Female breast structure

The breast structure of female friends is relatively complex, and there are many tissue systems inside. Therefore, the breasts need special protection. Only by taking good care of your breasts can you avoid causing some breast diseases. After all, the incidence of breast diseases is relatively high now, mostly due to inflammation inside the breasts. Therefore, you should keep the local breast clean and hygienic to prevent bacterial invasion.

External structure of the breast: The nipple is composed of dense connective tissue and smooth muscle. The smooth muscle is arranged in a circular or radial pattern. When there is mechanical stimulation, the smooth muscle contracts, causing the nipple to erect and squeezing the ducts and lactiferous sinuses to discharge their contents. The skin of the areola has hair and glands. The glands include sweat glands, sebaceous glands and mammary glands. Its sebaceous glands, also known as areola glands, are large and superficial. Their secretions have the function of protecting the skin and lubricating nipples and baby's lips.

The mammary gland is located between the superficial and deep layers of the subcutaneous superficial fascia. The superficial fascia extends into the breast tissue to form lobular septa, one end of which is connected to the pectoralis muscle fascia. The other end is connected to the skin, fixing the mammary gland in the subcutaneous tissue of the chest. These fibrous connective tissues that support and hold the breast in place are called suspensory ligaments. The deep layer of the superficial fascia is located deep in the breast and is connected to the superficial layer of the pectoralis major fascia by loose tissue. It allows the breast to be relatively fixed while having a certain degree of mobility on the chest wall. Sometimes, part of the breast gland can penetrate through the loose tissue into the superficial layer of the pectoralis major muscle. Therefore, during radical surgery for breast cancer, the pectoralis major muscle fascia and muscle should be removed together.

1. Position and morphological structure: Breasts are underdeveloped in children and males, and the breasts of adolescent women who are not breastfeeding are hemispherical. Located at the height of the 2nd to 6th ribs, between the superficial and deep layers of the superficial fascia, on the surface of the pectoral fascia, extending from the parasternal line outward to the mid-axillary line. The breasts contain milk glands and fat. The mammary gland is divided into 15 to 20 lobes by connective tissue, and each lobe is divided into several lobules. Each gland lobe has a lactiferous duct, which is arranged radially with the nipple as the center and opens at the nipple.

When draining a breast abscess by incision, radial incisions should be made to avoid cutting the milk ducts, and attention should be paid to separating the connective tissue intervals to facilitate drainage. There are many fiber bundles perpendicular to the skin in the connective tissue between the glandular lobes, one end of which is connected to the skin and the superficial layer of the superficial fascia, and the other end is connected to the deep layer of the superficial fascia, which is called the suspensory ligament of the breast or Cooper's ligament. Because the two ends of the ligament are fixed and cannot stretch, breast cancer causes depression in the skin there. There is a gap between the deep layer of the superficial fascia and the pectoral muscle fascia, called the retromammary space, which contains loose connective tissue, fat and lymphatic vessels. The latter collects lymph from the deep part of the breast. Breast cancer can metastasize to the deep part from here. When inflammation occurs in this space, it tends to spread downward, so low incision and drainage should be performed.