Nipple Discharge
Karina, 30, stopped breastfeeding her son five months ago yet reports her breasts are still emitting a discharge. Concerned, she turns to surgical breast specialist Dr. Kristi Funk for help.

Dr. Funk explains that 85 percent of women have nipple discharge, and the most common cause of nipple discharge is a dilated duct. The second most common cause of discharge is a papilloma, a solid, pre-cancerous mass that grows in the duct and needs to be removed.

Dr. Lisa adds that some women who have recently stopped breastfeeding experience milk let-down, which is when a baby crying will stimulate the hormones in a woman and cause her to lactate spontaneously.

Dr. Funk performs a breast ultrasound on Karina and determines that Karina has nothing to worry about, and Karina smiles with relief.


Discharge Colors
Dr. Funk explains that when discharge comes from both nipples and is milky, green or amber, there is rarely cause for alarm. Clear, bloody, or rust-colored discharge is a concern and should be tested immediately.

Discharge that you can massage out of the nipple is different than discharge that appears spontaneously. “If you can push it out, I don’t care. If it comes out by itself, I start to worry,” Dr. Funk says.

“If you have copious, or large amounts of discharge coming from both nipples, multiple ducts, randomly, at any age of your life when you’re not breastfeeding, what you possibly have is a brain tumor,” Dr. Funk continues. “It’s easily tested for with a simple blood test.”


What’s Age Got to Do with It?
“Age matters a lot,” the breast expert says. “If you have spontaneous discharge, and it’s bloody, now we have some cancer risk going on. If you are less than 40 years old, the chances of it being cancer are about 3 percent. If you’re 40 to 60 years old, the risk is 10 percent, and if you’re over 60, the risk is 30 percent.”

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