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Mastitis
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What is
Mastitis?
Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast. There are two types of
mastitis, acute or chronic. Though both cause inflammation, pain and
tenderness in the breast they are different in cause.
What
is acute mastitis?
This occurs when bacteria get into the breast. It is particularly likely
to occur during breastfeeding, due to the milk ducts in the breast being
more exposed than normal.
What
is chronic mastitis?
Also known as benign breast disease, or fibrocystic disease. This is
where there is a discrete lump (fibroadenoma) or general lumpiness in
the breast causing discomfort. There may be a discharge from the nipple
and it tends to be worse pre-menstrually.
It usually occurs in women in their 30’s and
40’s and seems to be related to changes in the amount of hormones
circulating in the blood.
Treatment
Any doubts can be resolved by mammography involving either X-rays or a
special type of ultrasound examination. As a final resort, a small
biopsy operation is performed to remove a sample of tissue.
©
The Internet Health Library 2000
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This page was last updated on 05 December 2006 15:09:43
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