount of liquid bean curd-like exudation, which often has a foul odor. This type of nipple discharge can be treated by using professional methods to reposition the inverted nipple out and keep the area clean. True nipple discharge is when fluid comes out of the milk ducts.

7. Multi-porous nipple discharge: The nipple has 15-20 milk duct openings. When discharge occurs, it is necessary to observe from which opening or openings the liquid overflows. It is mostly pathological, drug-induced, systemic benign diseases or breast hyperplasia. Among them, about 13% of breast cancer patients have a history of spontaneous discharge, and benign or physiological discharge is most common after squeezing. Single-hole discharge is often caused by intraductal papilloma

Breast discharge is one of the more common symptoms of breast disease, which is quite harmful to women, or it can be a manifestation of many other diseases in the body. The causes of nipple discharge can be divided into physiological and pathological ones, and severe cases can develop into breast cancer. Therefore, women should be alert to nipple discharge and not take it lightly. Of course, some women do not suffer from nipple discharge at all, but rather mild nipple inversion, as well as multi- and uni-porous nipple discharge. It is necessary to seek medical attention and make a diagnosis in time. If nipple discharge is not treated in the early stages, there are many hidden dangers.