Leaky Nipple

If you have ever breastfed, you know full well that leaky breasts are a telltale sign that your babay needs to nurse or that you need to pump milk right away. While leaky nipples in a new mother are a healthy sign of lactation, nipple discharge in others can be alarming at best and a sign of some serious conditions at worst. The type of nipple discharge, whether it is coming from one or both breasts, and from where on the nipple it is sprouting are all clues to the sign's significance. Medically, leaks from a nipple are classified as either milky or non-milky. While a milky leak is clearly milky-looking, a non-milky leak can be clear, yellow, straw-like, green, brown, pink, or bright red. Complicating matters, different types of discharge may occur in some breast disorders. in general, nipple discharge is considered to be Pathologic (caused by a disease) if it occurs on its own, only comes from one milk duct, happens repeatedly, or is bloody.

Of the women who have an abnormal nipple discharge, less than 10% actually have breast cancer. The older a woman is, however, the more likely it is that nipple discharge will be her only sign of breast cancer.