NIPPLE DISCHARGE IN WOMEN

 

Nipple discharge is any fluid or other liquid that comes out of your nipple. 

     Nipple discharge is common during your reproductive years, even if you’re not pregnant or breastfeeding. Discharge is usually not 7serious. Still, it can be a sign of breast cancer, so it’s worth seeing your doctor about.

TYPES AND SYMPTOMS

     Nipple discharge comes in many different colors. 

1) COLOUR: White, Cloudy, Yellow, or filled with Pus.

POSSIBLE CAUSE: An infection of the breast or nipple.

2) COLOUR: Green

POSSIBLE CAUSE: Cysts 

3)COLOUR: Brown or cheese like

POSSIBLE CAUSE: mammary duct ectasia (blocked milk duct).

4)COLOUR: clear

POSSIBLE CAUSE: breast cancer, especially if it’s only coming from one breast.

5) COLOUR: Bloody

POSSIBLE CAUSE: papilloma or breast cancer

Some other symptoms you might have with nipple discharge include:

⚫️Breast pain or tenderness

⚫️Lump or swelling in the breast or around the nipple

⚫️Nipple changes, like turning inward, dimpling, changing color, itching, or scaling

⚫️Redness

⚫️ Breast size changes, such as one breast that’s larger or smaller than the other

⚫️Fever

⚫️Missed periods

⚫️Nausea or Vomiting

⚫️Fatigue

CAUSES

When you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, small amounts of milk might leak out of your breasts. The leakage can start early in your pregnancy, women who aren’t pregnant or breastfeeding may have discharge as well.

Other causes of nipple discharge include:

◾️Birth control pills

◾️Breast infection or abscess

◾️Duct papilloma, a harmless wart-like growth  in your milk duct

◾️Drugs that increase levels of the milk-producing hormone prolactin, such as antidepressants and tranquilizers

◾️Excess stimulation of the breast or nipple

◾️ Fibrocystic breasts

◾️Hormone changes during your period or menopause

◾️Injury to the breast

◾️ Mammary duct ectasia, a blocked milk duct

◾️Prolactinoma, a noncancerous tumor of the pituitary gland

◾️Underactive thyroid gland

◾️Breast cancer

You may also have one or more of these tests:

1) BIOPSY: The doctor removes a small sample of tissue from your breast to check it for cancer.

2) MAMMOGRAM: This test takes X-ray pictures of your breasts to help the doctor look for cancer.

3) DUCTOGRAM: This test uses mammography and an injected contrast material to make pictures of the milk ducts inside your breasts.

4) ULTRASOUND: This test uses sound waves to make pictures of the inside of your breasts.

Your doctor will also likely do a urine or blood test to find out whether you’re pregnant.

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