WEBVTT - Can You Lactate from Areas Outside Your Breasts?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. Pregnancy and motherhood are

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<v Speaker 1>two of the most challenging experiences life can throw at

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<v Speaker 1>a person, and while neither is ever easy, unique complications

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<v Speaker 1>can make the inherently tough situations exponentially tougher. Case in point,

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<v Speaker 1>a twenty nine year old woman in Austria who developed

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<v Speaker 1>a super rare case of a topic breast tissue that

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<v Speaker 1>caused her to lactate from an unexpected area her volva. Confused,

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<v Speaker 1>it's safe to assume the woman experiencing it was too.

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<v Speaker 1>It all started soon after she gave birth to her

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<v Speaker 1>second child. A severe pain developed in the right side

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<v Speaker 1>of her vulva, which doctors assumed was related to the

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<v Speaker 1>sutures she had received after the birth. They figured her

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<v Speaker 1>pain and excessive swelling were due to an abscess, but

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<v Speaker 1>there was another odd symptom that didn't quite line up

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<v Speaker 1>with their theory. A milky white fluid was being released

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<v Speaker 1>from the area. It turns out the woman had experienced

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<v Speaker 1>similar symptoms after the birth of her first child, and

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<v Speaker 1>when doctors performed an ultrasound, the answer became clear. There

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<v Speaker 1>was breast tissue growing on her volva. Believe it or not,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a real condition that can happen to anyone,

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<v Speaker 1>albeit it doesn't happen very often. A topic breast tissue,

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<v Speaker 1>also known as accessory breast tissue, is breast tissue that

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<v Speaker 1>develops anywhere outside the breasts and can be found in

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<v Speaker 1>about six percent of the population. Ectopic simply means occurring

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<v Speaker 1>in an abnormal place or position. According to a report

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<v Speaker 1>published in the journal Upsettrics and Gynecology, which detailed the

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<v Speaker 1>case of the woman mentioned above quote, A topic breast tissue,

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<v Speaker 1>defined as memory glands located outside of the breast, arises

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<v Speaker 1>from remnants of the embryonic milk line or memory ridge.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's break that down. All mammals, including humans, develop a

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<v Speaker 1>memory ridge as embryos. This is the area where nipples

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<v Speaker 1>form and where memory glands and breast tissue developed during puberty.

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<v Speaker 1>For some Surprisingly though, breast tissue and nipples can actually

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<v Speaker 1>develop anywhere along the milk line, which runs from the

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<v Speaker 1>armpits to the growing on both sides of the body.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've ever heard of someone having a third nipple

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<v Speaker 1>like Chandler Bing's nubbin on the show Friends, ectopic breast

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<v Speaker 1>tissue is the cause. This sort of situation is rare,

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<v Speaker 1>but it happens, and it's not often even discovered until

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<v Speaker 1>problems arise, like in the case of the Austrian mom.

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<v Speaker 1>In her case, the swelling and pain was a result

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<v Speaker 1>of a condition called galactos stasis, which means milk backs

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<v Speaker 1>up and causes pain. It turns out the women's stitches

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<v Speaker 1>were covering an excretory duct, so the milk really had

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<v Speaker 1>nowhere to go. Once doctors removed the sutures, her pain

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<v Speaker 1>immediately went away, and the swelling and milk discharged from

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<v Speaker 1>the vulva gradually diminished over the next two weeks. She's

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<v Speaker 1>been able to breastfeed normally for the time being, but

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<v Speaker 1>doctors say they may have to consider removing the tissue

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<v Speaker 1>in the future. While there's no standard treatment required for

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<v Speaker 1>asymptomatic topic breast tissue, it is possible for it to

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<v Speaker 1>become cancerous, so surveillance and eventual removal may be necessary.

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<v Speaker 1>The moral of the story, get to know the potential

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<v Speaker 1>weirdnesses of the human body and don't be a aid

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<v Speaker 1>to raise concerns with your doctor if any of that

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<v Speaker 1>potential is realized. Today's episode. We're written by Michelle Konstantinovski

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production

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<v Speaker 1>of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in

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<v Speaker 1>this and lots of other unusual topics, visit our home planet,

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com and for more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio was at the I heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.