About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffSometimes, nipple discharge is a normal part of your breast's function. If that's the case, the discharge might resolve on its own.
Most often, nipple discharge stems from a noncancerous (benign) condition. However, breast cancer is a possibility, especially if:
- You are over age 40
- You have a lump in your breast
- The discharge contains blood
- Only one breast is affected
Possible causes of nipple discharge include:
- Abscess
- Breast cancer
- Breast infection
- Excessive breast stimulation
- Fibroadenoma
- Fibrocystic breasts
- Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
- Galactorrhea
- Hormone imbalance
- Injury or trauma to the breast
- Intraductal papilloma
- Mammary duct ectasia
- Medication use
- Paget's disease of the breast
- Pregnancy
- Prolactinoma
Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.
- Non-cancerous breast conditions. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003180-pdf.pdf. Accessed Jan. 13, 2011.
- Golshan M, et al. Nipple discharge. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 13, 2011.
- Breast disorders. The Merck Manuals: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch251/ch251a.html. Accessed Jan. 13, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on