“Discharging residual milk” is a concept that has only become popular in recent years.
Many mothers have heard or seen some remarks from beauty salons, confinement centers, and the Internet about “remaining milk is not discharged, it will affect the health of the body”, such as if the residual milk is not discharged Clean, it can deteriorate in the breast, producing harmful substances like “toxins”, which can eventually lead to breast disease and even breast cancer.
This scares many mothers, for fear that they will lead to a series of breast diseases because they have not discharged residual milk.
Is this true?
In medicine, there is no such thing as “discharging residual milk”
Residual milk refers to the milk that is not fully discharged in the mammary ducts after weaning.
“Removing residual milk” is actually a false proposition. There is no such thing as “removing residual milk” in medicine. It is a normal physiological phenomenon to have residual milk in the breast, and it is not a so-called “toxin” .
After weaning, the body’s own breast tissue has a “recycling function”, which can metabolize and absorb the residual milk, so the “residual milk” does not need to be excreted by external force.
Many mothers are still wondering, since the breast tissue can absorb itself, why the breasts can still squeeze out a small amount of yellow sticky substance like rice paste for several months or years after weaning, and these liquids remain in the breast. Is it safe within the breast?
Milk is also released after weaning
First of all, we should understand that the human body’s ability to excrete milk is regulated by the brain’s neurosecretion and by the pituitary gland to produce prolactin to form milk.
After weaning, the secretion of prolactin in the body gradually decreases and gradually disappears. The breast does not have an on-off button. You can press the off button and the milk will disappear immediately. It cannot be done. It takes a certain amount of time to absorb slowly, months or even years, and it is slowly absorbed by the breast ducts on their own.
And once the breast is stimulated by external massage, rubbing, sucking, etc., the human body will secrete milk again. This is why many mothers still express milk after weaning for a period of time.
At this time, because the milk has not been fed for a long time, the prolactin is reduced, the water is gradually absorbed, and the proportion of fat increases and becomes thick, so it will appear light yellow like rice paste.
There is no relationship between residual milk and breast disease
There is no medical data to show that residual milk is related to breast disease. Neither breast nodules, mastitis or breast cancer have any causal relationship with residual milk.
Breast disease has a certain relationship with estrogen, family inheritance, long-term anxiety, alcohol consumption, etc.
“China Anti-Cancer Association Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines and Specifications 2017 Edition” on breast cancer risk factors are:
▶ Have a family history of breast cancer
▶ Patients with previous ductal or lobular dysplasia or lobular carcinoma in situ
▶ Previous chest radiation therapy
If mothers do not have the above risk factors, there is no need to worry too much, and there is no need to “discharge residual milk”.
Failure to discharge residual milk has no effect on the next child
The residual milk has no effect on the mammary gland, so it will have no effect on the next breastfeeding.
The secretion of milk needs to be stimulated. If the milk is not enough, the baby can suck more, and the milk will be secreted again by stimulating the milk. At the same time, mothers should pay attention to more rest, reasonable diet, and maintain a good mood, which is conducive to the increase of milk, and has nothing to do with whether or not to discharge residual milk.
Mothers don’t need to pay attention to the remarks of some unscrupulous businessmen. They just seize the cognitive blind spot of mothers, magnify their fears, and use people’s fear to seek benefits.
What mothers need to be vigilant about is some so-called massage milk discharge, if the method is wrong, it will cause harm to the breast.
What should mothers pay attention to after weaning
After weaning, mothers need to self-examine their breasts and visit regular hospitals for regular check-ups in order to keep abreast of their breast conditions.
After weaning, if the breastPus, brown, red liquid indicates that there is a problem with the breast, but this has nothing to do with residual milk, and you need to go to a regular hospital for inspection.
Mothers can usually do some breast expansion exercises, and pay attention to regular work and rest, adequate sleep, balanced diet, and a happy mood, all of which are conducive to protecting breasts.
Loving oneself starts with staying away from “discharging residual milk”, and caring for breasts in the correct way is the kingly way.