Nipple discharge can be a scary experience for all men and for women who are not breast feeding. The biggest concern when a person experience nipple discharge is the possibility of carcinoma. Even though breast carcinomas often present with nipple discharge, all nipple discharges are not due to breast cancer. If you are experiencing nipple discharge, the following information will help you to find out the cause for the nipple discharge.
So, you are experiencing nipple discharge. The first thing you should clarify when you are having nipple discharge is whether it is from one nipple or from the both. If you have discharges form both your nipples, it is most probably due to a systemic disease more than a local disease, such as carcinoma.
- Bilateral Nipple Discharge
If you are having bilateral nipple discharge, you are having one of the following conditions. Bilateral nipple discharge does not indicate breast cancer unless the cancer has spread to the both breasts.
- Lactation
- Pituitary tumor
Out of these, pituitary tumor should take immediate attention because they should be ablated. Some people with pituitary tumor experience some specific symptoms which can be used as diagnostic tools. Pituitary tumors enlarge in size and increases the intracranial pressure. As a result, the person experiences early morning headache, nausea and vomiting. The visual pathway runs close to the pituitary gland. Tumors arising from the gland compress the visual pathway. As a result, the affected person looses vision of his both temporal sides. This is called bitemporal hemianopia. If you are having bitemporal hemianopia, when you are looking at something, you will feel like you are looking through a tunnel. This is called tunnel vision.
- Unilateral Nipple Discharge
If you are having discharge only from one breast, it is due to a local pathology affecting only that breast. You should also consider your age because carcinomas are very rare in younger ages. If you are in your twenties or early thirties and there is no family history of breast cancer among first degree relatives, there is very low chances for you to develop breast cancer. If you are very young there is nothing to worry about. If you are still anxious, you can consult a doctor. He will also reassure you after doing the triple assesment. Consulting a doctor is important because he can analyse your data decide on the possibility of cancer.
The next thing you can do to know whether it is due to cancer or not is by looking for a lump. To do this you will have to carry out a self breast examination. A careful self breast examination can detect most of the lumps in the breast, but some breast cancers are very small and therefore, cannot be palpated. If you are more than 40 years of age and have a family history of breast cancer, you should immediately see a doctor even you do not feel any lump.
Then the next thing you should focus on is the color of the discharge. The color of the discharge gives diagnostic clues. As mentioned earlier, breast cancers can give rise to nipple discharge, but not all discharges are due to cancer. There are many benign conditions that can give rise to nipple discharge. These benign conditions are,
- Duct ectasia
- Papilloma of the duct
- Mammory dyslasia
- Fibrocystic disease (fibroadenosis)
- Infection
- Hypothyroidism
- Pituitary tumor
The nature of the secretion is very important in differentiating each of these condition. Blood stained discharge is suggestive of cancer, but benign conditions such as duct ectasia, papilloma of the duct, fibrocystic disease can also give rise to blood stained nipple discharge.
The commonest form of nipple discharge is serous discharge. This is commonly physiological and sometimes due to duct papilloma, duct ectasia, mammory dysplasia or fibrocystic disease.
If the discharge is black or green, it is due to duct ectasia. This is a benign condition which does not progress to breast cancer. If the discharge is purulent (pus), it is due to an infection. In infection, in addition to the discharge you may also experience pain, fever, warmth of the breast.
Milky discharge is due to lactation, hyperthyroidism or pituitary tumor. One of the commonest pituitary tumors are prolacting secreting tumors. Prolactin stimulates milk production and gives rise to galactorrhea.
Above mentioned are the possible causes of nipple discharge. According to these information it is vivid that nipple discharge is not always due to breast cancer. There are many benign diseases that can cause nipple discharge.
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