Some women today do not distinguish between diseases of the mammary glands, which have similar names - mastitis and mastopathy. They have similar symptoms at certain stages, but the differences in their course are significant, which is why it is so important to know how these diseases differ so as not to miss the moment when they are still easily treatable.
Late visit to the doctor for both mastopathy and mastitis can be fraught with dangerous consequences
What is meant by mastitis and mastopathy?
Mastitis is an inflammatory disease that occurs as a result of an infectious lesion of the mammary glands. In common parlance, mastitis is sometimes called mastitis.
The causative agent of the disease can be staphylococcus or streptococcus.
Mastopathy is considered a benign change in the form of compactions affecting the glandular tissue of the breast, which occurs unnoticed, for a long time without showing oneself in any way. The disease is not inflammatory in nature and is characterized by several varieties (fibrous, cystic, mixed mastopathy), classified according to the types of tissue in which pathological growths occur.
Mastopathy is characterized by the absence of two obvious signs of inflammation - hyperemia of the skin and a local increase in temperature
Who is susceptible to these diseases
There is still a misconception that only nursing mothers can get mastitis. Indeed, this is the largest group of patients in whom this disease is diagnosed. Most often, mastitis occurs in women who have given birth for the first time when they are trying to establish breastfeeding.
However, mastitis can affect the breasts of women of any age, from newborns to older people in menopause. This disease is sometimes diagnosed in men and children, but it is mainly a women's problem. Favorable environment Doctors believe that the activity of pathological bacteria is caused by a greatly weakened immune system, combined with poor personal hygiene.
Frequently ill women with low immune activity are at higher risk of developing mastitis
Most often, young women suffer from mastitis during the period of active hormonal changes - 18–35 years old, and most often in this category - nursing mothers (95% of the total number of cases). Sometimes mastitis occurs in men and children due to hormonal imbalances in the body.
Mastopathy is found in a third of women in the world.
The riskiest age for the onset of this disease is 35–50 years, when a woman often already has a history of several abortions and gynecological diseases, and there are endocrine disorders. The malfunction of the mammary glands is also influenced by the constant stress to which modern women are exposed.
Mastopathy is often accompanied by gynecological diseases, being one of the reasons for its development
What is the catalyst for pathologies?
Mastitis is most often caused by a staphylococcal pathogen that enters the breast through cracks in the nipples caused by feeding.
For mastitis, the main factors of occurrence include:
- previous pathologies of pregnancy;
- complicated childbirth and the postpartum period;
- the presence of diseases that reduce immunity;
- lactostasis (congestion in the thoracic ducts).
The main reason for the development of mastitis is lactostasis, which occurs due to blockage of the gland ducts
Mastopathy develops due to prolonged stress, burdened heredity, poor ecology in the place of residence, diseases of the thyroid gland, liver, and gynecological diseases. But the most common cause of mastopathy is considered to be altered hormonal levels, which cause the appearance of lumps in the breast tissue.
Same and different symptoms of both diseases
Every woman needs to know how mastitis differs from mastopathy and what their similarities are. Diseases have different natures of development and are treated differently. But they have the same characteristics at the beginning of their development. These diseases are also diagnosed in a similar way. During the first examination, the doctor performs palpation of the breast, and then uses instrumental examination using ultrasound and mammography.
Mammography is the main method for diagnosing various diseases of the mammary glands
The similarity of the signs of mastitis with mastopathy is manifested as follows:
- pain and sensitivity of the mammary glands;
- increasing their volume;
- the appearance of lumps in some areas of the chest.
Specific signs of mastitis are cracked nipples and bursting pain in the chest.
The mammary gland swells, the skin becomes red and shiny. The woman’s temperature rises, sometimes she feels chills (this is rare with mastopathy). With these symptoms, you need to urgently start treatment from a doctor, otherwise the inflammation will develop further and become purulent. In case of purulent mastitis, surgical intervention is required; in its absence, complications are possible.
Treatment of any purulent processes involves opening the lesion and draining the wound
Consequences of mastitis and mastopathy
Both diseases are among common women's problems. Faces them most women at different stages of their lives. The cause of pathology of the mammary glands can be any hormonal disorder in the body.
Although for mastopathy the probability of degeneration of benign tumors into malignant ones is not so great, it is not completely excluded for some of its forms. Mastitis, even with a slight stagnation of milk, can turn into a purulent inflammatory process for women who are breastfeeding. Both breast problems are really serious.
The main difference between mastitis and mastopathy is the increase in overall body temperature during its development.
Mastitis, like any bacterial infection, is accompanied by fever
High body temperature, reaching critical values, is the main sign of mastitis. With mastopathy, it practically does not increase; only a slight increase is possible.
Self-assessment of negative changes in the mammary glands is undesirable and can be dangerous to health. Moreover, you should not even attempt treatment without consulting a doctor.
Treatment of both breast diseases
The main task of doctors with mastitis is to prevent the disease from developing into a severe form, in which a purulent infection can spread throughout the body, causing sepsis. Mastopathy is dangerous because benign tumors can transform into oncological pathologies.
Both breast pathologies are dangerous without timely treatment.
Although the symptoms of both diseases have some similarities, their treatment is carried out in completely different ways.
The only point is to use the same procedures on early stages the development of these breast diseases when physiotherapeutic procedures, herbal medicine and homeopathy are used.
Treatment of mastopathy
Treatment is prescribed depending on the form of this disease of the mammary glands. Therapy is aimed at reducing the active growth of connective tissue in the mammary gland, normalizing hormonal levels and, especially, eliminating other diseases that provoke the development of mastopathy. In most cases it is used hormone therapy, used for quite a long time.
Oral contraceptives are often used in the treatment of mastopathy.
For nodular mastopathy, a primary biopsy is performed to determine the type of tissue of the nodes. Depending on their nature, treatment is prescribed, which often ends with surgery. Treatment of mastopathy also involves following a strict diet and avoiding thermal effects on the mammary glands.
Treatment of mastitis
The cure for any type of mastitis, according to doctors, should differ from measures to eliminate mastopathy, because it is an infectious disease, and this process takes less time. In most cases, treatment is carried out with antibiotics, since the disease is inflammatory in nature, and with drugs that reduce lactostasis (with a purulent process and refusal to feed). However, doctors advise not to interrupt breastfeeding if possible.
If mastitis has not turned into a purulent form, you should try to maintain lactation
If mastitis is purulent in nature, then it needs to be treated only inpatiently, surgically.
Thanks to this therapy, a specific pathogen (streptococcus, staphylococcus) is suppressed. When mastitis develops, it is necessary to follow the rules of personal hygiene to prevent re-infection of the mammary glands. Then the disease will not become chronic. If you have mastitis, you should not use warm compresses on your breasts or apply pressure to them. Any massage of the mammary glands is prohibited.
According to medical statistics, almost 90% of cases of mastitis or mastopathy are guaranteed to result in a complete cure for these ailments without surgical intervention if a woman consults a doctor in a timely manner.
Early diagnosis and proper treatment are the key to success in the fight against both mastitis and mastopathy
To prevent mastitis, the main measures are strict adherence to personal hygiene of the mammary glands, especially for lactating women, and strengthening the immune system. The development of mastopathy can be prevented proper nutrition, annual visits to the gynecologist and mammologist, the ability to behave calmly in stressful situations.
A mammologist-oncologist will talk about the symptoms and treatment of mastitis in the video:
The female breast is a vulnerable and fragile organ. Breast diseases are one of the most common threats to women's health. Such diseases are mastitis and mastopathy, which are often confused. What kind of diseases are these, what are their dangers, how to detect and treat them? Mammologist-oncologist of the highest category, Zhanna Tlebaldievna BUKENOVA, will tell us about this and something else.
– What is mastitis, what is mastopathy?
– Mastitis is an infectious disease during which the mammary gland becomes inflamed. There is a division of mastitis into lactation, that is, occurring during breastfeeding, and non-lactation - outside the period of lactation, mainly occurring against the background of weakened immunity in the presence of some kind of internal chronic infection. The main cause of mastitis is Staphylococcus aureus. During lactation mastitis, the infection penetrates through the cracks of the nipple and rushes to places of stasis - narrowing of the milk ducts, possibly caused by undiagnosed and untreated mastopathy before childbirth, where it causes inflammation of the glandular tissue.
The appearance of non-lactation mastitis is associated with hormonal instability and changes in it - this causes a decrease in immunity and sensitivity to infections. During mastitis, the temperature may rise, redness of the breasts, and pain may appear. Mastitis can occur because a woman does not put her baby to the breast correctly, does not express milk (while the baby is small, he needs a small amount of milk, and she forgets that she needs to express), if she violates the rules of personal hygiene, or she had prenatal anemia, which very often reduces immunity. Mastitis can begin if a woman has had mastopathy in the past, but this is by no means the background against which the disease develops, just a prerequisite. Now there are many cases of non-lactation mastitis. This is surprising because this disease mainly occurs in lactating, primiparous women.
– How is self-examination and diagnosis carried out in the clinic?
– Diagnosis is based on the provisions of the international protocol: girls from the age of 20 should visit a mammologist, gynecologist, and endocrinologist 2 times a year. Then a visual examination, palpation, and ultrasound of the mammary glands are performed. The mammologist should also teach the woman self-examination techniques.
Every month on 5-7 days menstrual cycle a woman must examine herself. First you need to go to the mirror and examine your breasts for the symmetry of the mammary glands; asymmetry may mean some kind of neoplasm process if the asymmetry is not congenital. Next we look at the nipple - it should not be retracted and there should be no discharge. To do this, you need to feel it well, pressing. After this, you need to raise each hand in turn, placing it behind your head. With the other hand they feel the chest. Palpation, both standing and lying down, is done clockwise; the structure of the mammary glands should be relatively homogeneous. That is, there may be some kind of graininess, since it is still a lobed structure, but rough and dense areas are an alarming sign. The axillary lymph nodes should not be enlarged; some people do not quite understand what this means, and therefore cannot always recognize the enlarged lymph nodes themselves; it is better to consult a doctor about this.
In addition, of course, the skin should not have two main symptoms that indicate cancer - the lemon peel symptom and the platform symptom. In the first case, these are clearly visible, enlarged pores and, as it were, slightly raised skin, and the platform is an area of the skin that has lost its elasticity, and when you press on it, the skin does not straighten out, a hole remains.
– At what age can these diseases occur? Can they occur in teenage girls? How does infant mastitis appear, what is it connected with?
– Thelarche is an enlargement of the mammary glands in girls. The mammary gland is a hormone-dependent organ, and since acceleration processes are now occurring everywhere, little girls are often brought to us with enlargement of one or both mammary glands. This is due to the presence of excess estrogen in the child’s body. When diagnosing such cases, observation and consultation with a pediatric endocrinologist is recommended. In infancy, this indicates that excess female hormones have passed from mother to child, and over time this goes away on its own. In boys in infancy, this condition is explained by an excess of estrogen in the mother’s body, which also passes to him, but this passes. If this occurs at 6-8 years of age, it is a sign of premature sexual development, and we send the child to an endocrinologist.
The main reason for this condition is increased secretory activity of the ovaries; other reasons include periodic releases of estrogen or increased sensitivity mammary glands to estrogens. When a mother tries to mechanically reduce the size of the child's mammary gland, she can introduce an infection there, and then mastitis may well develop. Teenage mastitis is such a rare case that in all my practice I have only encountered it in theory. It can occur, for example, in a girl who plays sports. Very often, injuries provoke the formation of hematomas in the mammary gland; they have no way out and can begin to fester, causing mastitis.
– How is mastitis and mastopathy treated? How long might this take?
– Treatment of mastitis usually takes 7-10 days. Antibacterial drugs and broad-spectrum antibiotics are mainly prescribed. There are several stages of mastitis: serous, infiltrative, purulent. These stages require different treatment methods. With serous and infiltrative mastitis, that is, on initial stages diseases, treatment includes proper pumping, traditional methods of treatment: vodka compresses, sage tinctures, honey cakes, cabbage leaves, antibiotics, treatment of nipples - all this is taught in maternity hospitals by midwives. Pumping during lactation mastitis cannot be neglected; it is necessary to eliminate milk stagnation, improve the condition of the mammary gland and maintain lactation. In the purulent stage of mastitis, surgical intervention is necessary. An autopsy is performed and the glands are cleaned of pus.
Throughout the world, mastopathy as such is not diagnosed.
I know this from the example of specialization in Germany; we asked questions to our fellow mammologists from other countries, and they said that this problem is dealt with only in the CIS countries. In our country, it is customary to engage in the prevention, detection, and observation of mastopathy, but throughout the world, no activities related to mastopathy are carried out. This is not considered a disease. Since mastopathy is a lifelong condition, we cannot cure it and only try to correct the symptoms and minimize complaints.
Most often, it is easiest for a person not related to medicine to explain some things using the example of skin and hair. With age, a person's skin ages, but this is not fatal. We use cosmetics, but you can’t hide age anywhere. The same thing happens with the mammary gland - it changes its structure towards increasing adipose tissue. This is called involutive age-related mastopathy. Correction means the use of some mastopathy creams that have an analgesic effect, salt compresses, some folk remedies with doctor's consultation. It also happens that a person cannot distinguish whether his heart or mammary gland hurts. Mammography should be done once every 1-3 years, and ultrasound – 2 times a year. There is no need for surgical intervention for mastopathy. It is indicated only for suspected breast cancer, in the presence of large fibroadenomas.
– Is breastfeeding prohibited for mastopathy? Is it possible to cure mastitis in time and return to breastfeeding?
– Feeding is a direct indication for mastopathy. And mastitis can be treated very quickly, so, of course, you can return to breastfeeding in time. We try to appoint conservative treatment, after which feeding is resumed. To prevent lactation from stopping, pumping is necessary.
– Can these diseases occur in men? If so, is there a difference in treatment?
– In men, enlargement of one or two mammary glands is called gynecomastia. It can be true - when the glandular tissue itself grows, or false - when there is a lot of adipose tissue. Treatment is often surgical. This is because men most often come in because of discomfort arising from cosmetic reasons. Sports nutrition, steroids can also affect the mammary gland. A problem with testosterone and the thyroid gland provokes gynecomastia. These problems are usually dealt with by an endocrinologist.
– Can mastopathy or mastitis turn into breast cancer?
– Simple mastopathy does not turn into breast cancer. Under the supervision of a woman with nodular forms of mastopathy. Mastitis is also not a precancerous disease, but if left untreated, it can lead to blood poisoning. The causes of cancer are still unclear. It is impossible to predict that certain women will develop cancer in the future. Because even the hereditary probability of cancer transmission through the female line is no more than 10%. And even then, many questions remain open. Any woman is at risk, which is why it is so important to see a doctor regularly. This is why dynamic control is so important, so that there is feedback from the patient. Dynamic control will allow the practicing mammologist not to miss that “X” moment when something starts to go wrong, and will provide the opportunity to react in time and orient the woman.
The patient should tell the doctor about the dynamics, about everything that happened in six months, what treatment she took, what changes occurred in her sex life, whether abortions or miscarriages occurred, when and how the change in contraceptives occurred and other important details. When drawing up a picture of dynamic control, everything is taken into account. When a woman simply comes from the street, when she has not been seen by a doctor before and she does not have previous photographs and information about her condition, of course, it will be more difficult to treat her, since there is no overall picture. You should never throw away your test results or pictures, they need to be collected. You never know when or what might come in handy.
– Is the use of dietary supplements effective for mastopathy?
– In fact, the use of dietary supplements is common, they can influence hormonal levels and balance them, but not a single dietary supplement changes the structure of the mammary gland, so we cannot talk about curing mastopathy. Simply put, dietary supplements can temporarily affect the effect, but not the cause. Fundamental in a consultation with a mammologist is the choice of the right tactics: is priority given to prescribing a bunch of dietary supplements (which essentially do not change the structure of the mammary glands) or to orienting patients to dynamic monitoring 2 times a year throughout life, in which it is possible to identify some changes and correction with properly selected treatment.
Quite often, we all hear such terms as mastitis, lactostasis or mastopathy - these are certain words that confuse women, making them nervous.
Often women use these designations for very specific diseases, without fully understanding the meaning of them.
Some women simply do not know the differences between essentially different, but seemingly quite similar terms. Moreover, the symptoms of these two diseases, at certain stages, can be very similar.
Two similar in symptoms, but different in essence diseases
These two diseases of the mammary glands (mastitis, and conditions that are included in the concept of mastopathy) are considered the most serious and common problems modern woman. These are the diseases that almost every third of the fair sex faces. It is believed that any hormonal disorder or malfunction in the body may well lead to one or another pathology of the mammary glands.
It should be noted right away that it is incredibly dangerous to independently assess how harmless certain changes occurring in your mammary gland are, as well as to prescribe treatment for such problems yourself.
After all, even minor, at first glance, changes in the breast with mastopathy can ultimately lead to the development of the most dangerous oncological processes. And even minor lactostasis (stagnation of milk during breastfeeding), if treated incorrectly, can lead to the development of purulent inflammation or an abscess (which is included in the concept of mastitis).
So, doctors recommend that women (as during the period breastfeeding, and outside) at the slightest discomfort in the chest area, immediately consult a doctor. This is necessary, first of all, to quickly diagnose the problem and understand the reasons for the development of existing unpleasant sensations.
Statistics on this matter say that in almost 90% of all cases of the development of the diseases described, if patients consult a specialist in a timely manner, there is a complete recovery from pathologies, all types of inflammatory processes, without the intervention of surgeons.
What is mastitis?
Mastitis is an inflammatory disease of various forms associated with infection of breast tissue. A condition when one or another pathogen, say, staphylococcus or streptococcus, enters the breast tissue.
Today, there is a huge misconception that inflammation of the mammary gland (mastitis) can only “threaten” nursing mothers.
Indeed, most often mastitis can be diagnosed in primiparous women, and precisely during the period of establishing breastfeeding.
Medicine warns that mastitis may well occur regardless of the development of pregnancy. The disease can develop in women during menopause, in very young girls at puberty, in newborns of any gender and even, in some cases, in men.
The most favorable environment for the active development of pathogenic bacteria is the sharply weakened immunity of a woman, especially in combination with insufficient or incorrect observance of the rules of basic personal hygiene. Mastitis can also develop:
- If a newborn baby is not properly applied to the breast.
- In case of illogical and unreasonable delays in feeding.
- With incorrect, defective pumping.
- With stagnation of milk in the breast.
Non-lactation mastitis can develop:
- For endocrine diseases.
- For chest injuries, etc.
- Under certain physiological conditions associated with hormonal changes in the body.
The first and most important thing that usually distinguishes acute mastitis from mastopathy is temperature fluctuations.
As a rule, with mastopathy, body temperature either does not rise at all, or rises to very insignificant levels. But mastitis, on the contrary, almost never occurs without an increase in body temperature, sometimes to critical points.
What is mastopathy?
Mastopathy usually includes a whole group of diseases that are characterized by benign changes in the tissues of the mammary gland. As a rule, with mastopathy there is a non-inflammatory growth of certain tissues that make up the mammary gland. This may be the growth and compaction of glandular tissue, epithelial or simply fatty tissue.
The greatest insidiousness of this disease lies in the fact that often against the background of fibrocystic disease the most dangerous, malignant breast cancers can develop. The causes of the development of this disease can be hormonal disorders quite often - abortions, terminated pregnancies, and, somewhat less frequently, significant neurological or endocrine disorders.
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According to doctors, modern women are more susceptible to severe stress or anxiety, which ultimately significantly increases the risks of many gynecological diseases, and as a result, cancer.
The initial manifestations of cystic disease include some breast tenderness, and especially before the onset of menstruation. The subsequent development of fibrotic disease causes pain with literally any minimal touch to the chest; pain can also be felt even in the shoulder or armpit.
How are diseases with similar symptoms treated?
Despite the fact that the two diseases described have similar symptoms, they are usually treated in radically different ways. The only similarity in the treatment of these conditions is that in the initial stages of development of the problems described, one can get by with the simple use of physiotherapeutic procedures, homeopathy or herbal medicine.
In both conditions, it is extremely important to correctly diagnose the problem in a timely manner, and then, just as correctly, logically and accurately (in direction), select treatment, and this is almost impossible without a doctor.
Well, actually, this is where all the similarities in the treatment of the described diseases end.
How is mastopathy treated?
Treatment of mastopathy always directly depends on the form of the disease, and, as a rule, is distinguished by its focus on reducing pathological growths of breast tissue, sometimes in normalizing (possibly disturbed) hormonal levels, as well as in eliminating most concomitant diseases, which could provoke the disease. In most cases, this is hormonal therapy, which can take quite a long time.
Nodular forms of the disease may require a primary biopsy to determine the tissue from which the nodes consist, and subsequent (based on the results of the study) treatment, often surgical. In addition, all women with detected mastopathy are recommended to completely exclude any bad habits(such as smoking or drinking alcohol).
It is very important for mastopathy to be able to establish a full, but not excessive, sex life. With mastopathy, as with mastitis, it is advisable to exclude any thermal effects (procedures) aimed at the mammary gland.
It is advisable to avoid too frequent visits to the solarium; it is important not to overheat and also not to overcool.
How is mastitis treated?
In most cases, mastitis is treated with antibiotics, since it is, after all, an inflammatory and infectious process. Such therapy is always aimed at suppressing a specific pathogen, be it staphylococcus or streptococcus.
If we talk about the difference between the treatment of mastitis and mastopathy, then the treatment of mastitis in the vast majority of cases takes significantly less time.
When mastitis develops, it is extremely important to follow all the rules of personal hygiene, since in order to fully combat the disease it is necessary to avoid re-infection and the progression of the disease into chronic or more dangerous abscess forms.
It is very important to remember that a disease such as inflammation of the mammary gland categorically does not accept the use of heat and pressure on the affected breast, which means that with mastitis, massage, in any of its forms, and thermal procedures are strictly prohibited.
Do you still think that it is completely impossible to heal your body?
How can you identify them?
- nervousness, sleep and appetite disturbances;
- allergies (watery eyes, rashes, runny nose);
- frequent headaches, constipation or diarrhea;
- frequent colds, sore throat, nasal congestion;
- pain in joints and muscles;
- chronic fatigue (you get tired quickly, no matter what you do);
- dark circles, bags under the eyes.
Breast diseases - one of the most serious problems of a modern woman, something that almost every third inhabitant of the planet faces. Even minor changes can lead to the development of oncological processes. You should not take risks by independently assessing the degree of their harmlessness.
Ultrasound of the mammary glands
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Treatment of breast diseases
Treatment of mastopathy
Treatment of breast cysts and other types of mastopathy should be comprehensive and comprehensive.
Treatment of fibrocystic mastopathy will involve the use of both hormonal and non-hormonal drugs.
Treatment of breast fibroadenoma, at the discretion of the doctor, can be surgical. This may be enucleation of the cyst (i.e. enucleation) or sectoral resection of the mammary gland.
- constantly examine your breasts to see if there are nodules or lumps in them;
- even if you have no complaints about your health, regularly visit a gynecologist-mammologist;
- If you are over the age of 35, undergo an annual breast ultrasound and mammography.
Women whose doctors have discovered mastopathy need to give up bad habits that provoke the disease (drinking alcohol, smoking), harmonize their intimate life, and talk to a doctor about it.
During the treatment of breast diseases, solariums, excessive sun exposure, and hypothermia should be avoided.
Preserving women's health is one of the main tasks of our doctors. We know how to take care of you!
Mastitis and its colleague mastopathy are serious diseases modern world, threatening the life and health of every third representative of the fair sex. Having heard these names or, worse, faced with a similar diagnosis, women become despondent, largely due to the fact that they cannot unravel the essence of what is hidden behind these concepts.
Mastitis and mastopathy occur in every third woman
Those who have never been sick do not value health
Similar features
In fact, these phenomena are similar in many ways:
- Diseases concern the mammary gland, this delicate and very important organ of the female body.
- The causes of breast pathology are called hormonal imbalances.
- The symptoms of the diseases are somewhat similar, especially at first.
Otherwise, the ailments are different and confusion about them will not lead to anything good. Treatment will be effective only if you know exactly what you are dealing with... Therefore, let’s consider the diseases in order, reveal their hidden essence and clarify the methods of treating them.
The best and safest option, after reading this article and discovering suspicious similarities with the indicated ailments, is to immediately seek professional help.
It is recommended not to risk your health, but to seek treatment at a clinic, because any of these diseases can lead to dangerous consequences if left untreated. But the sooner the disease is diagnosed and a course of treatment is prescribed, the greater your chances of getting out of this unpleasant situation healthy, safe and with an almost full wallet. And you won’t have to suffer physically and spiritually under the surgeon’s instruments.
If you notice breast tenderness, you should consult a doctor for clarification.
Let's talk about mastitis
Mastitis, otherwise called “breast mastitis,” is an inflammatory disease of the mammary gland. It is often observed in women preparing to add to the family, in mothers who have already given birth and in nursing mothers. Today there is a widespread myth that only pregnant women can get mastitis; this is not true; the disease also occurs in women who are just thinking about pregnancy. Girls are lucky in this regard - they are almost not threatened by breastfeeding, but there are exceptions, so it’s too early to relax. It happens that mastitis appears in very young girls who have not yet entered the period of puberty, in children who have barely appeared, mature women women who have gone through menopause and even women who can only dream of children.
Moreover, mastitis is rare, but sometimes it still happens - it also torments men, since sometimes the mammary glands begin to develop in the stronger sex as a result of a deficiency of male sex hormones and an excess of female ones.
Mastitis begins when bacteria such as staphylococcus or streptococcus enter through the lymphatic tract. They enter the gland, resulting in inflammatory processes. Causes of infection:
- Cracked nipples (often such a problem occurs due to the fact that the young mother attached the baby to the breast incorrectly) and other breast injuries.
- Lactostasis, also known as milk retention.
- Incomplete pumping.
- Failure to comply with hygiene rules, especially during pregnancy and lactation.
- Germs enter the breasts through contact with a dirty bra or through a baby’s not-so-clean mouth.
- In pregnant women, the cause may be a bra that is too tight and puts pressure on the mammary gland.
- Weakened immunity as a result of hypothermia or even a simple draft.
- In men, there is a hormonal imbalance.
There are two types of mastitis:
- Lactational.
- Non-lactational.
Incomplete expression of milk can cause illness
This type of mastitis comes to breastfeeding women, and the disease does not care at all about when it was baby is born. It poses a particular danger for women who have never encountered this phenomenon before, that is, for women who have become mothers for the first time and who do not know proper feeding techniques.
As lactation mastitis develops, it goes through several stages:
- The early stage of mastitis is called serous. How to recognize it? With serous mastitis, the body temperature rises slightly, and unpleasant, even painful sensations occur when touching the breast. With the appearance of milk, the breasts increase in size, but with mastitis they become even larger and swell. With acute serous mastitis, a woman’s well-being drops below the baseboard, she is freezing, has a fever, the temperature makes a sharp jump to 39OC, all this is accompanied by a terrible headache and a general state of weakness. The most unpleasant thing is the terrible pain in the reddened chest. Feeding a baby is excruciatingly painful, and expressing milk does not provide relief. If you do not start treating the disease immediately, after at most 3 days it will progress to the next stage of mastitis.
- Infiltrative. Since serous mastitis is often mild, women do not pay attention to it, and sometimes even doctors do not diagnose the early stage of the disease. Therefore, in hospitals you can often find women with an infiltrative form of the disease. At this level, painful sensations are much more pronounced. The skin of the breast turns red, painful lumps and infiltrates appear in it. There is no need to talk about terrible headaches, weakness in all parts of the body, insomnia and loss of appetite. At this stage, clots of pus may appear in the milk of the diseased mammary gland, so feeding the child is prohibited for the sake of his health. If for some reason the woman did not go to the doctor and at this stage of mastitis, it develops into new uniform, even more severe.
- Purulent. Purulent mastitis occurs on the 3-4th day of development of the disease (under conditions that it is not treated). The temperature becomes even higher, the infiltrate becomes denser, and in the center you can feel softening, in other words, an abscess.
- Another form is phlegmonous. It can be distinguished by high temperature, skin that takes on a bluish color, swelling of the mammary gland, severe pain in the chest.
Lactation mastitis occurs due to breastfeeding
Non-lactation mastitis
This type of mastitis occurs less frequently than lactation mastitis, usually due to damage to the mammary gland or hormonal disorders. The disease also occurs in several forms:
- Plasma cell . This type of disease mostly affects women who have already given birth, and more than once. The signs of this disease can be confused with another, but more terrible disease - breast cancer.
- Fibrocystic. The causes of this disease are problems with the endocrine system, but inflammation is not common.
- Acute non-lactational mastitis. This form manifests itself in the form of small swellings and pain.
How to treat mastitis
Signs of mastitis can be detected by breast swelling and pain, but a more reliable way is to undergo an ultrasound. Mammography is not done to diagnose mastitis.
From the description of the disease and its forms, the main thing can be highlighted: self-medication is contraindicated. Neglected pain can lead to breast cancer and premature painful death.
To treat the first two stages of mastitis - serous and infiltrative, various types of antibiotics are used: penicillin, aminoglycosides and cephalosporins. The list of medications may include Amoxiclav, Gentamicin and Cefazolin, but it is better if the medications are recommended by a doctor. Antibiotics are introduced into the body intravenously or intramuscularly. Painkillers are also used.
Serous mastitis, as befits a disease at an early stage, stops tormenting its victim 2 days after the start of treatment. The infiltrate will take a week to resolve. Purulent mastitis is a much more dangerous form and to cure it you will have to lie down on a surgical table.
Because breast milk If infected with pus during mastitis, it is dangerous for the child; lactation will have to be stopped during the illness. Drugs, for example Dostinex, will help stop milk production. Sometimes you can express milk and then sterilize it to feed your baby. After recovery, the baby can continue to be fed.
Prevention of mastitis is based on breast hygiene and the ability to feed the child correctly. Express milk thoroughly from both breasts to avoid stagnation. If cracks appear, soften the nipples vegetable oil. Place your baby in such a way that he completely grasps the nipple and areola, and before feeding, wash your breasts daily.
When feeding, the baby should grasp the entire nipple and areola.
Mastopathy: similarities and differences with mastitis
Mastopathy is a benign disease of the mammary glands. The reasons lie in hormones. These may be diseases of the ovaries or thyroid gland. Mastopathy often results from abortion or endocrine diseases. In essence, the disease is an overgrowth of adipose or glandular tissue. On the background of mastopathy, oncological diseases develop. The disease arose due to dysfunction of the liver and kidneys.
Forms of mastopathy:
- Diffuse. Lumps, pain and enlargement of the breasts during menstruation.
- Nodal. Small and hard growths are felt in the chest. The breasts and lymph nodes in the armpits become enlarged, accompanied by pain.
- Fibrous — cystic . Many small neoplasms, cystic cavities. A clear or whitish discharge comes out of the nipples. Excruciating pain with every movement, including in neighboring parts of the body: in the shoulder, shoulder blade.
Mastopathy and mastitis are very different from each other. The similarity is not only that these diseases affect the mammary glands, it is their method of combating them in the early stages of disease development. If diseases are diagnosed early, it will not be difficult to cure them, but in later cases, surgical intervention will have to be used. If the disease is not detected and treated in time, it will turn into a long-term struggle with cancer (which will not fail to appear), chemotherapy, and you will have to give up one or even both mammary glands. And the best of all ways to treat diseases is their prevention.
Careful examination of the condition of the breasts soon after menstruation will help you determine the appearance of mastopathy yourself. Sore breasts will increase slightly in size. Using stroking movements, feel the breasts for lumps and squeeze the nipple to make sure there is no discharge.
Treatment of mastopathy primarily consists of stopping or slowing down the growth of tumors and harmonizing hormonal levels. Since the causes of the disease may be problems with other internal organs, the treatment of mastopathy also includes the healing of these organs. For nodular mastopathy, treatment can take a surgical form.
In addition to the therapeutic complex, women are advised to forget (preferably forever) bad habits, such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages. Your lifestyle should be diversified with sex life. Childbearing is another way to prevent the onset of mastopathy. You will have to give up visiting the solarium, the beach and winter swimming - overheating, as well as hypothermia directed, including to the mammary glands, will aggravate the disease.
It is important to regularly conduct self-diagnosis and, if you suspect illness, immediately go to the doctor. Self-medication such as prayers, spells and others traditional methods Can only be used in combination with treatment prescribed by doctors.
