Do men have mammary glands? Underdeveloped organs of internal secretion in this area are present in the representatives of the stronger sex. However, due to their lack of ability to produce milk, they are commonly called mammary glands.
The mammary gland in men is less susceptible to the development of pathologies. However, diseases that affect the presented area are still found in medical practice.
Gynecomastia
The most common ailment that affects the mammary gland in men is gynecomastia. The disease is manifested by the occurrence of benign seals in the area of the ducts of the secretory tract. At the same time, the lack of timely diagnosis and proper treatment can lead to the development of a cancerous tumor. The only option in the latter case would be the removal of the mammary glands in men.
Gynecomastia predominantly affects the body of adult men and is more often of a genetic nature. Since the disease is an atypical pathology forrepresentatives of the stronger sex, they reveal it, as a rule, at an advanced stage.
Gyno Symptoms
The main sign that a man should pay attention to is the development of an acute pain syndrome, the localization of which depends on the clinical picture and the degree of development of the disease. Despite the benign nature of tumors, an increase in the mammary glands in men with gynecomastia is accompanied by swelling of the chest, the appearance of extensive reddened areas. Outwardly, the male breast becomes similar to the female as a result of sagging under the weight of the inflamed tissue.
In advanced stages, the main symptom is the appearance of bloody discharge from the nipples. The clinical picture is supplemented by the appearance of swollen areas in the armpits.
Forms of gynecomastia
There are several types of gynecomastia in men:
- Mondor's disease is an extremely rare manifestation of gynecomastia, the nature of which is not fully understood. The main symptom is the formation of so-called strands in the region of the mammary glands. The latter stretch up to the armpits. The cause of the development of the disease is chest trauma.
- Nipple adenoma. According to the symptoms, the disease is in many ways similar to breast cancer. The main sign of the development of this pathology is the formation of small nodules in the region of the secretory tract. If such a seal occurs in the mammary gland in a man, therapy involves surgery.
- Fat necrosis is a serious formgynecomastia. It develops as a result of traumatism of small vessels that lie in the adipose tissue of the breast. The result of insufficient oxygen supply to tissues often becomes their extensive necrosis. If a pathology is detected, an immediate surgical operation is required.
Treatment of gynecomastia in men
Elimination of pathology can occur both surgically and with the use of conservative methods of treatment.
If the inflamed mammary gland in men is detected in the early stages of the development of the disease, they resort to drug therapy. The patient is prescribed a complex of hormonal drugs, the use of which allows the endocrine glands to normalize.
In cases where this method fails, neoplasms in the chest area are removed by surgery under local anesthesia. With a timely response to the problem after the surgical operation, repeated relapses do not occur.
Male breast cancer
The occurrence of cancerous tumors in the region of the mammary endocrine glands is rare and affects less than 1% of men. Pathology most often develops in the stronger sex in old age. This disease in men is characterized by unilateral localization of the affected tissue.
Symptoms
Breast cancer in men appears as a painless lump that may have an unnatural location. In about 30% of cases, the aggravating consequence of the development of the tumor is the retraction or sagging of the nipple, less often - thickening of the skin and its ulceration.
Diagnosis
The method of mammographic examination allows to detect breast cancer in a man. To distinguish pathology from gynecomastia, they additionally resort to performing ultrasound. The use of the latter solution makes it possible to determine the structure of a pathogenic neoplasm, to find out its potential danger. An MRI and biopsy allows a specialist to get a complete picture of the disease.
Treatment
Help for the development of breast cancer in men is similar to the treatment of the disease in women. The main approach is a combination of general and local therapies. At the initial stages, specialists resort to radiation, hormonal and chemotherapeutic treatment. In the most advanced cases, a surgical mastectomy is performed, which involves the removal of the mammary glands in men.
Mastitis
The disease is an inflammation of the endocrine glands. The disease affects mainly the female body. However, manifestations of mastitis are also found in the male part of the population in old age. Most often, the disease develops in the stronger sex as a result of hormonal disruptions in the body, which causes the secretory glands to work with double activity. Sometimes the cause of the pathology is an infectious lesion of tissues.
Symptoms
How does mastitis manifest itself? First of all, the mammary gland in men acquires atypical sensitivity. Later, there is quite a strong pain in the nipple area. Areas of reddened skin appear above the area of inflammation.
In the absence of therapy, there is a local and general increase in body temperature. With an infectious form of the disease, tachycardia appears. All this may be accompanied by an excess of the norm of leukocytes in the blood.
Treatment
Treatment for mastitis involves taking antibiotics. As practice shows, medications of this plan eliminate the effect of infection on the body and alleviate the general condition already during the first day.
Mastitis in men can also be treated with traditional medicine. Effectively eliminate the manifestations of the disease compresses based on the juice of Kalanchoe, aloe, carrots. Relieve inflammation allows applying broken leaves of plantain and cabbage to the area of edema.
In closing
As you can see, diseases that affect the mammary endocrine glands in the stronger sex are quite rare. The main he alth hazard is the atypical nature of such pathologies for the male body. As a result, untimely diagnosis and treatment.
