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Discharge from the mammary glands
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Allocations from the mammary glands - of different colors, consistency - are a fairly common reason for contacting a doctor-mammologist.
The release of fluid can occur from one or two glands at the same time, which is a very unfavorable symptom and signals the appearance of a serious pathology requiring medical advice.
Causes of the discharge from the mammary glands
The causes of discharge from the mammary glands can be natural and pathological, that is, they are a sign of a disease.
Ectasia of the milk canals more often affects women of 50 years of age, representing some age-related changes in the dairy pathway under the paranasal region. The disease is accompanied by a deforming violation of the canals and concomitant signs of the inflammatory process. Ectasia is characterized by densification and retraction of the nipple, as well as the appearance of a different color discoloration.
Intra-flow papilloma is a benign oblong dense formation that forms on the inside of the nipple. Usually accompanied by a transparent or hemorrhagic discharge from the mammary glands. In the main disease, women older than forty years of age are affected.
Galactorrhea - the allocation of breast milk milk, regardless of whether a woman is pregnant, whether the child is feeding, or not. Sometimes pathological galactorrhea occurs even in men, which is associated with a violation of the hormonal balance in the body.
Traumatic lesions of the breast can provoke spontaneous discharge, depending on the severity of the injury and the nature of the damaged tissues.
Abscess - purulent inflammatory process in the gland tissues, which appeared as a result of penetration of an infectious agent. May occur with weakened immunity or with nipple cracks during lactation.
Fibrous mastopathy - is a hyperplasia of the lobate structure of the breast, in which the appearance of excretions of different intensity is possible.
Malignant neoplasms can also provoke the appearance of secretions, depending on the structure of the damaged tissues.
Where does it hurt?
Forms
Green selection
If you notice a green discharge from the mammary glands, then, most likely, it is a sign of the development of mastopathy, a fairly common disease among women. Consistency and intensity of discharge can be different, color - from gray-green to yellowish. Such discharges appear along with a symptomatic symptomatology characteristic of the disease: the presence of compaction in the chest, heaviness, a constant feeling of pressure in the mammary glands.
In the above situation, you should always consult a doctor and take a series of tests for the content of certain hormones in the blood (progesterone, estradiol, prolactin).
Green discharge during mastopathy can appear by themselves, or with a slight squeezing of the sucking area. It does not matter, a lot of fluid is allocated in this case, or a little. The appearance of excreta is already an occasion for mammary gland examinations. In time, diagnosed mastopathy is cured without any problems, most importantly - do not run the process and follow all the prescriptions of the doctor.
Transparent selection
Transparent discharge from the mammary glands can not always mean a pathological process. This kind of secretion is a natural biological response of the body to any provoking factors: getting a chest injury, psychoemotional and stressful situations, monthly cycling of hormonal changes. The liquid to be separated can consist of the smallest microorganisms, lymphadenosus, cell fragments. The healthy nature of clear discharge from milk ducts should not have a smell and cause unpleasant sensations in the patient, and also be accompanied by other signs of changes in the mammary glands (soreness, the appearance of seals, an increase in the nearby lymph nodes).
Sometimes this symptom is manifested as a result of a dull traumatic lesion of the breast - as a result of stroke, bruise, and fall. In such a situation, the liquid is prone to self-flow, in some cases acquiring a transparent yellowish color.
Yellow selection
Transparent yellow discharge from the mammary glands may not pose a danger to the body, although it is still worth a survey.
Milk-yellow discharge may be an early sign of pregnancy. In this state it is quite normal and natural phenomenon. The yellowish liquid of sweet taste and watery consistency is produced by the activity of the hormone prolactin and appears individually in different periods of pregnancy: a week or two after conception, during the second trimester from 19-20 weeks, or immediately after the birth of the child. At the initial stage of development of excretion yellow, in later terms can be discolored. They contain lipids, proteins, minerals in their composition.
The hormone prolactin can provoke the appearance of secretions that are characteristic of pregnant women, practically in any person, even in men and girls. This is due to the increase in the level of this hormone in the blood, which is revealed by the method of taking tests and is easily suppressed by the appointment of inhibitors of prolactin.
Isolation of liquid
The allocation of fluid from the breast must necessarily alert if there is a concomitant symptomatology, such as:
- constant or periodic soreness of one or both glands;
- the appearance of itching in the nipple area, visual changes in the parotid zone, the appearance of a vascular pattern;
- violation of the symmetry of glands, changes in contours and shape, as well as the color of the skin.
At the slightest suspicion of the development of the pathological process, it is necessary to consult a mammologian doctor who will examine the breast and, possibly, prescribe additional diagnostic methods, including the study of the secreted fluid.
If you feel suspicious discharge from the milk ducts during pregnancy, you need, without delay, to seek advice from a mammalogist or your gynecologist in time to prevent the possible development of serious pathological processes in the mammary glands.
Do not try to forcibly squeeze out fluid from the ducts, this can trigger the appearance of microtraumas and the attachment of a bacterial infection.
Brown selection
Brown discharge from the mammary glands can signal a slight bleeding in the milk duct, mainly as a result of vascular damage. Such violations can be caused by both growth of oncological formations and a more innocuous manifestation of the cystic form of mastopathy.
Cystic mastopathy is a benign dyshormonal pathology of the mammary glands with the concomitant development of fibrous cysts in the chest. Allocations in the disease can be brownish-green or grayish-brown, without any admixture of blood.
Differential diagnosis of the causes of brown discharge should also take into account the age of patients, because many diseases are formed in a certain life period. For example, brown discharge in a woman of fifty can talk about the development of ectasia of the milk canals: in this pathology, there may be brown discharge from the mammary glands with a characteristic adhesive consistency.
Finding brown discharge from the milk ducts, make sure that there is no hemorrhagic (bloody) component in them.
Bloody issues
Bloody discharge from the breast is one of the most formidable and dangerous signs, signaling most often about the formation of malignant formation, or benign cystadenopapilloma of the milky duct. The danger is that sometimes a completely innocuous papilloma can be transformed into a cancer tumor. Therefore, visiting a doctor with such a symptom is extremely important, first of all, to exclude the theoretical possibility of oncological etiology of the disease.
Particularly alarming should be the release of blood from only one gland, especially along with its apparent increase. Also, women who did not give birth, or who gave birth after 35 years, fall into the risk zone.
Occasionally, spotting can also occur in pregnant women, especially the first-born, and in early pregnancy. This is a kind of reaction of the body to a significant hormonal reconstruction. However, in this situation, the survey should not be abandoned.
White selection
White discharge from the mammary glands in most cases serves as a sign of galactorrhea. The increased production of estrogens gives a stimulus to the synthesis of the lactotrope hormone prolactin, which, due to its functional orientation, promotes the production of milk by the mammary glands.
In the stage of gestation of the child or breast feeding this is a natural phenomenon, and in such situations the white allocation of pathology is not considered. However, when the production of fluid in the milk ducts of the mammary glands of the patient has nothing to do with pregnancy, or lactation does not stop, and six months after the end of breastfeeding, it is recommended to consult a specialist.
Unfortunately, not only an excess of prolactin can cause the development of galactorrhea: it is the pathological processes in the hypothalamus, the pituitary system, diseases of the sexual and urinary systems, endocrine disorders of the thyroid gland function.
There is also a term such as "idiopathic galactorrhea" when there is no clear reason for the appearance of excreta.
Dark selection
Dark discharge from the mammary glands can have a different character and be a sign of many pathological conditions, it is impossible to diagnose the disease by only coloring the secretions. It is necessary to visual and palpatory examination, preferably supported by the results of laboratory diagnostics.
Often, the dark color of the discharge gives the presence of blood in the substance, especially if there is a black and dark brown discharge. This is a negative sign, often signaling the development of a benign or cancerous growth in the mammary gland; however, in order to confirm or refute such conjectures, it is necessary to pass all the necessary tests, to undergo examinations that the doctor will prescribe (especially with bloody discharge).
Dark green discharge can be observed with various forms of mastopathy (more often with fibrocystic form), as well as inflammatory phenomena in the mammary gland, complicated by the addition of pyogenic infection.
Light selection
Light discharge from the mammary glands, which have no connection with pregnancy, are called galactorrhea. A clear liquid, without a smell, emerges from the two glands at the same time. But before treating the increased level of prolactin (the primary cause of galactorrhea), it is necessary to discover the very cause of this destabilization. And this can be as the reception of contraceptives, uncontrolled treatment with estradiol preparations, and the pathology of the thyroid gland or oncological disease in the pituitary.
Long-existing high levels of prolactin in the body have a detrimental effect on the functional capacity of the ovaries, potentiates infertility, or provokes spontaneous abortive conditions in the first trimester of pregnancy. There are also facts about the involvement of increased production of prolactin in the formation of brain tumors.
Taking into account all of the above, one should think about the importance of a timely visit to a doctor for diagnosing possible diseases.
Bloody discharge
As we already mentioned earlier, blood discharges from the mammary glands can be a sign of tumor processes in the ducts, as the tumor, expanding, compresses the vessels, causing internal hemorrhages in the milk ducts. Malignant formation tends to germinate and destroy the mammary gland's vasculature, which can also provoke multiple or single hemorrhages in surrounding tissues and canals.
Most often, bloody discharge is detected with intra-flow papilloma.
Papilloma - a benign tumor in the mammary gland, covering the lumen of the milky canal. The causes of the formation of papilloma - a violation of hormonal balance in the body.
It is necessary to take into account the possibility of the appearance of blood secretions from the mammary glands in the immediate trauma of the chest: in the presence of hematomas and hemorrhages in the tissue, the blood can partially reach the milky canals. When diagnosing pathological discharge, the patient must necessarily inform the doctor about the injury received the day before.
Sticky selection
Thick and sticky discharge from the mammary glands is the most characteristic sign of ectasia of the milky canals. This pathological condition is more likely to affect women of elderly age, on average from 50 years, which can become an important link in the correct diagnosis of the appearance of secretions.
Ectasia is the formation of age-related changes in the lactiferous canals (all kinds of deformations, dilations or narrowing of the ducts) located under the pigmented sucking region directly near the nipple. Deformation of the milk canals can lead to their blockage, which is extremely favorable for the development of the inflammatory process in the mammary gland. The appearance of thick and sticky discharge is usually accompanied by a significant compaction of the paranasal zone and a noticeable retraction of the nipple. The secretions, in addition to consistency, can have a completely different color, from yellowish-green to dark and even black.
Pathological dilatation of ducts can affect one or both mammary glands.
Black selection
Black discharge from the mammary glands can be observed during the ectasia of the milk ducts, when bacteria, microbes accumulate in the deformed lumens, which provoke the development of an inflammatory reaction. Black color is due to the presence in the detachable substance of the pathogenic flora and products of its vital activity, dead and weakened cells.
However, it should be borne in mind that, more often than not, the black color of the discharge signals about the presence of blood elements in the substance, and the black or dark brown color is given to the discharge by the dead red blood cells. And the blood in the separated can talk about possible tumor processes in the gland tissues, especially if the secretions are present only on one breast. Such a symptom may be a concomitant sign of an intra-cellular or invasive cancerous tumor.
Getting blood into the milk ducts is a pretty bad sign, so if you see any suspicious symptoms, you should immediately contact a qualified specialist, preferably a mammologist.
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Purulent discharge
Purulent discharge from the mammary glands is characteristic for inflammatory processes with the addition of suppurative complications. The most common is a purulent abscess, which often accompanies the lactational postpartum period, or occurs against the background of infection of the cystic formations of the mammary glands.
An abscess is an inflammatory purulent focus in the dairy channels, which appears as a result of infection in them, more often through long-term non-healing cracks on the nipples. Purulent discharge is nothing else than blood serum, a lot of dead leukocytes and the remains of destroyed epithelial tissues.
Purulent discharge contains a large number of bacterial flora: most often it can be streptococcal, staphylococcal or enterococcal infection. Allocations, as a rule, are accompanied by pain during palpation, swelling and reddening of the tissues of the parotid region. This disease is also characterized by an increase in body temperature and marked leukocytosis in the blood.
Diagnostics of the discharge from the mammary glands
Qualified diagnostics of discharge from the mammary glands should be expanded, including the collection of anamnesis, the delivery of laboratory tests and numerous hardware methods of examination. Let's consider them in more detail:
- palpatory method - palpation of the mammary glands for the presence of seals, skin lesions, deformities or swelling of tissues;
- external examination - is carried out from various angles, special attention is paid to the color and condition of the skin, the presence of asymmetry in the contours of the breast and the expansion of the subcutaneous blood vessels; it is also mandatory to examine closely located lymph nodes;
- method of biopsy - is carried out mainly in the detection of seals and tumorous formations in the chest to determine their good quality;
- method of mammography - chest radiograph on the mammogram, allows to exclude the development of cancer tumors;
- method of duktography - used to detect intra-pathology (ectasia, papillomas, etc.); provides X-ray examination with the introduction of contrast medium in a certain milk channel;
- method of thermography - is used rarely, it allows to determine the presence of formations in the mammary glands;
- The method of ultrasound diagnosis is a frequently used and sufficiently informative method, supplementing the picture of the radiograph.
Cytology of secretions from mammary glands
The cytology of the secretions from the mammary glands is a study of the bacterial and cellular component of the intra-flow fluid. The method of cytology involves taking a smear-print from each nipple to be separated, and then sowing the resulting sample of the material on a dense or liquid nutrient medium.
In the process of growth of pure bacterial cultures, their generic and species affiliation is determined.
Purulent discharge is usually cytologically represented by a large number of leukocytes, macrophages, plasma cells, as well as necrotic and structureless elements.
Bloody discharge has in its composition red blood cells, a smaller proportion of leukocytes, plasma cells, and sometimes papillary structures.
Light discharge is more often composed of necrotic and structureless masses, sometimes supplemented by atypical cells and proliferative epithelium.
Almost 90% of patients have a bacterial component of secretions, often represented by a staphylococcal microflora. Less common is intestinal, fungal or streptococcal infection.
What do need to examine?
Who to contact?
Treatment of the discharge from the mammary glands
Treatment of secretions from the mammary glands can not be common, because discharge is not a disease, but only one of its symptoms, and everything depends on the immediate causes that provoked the symptomatology. And since there may be a lot of probable causes, you must first diagnose a specific disease before you can prescribe a therapeutic intervention technique.
Allocations caused by traumatic injuries of the chest, usually treated by a traumatologist, paying attention to the severity and nature of injuries.
Purulent discharge due to the development of the abscess is treated either conservatively (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs) or surgically (opening, washing and draining the purulent focus).
Ectasia of the dairy canals is usually treated surgically on the background of antibacterial therapy.
The treatment of intraprostatic papilloma is surgical, involving full papillomectomy.
Galactorrhea - if the disease is associated with an excessive amount of estrogen or prolactin, prescribe drugs that stabilize the level of hormones in the blood. Perhaps, there will be a need to further explore the condition of the pituitary system.
Fibrous-cystic mastopathy is a common cause of the appearance of secretions from the mammary glands. Treatment of it in most cases, conservative, but not excluded and surgical removal of cystic formations.
Malignant breast tumors - unfortunately, also occur quite often. Here therapeutic methods should be aimed at suppressing the reproduction of cancer cells. Radiation and chemotherapy are usually applied simultaneously with the surgical removal of the malignant focus.
Treatment of any discharge of infectious etiology should be carried out only after determining the sensitivity of bacterial microflora to antibiotics.
Prevention
Prophylaxis of the secretions from the mammary glands provides for measures aimed at limiting the effects of unfavorable factors contributing to the development of primary diseases.
An important link in the chain of preventive measures is periodic self-examination of the breast. It should be periodically conducted by every woman, starting from the age of 17.
Once a year, it is advisable to visit a gynecologist or mammologist, who, along with the examination of the mammary glands, may prescribe a prophylactic ultrasound or mammogram.
It is necessary to protect the chest from injuries, shocks. It would be superfluous to recall that a healthy lifestyle, adequate nutrition, lack of psychoemotional loads, rejection of harmful habits will allow stabilizing the hormonal background in the body and will save from many pathological processes.
It is necessary to treat infectious and inflammatory diseases in the body in time, especially in the genitourinary sphere; during pregnancy, it is advisable to prepare the nipples for the period of feeding, in order to avoid the appearance of cracks on them and to prevent the penetration of the infection. A woman at any age is important to observe the hygiene rules and keep the breasts clean, especially during the hot period, and pay attention to the quality of the laundry - it should be comfortable, do not rub, do not squeeze the chest.
If any of the secretions from the mammary glands are found, it is better to consult a doctor right away.
Forecast
Prevention and detection of primary diseases in the early stages greatly facilitate treatment and improve the prognosis of mammary glands.
The most favorable prognosis is observed with light, milky or transparent secretions: timely treatment of diseases associated with them usually results in complete recovery.
Purulent discharge requires urgent therapeutic effects: here the prognosis depends on the correct and timely treatment of provoking diseases.
Hemorrhagic discharge, which appeared against the background of oncological pathology, can have the most negative consequences for the patient. Here, the stage of development of the process, the degree of involvement of tissue structures, the localization of the tumor, the presence of distant metastases, the possibility of prompt removal of education are important.
Do not forget that virtually any disease is treatable, the main thing is to believe, follow the doctor's instructions and not try to engage in self-medication.
The breast is a glandular organ, therefore it is inherent in it to separate liquid substances sometimes. However, do not ignore the allocation of mammary glands: on time turning to the doctor, you will not only save your health, but also save the beauty and attractiveness of the female breast.