What is Mastitis

What is Mastitis? It is essentially an infection of breast tissue, which may result in swelling, pain, redness, and warmth in the breast. Sometimes the breast inflammation are due to problems associated with breast feeding, in which case it is termed ‘lactation mastitis‘. So keep this in mind, milk, breasts… if you are breast feeding, it’s more commonly the explanation than anything more serious. Mastitis is usually caused by an over-supply of breast milk.

There is a very serious and aggressive form of breast cancer called ‘inflammatory breast cancer‘ which has similar symptoms to mastitis. For this reason, the condition is taken quite seriously, and if symptoms are not resolved with five weeks, a full investigation and breast examination for breast cancer should be initiated.

Mastitis is an infection and completely unrelated to a genetic disease like breast cancer. Alternate and related terms include subareolar abscess, duct ectasia, periductal inflammation-periductal mastitis, Zuska’s disease, comedo mastitis, mastitis obliterans, plasma cell mastitis, and cholesterol granuloma.

Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis, is an uncommon chronic inflammatory breast lesion which is clinically very similar to breast cancer, often forms a palpable breast mass, and may even resemble breast carcinoma on an mammogram.

Simple mastitis is usually treated with antibiotics, and with self-help techniques for emptying the breast of milk more frequently and fully.

What are mastitis symptoms? Breast tenderness, redness, enlargement. Avoid letting your breasts become overly full. Mastitis usually starts as a painful area in one breast. 


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