October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and it has been our goal to provide insight and information about this condition as high as possible. However, it is also crucial that women don’t only about breast cancer, but all diseases and infections that can affect their boobs. This is basically to ensure overall boob health.
There’s a condition known as breast abscess and according to the Cleveland Clinic, this is “A collection of fluid that builds up. It’s a severe infection and commonly a complication of mastitis — inflamed breast tissue that can lead to bacterial infection.”
The clinic further explains that breast abscesses are common in breastfeeding mothers due to a mismatch between milk production and breast emptying. This is said to cause milk sacks to swell, leak, and cause inflammation, leading to mastitis. It ios mentions that non-breastfeeding individuals can also experience mastitis and breast abscesses due to cracked or chapped nipples, injuries to the breast, or infected nipple piercings.
Medical News Today states that the common symptoms of a breast abscess include, low milk production, warmth, pain, discharge from the nipple, flushed skin, high temperature, headache, nausea, vomiting, flu-like symptoms, and fatigue.
Breast abscess treatment involves draining pus, states Healthline. “First, your doctor will numb your skin with a local anaesthetic so you don’t feel any pain. Then, they’ll remove the pus by either making a small incision and physically draining the abscess, or by removing the pus via a needle. The latter option may require multiple treatments, but is less invasive.”
Also see: What you need to know about a breast infection
