Breast Abscess – Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Breast Abscess – Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

What is a Breast Abscess?

It is simply an infection of the breast tissue and is also known as mastitis. This infection of the tissue happens most of the time while breastfeeding. This infection can cause swelling, increased temperatures of the breast as well as pain. It happens when bacteria usually from the baby’s mouth, enters a milk duct thru a crack normally in the nipple. This is when the infection begins and painful inflammation or breast abscess starts.

Breast Abscess Causes

Infections of the breast more commonly happen 1 to 3 months after the baby is delivered, but they can happen in women who haven’t recently delivered as well as women after menopause. Other causes of infections include chronic mastitis as well as a form of cancer known as inflammatory carcinoma which is very rare.

Infections of the breast normally are caused by common bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus which is normally found on skin. This bacterium finds a crack or break in the skin to enter – usually on the nipple.

After the bacteria gains entry, the infection starts to occur in the fatty tissue area of the breast and swelling will begin. This swelling presses on the ducts of milk which results in lumps as well as pain in the breast that is infected.

Mastitis or inflammation of the tissue of the breast is a common benign cause of a mass of the breast. It is normally seen in those women after childbirth while they are breastfeeding. These masses are quite painful and women who are not breastfeeding may also have mastitis. Mastitis is fairly rare in healthy women. But in women with chronic diabetes, impaired system of immunity or AIDS can be very vulnerable to the growth of mastitis.

Breast Abscess Symptoms

• Enlargement of the breast on only one side


• Lump in the breast


• Pain in the breast


• Flu-like symptom including vomiting as well as nausea


• Fever an chills


• Itching


• Discharge from the nipple often containing pus


• Swelling and tenderness


• Body aches


• Fatigue


• Breast engorgement


• Rigor or shaking


• Changes in nipple sensation


• Enlarged or tender lymphatic nodes in the armpit on the same side as the infected breast

Women who are breast-feeding are normally not tested but an examination is normally helpful to verify the conclusion as well as rule out tricky situations for instance an abscess.
Often for those infections which keep recurring, milk taken from the nipple can be cultured. For those women not breast-feeding, tests can include breast biopsy or mammography.

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Breast Abscess Treatment

Home-care can consist of the application of heat as well as moisture to the breast tissue that is infected for 15-20 minutes 4 times daily.

Medications such as antibiotics are normally very successful in the treatment of infection. The mother will also be persuaded to keep on breast-feeding or pumping in order to alleviate breast distension from the production of milk while getting treatment. Antibiotic therapy normally clears infections up quickly.

For a simple mastitis with no abscess, oral antibiotics such as cephalexin and dicloxacillin are the 2 most commonly prescribed but there are other also available. Erythromycin can be used if the mother is allergic to other commonly used antibiotics.

In those infections which are severe where an abscess has developed, the abscesses need to be drawn off usually as an office process or by surgery. Those women amid abscesses will almost certainly be told to for the time being stop breast-feeding.

An individual should call their primary care physician if:

• Any part of the tissue of the breast grows to be tender, hot, swollen or reddened


• Breastfeeding and grow a very high fever


• Lymphatic nodes under the arm become swollen or tender

Mastitis which is chronic in women who are not breastfeeding can be complicated to treat. Often this type of infection responds very poorly to antibiotics, so close follow up with the physician is mandatory. If the infection worsens in spite of antibiotic therapy, or if there is a deep abscess which requires surgical treatment, the woman may need to be admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.

• The following can help to decrease the risk of infections of the breast:


• Care of the nipple to stop cracking and irritation


• Pumping milk as well as feeding often to avert engorgement


• Good breast feeding methods with good latching by the baby


• Slowly weaning, over many weeks, rather than stopping breast feeding abruptly

Breast Abscess

Breast Abscess






An abscess or lump formed on the breast due to bacterial infection is called Breast Abscess. The tissues of the breast can develop painful lumps making it difficult to breastfeed the child. However it is a rare phenomenon occurring in 6 in every 100 breastfeeding mothers.

Initially mastitis is formed on the breast tissue which later develops into breast abscess. In any abscess there will be pus formation inside the tissue that is difficult to drain. Staphylococcus bacteria causes breast infection and the bacteria can penetrate into the skin through small cracks available in the nipple. This infection is called mastitis that builds up inside the fatty tissue which develops inflammation forming pus like abscess. The bacteria invade the milk ducts thereby causing swelling due to pus formation.

Breast abscess can be treated with antibiotics and to avoid this type of abscess breastfeeding mother has to follow good hygiene.

Symptoms :

Enlargement of breast due to swelling, lumps or painful abscess formation on the breast, itching, tenderness of breast, and fever are some of the symptoms of breast abscess. The lump gets swollen and hot to touch hence can cause high fever or flu like symptoms. Pus is formed inside the abscess and sometimes there can be discharge from nipple. The lymph nodes on the armpit can get swollen and painful making it difficult to lift the hand.

Causes :

Breast abscess is caused by staphylococcus aureus bacterial infection. It enters the breast through minute cracks of the nipple and feeds on the milk ducts. A mother who is diabetic has increased risk of developing mastitis causing abscess or plugged ducts. Similarly mothers who have undergone surgery on the breast and breast implants have more chances for getting breast abscess.

Smoking and intake of powerful corticosteroids can cause infection leading to breast abscess.

Risk Factors :

The mothers who are not keeping consistent feeding schedule, not feeding the baby properly, wearing too tight bra which develops pressure on the milk ducts, stress and smoking can cause breast abscess in breastfeeding mothers. If you are skipping few sessions of feeding it can cause swelling of milk ducts making it easy for bacteria entry.

In rare cases, breast abscess is formed on non-feeding women who are in child bearing ages, who are obese, had previous abscess and those who have had Breast Cancer.

Prevention :

In case you are skipping feeding sessions, then you can manually remove the milk from the ducts using a pump. Breastfeeding mothers should maintain good hygiene by cleaning the breast after every feed. Avoid smoking and maintain a healthy weight.

Diagnoses :

Mere physical examination of the lumps is enough for detecting breast abscess. Sometimes your physician will administer WBC test for measuring the total white blood cells to judge the immune reaction of the body. If necessary your doctor would collect the milk sample for detecting the type of organism that has caused infection.

Treatment :

Often, breast abscess can be easily drained in the doctor’s office without needing surgery. Aspiration is the process by which the doctor presses the lump with a needle for draining the pus inside. Small sized abscess can be drained using a needle and catheter or surgical method is used for draining large sized breast abscess. After the process the wound is left open to facilitate healing.

Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics after draining the abscess for easy healing. In case the abscess is formed deep inside the tissue the mother is given local anesthesia for removing it. This procedure is called I&D and usually an incision is made from the folds of the chest without disturbing the nipple area.

Antibiotics like erythromycin, penicillin, and cephalosporin are prescribed for treating breast abscess.

You can consult your doctor whether you can breastfeed the child after surgery.

Home Care :

You can apply raw honey on the abscess since honey is an excellent antibiotic for curing bacterial infection. Apply warm or cold compress on the affected area to reduce pain and swelling. You can take warm showers followed by application of cold compress to get relief. Avoid breastfeeding the child if you have developed lumps or abscess on the breast area.

For women who are not breastfeeding can apply moisturizing cream on the nipples to prevent cracking and drying.

Complications :

In rare cases breast abscess can become chronic infection causing painful swollen breast. It can disfigure the breast area with Chronic Pain and if not attended properly it may cause Sepsis which is a bacterial blood infection.