Only wash your breasts with water when you bath or shower. The little bumps (Montgomery glands) on your areolae produce an oil that moisturises and protects your nipples. Soaps and shower gels can strip this natural oil, causing dryness and irritation. Air-dry your nipples or dab them gently with a towel.
While you don't need to thoroughly clean your nipples after each and every feeding, it's a good idea to at least give them a rinse a few times throughout the day. This helps to remove any traces of saliva and gives you a chance to add some unscented, baby-approved moisturizer.
The crustiness you're referring to is likely related to the discharge from the nipple that has dried, forming a crusty scale. In most cases, nipple discharge is nothing to worry about. It could be due to cysts in the breasts, non-cancerous tumors, or infection, among other conditions.
Nipple discharge is very common. Fluid can be obtained from the nipples of approximately 50–70% of normal women when special techniques, massage, or devices such as breast pumps are used. This discharge of fluid from a normal breast is referred to as 'physiological discharge'.
Montgomery glands can become filled with a waxy substance. The gland then resembles a pimple with a white or yellowish head. These spots are known as Montgomery tubercles. Women do not have to be pregnant or breast-feeding for this to occur.
Breast eczema (atopic dermatitis) is a condition that causes your skin to become dry, discolored, itchy and bumpy. It may appear in the dark areas around your nipples (areolas), between your breasts, under your breasts, on the sides of your breasts or elsewhere on your chest.
Montgomery glands
The darker area of skin around the nipple is called the areola. On the areola there are some little raised bumps. These are quite normal and are called Montgomery glands. They produce fluid to moisturise the nipple.
Sometimes a woman's breasts make milk even though she is not pregnant or breastfeeding. This condition is called galactorrhea (say: guh-lack-tuh-ree-ah). The milk may come from one or both breasts. It may leak on its own or only when the breasts are touched.
The nipple has thin and delicate skin, making them prone to dryness, chafing, and redness. That's why it's worth incorporating a nipple cream or moisturizer into your routine that provides relief to dry skin and replenishes lost moisture.
Keep your breasts and nipples clean by washing them daily with warm water in the shower or bath. Also, avoid using soap on your breasts. Soap can cause dry, cracked, and irritated skin. It can also remove the natural oils produced by the Montgomery glands located on the dark area surrounding your nipples.
Let your piercing soak for approximately 5-10 minutes or longer. Heat the water in the microwave before you soak your nipple. Do not burn your skin, but the warmer the water the better. Discard the solution from the glass once you are through.
Most pimples on the nipple should be left alone. The body will clear them without outside help, and popping them can make them worse. This is especially true on sensitive skin areas, including the nipple.
Avoid popping: Even though these glands may look like pimples on your breast, they are not pimples. You shouldn't try to pop them. Do not treat with acne medication. Not only can acne medication dry out your areola, but many acne treatments are dangerous.
Squeezing Montgomery glands
Although they look a bit like small pimples that could be popped, they're a normal part of your breast anatomy and should be left alone. Attempting to remove the tubercles by squeezing or picking might make them even more noticeable, or cause them to become infected.
As with pimples everywhere else on your body, you shouldn't stress about this, provided the bumps come and go. “It's rarely of any significance,” Dr. Holmes says. You have an ingrown hair: If you examine the bumps on your nipples and areolae, you might notice strands of hair.
While removing nipple hair is generally considered safe, some methods, such as tweezing, waxing, or shaving, can be uncomfortable. In addition, these methods can also increase the chances of ingrown hairs or infection, both of which can be painful. There is nothing dangerous about removing nipple hair.
All you need to do is rub some moisturiser or massage oil on your fingertips, massage over your nipples in a circular motion and gently pull your nipples outward with your thumb and index finger. You can do this twice a day for five minutes each.
You do not need to wash your breasts. You can use water to clean your nipples when you have a shower. You do not need to use soap on your nipples.
A white bleb is a very small white spot on the nipple tip. It forms in two ways - either when a tiny bit of skin overgrows the opening of the nipple and forms a blockage in the duct, or through the formation of a string of hardened or fattier milk within the duct. This is why it has a white or yellow spot appearance.
What does a cracked nipple look like? Crusty, with flaky skin or scabs on or around your nipple. Red and dry, sometimes with more pronounced redness at the tip.
Eczema of the nipple occurs when an itchy, scaly, irritated rash develops in the areola (area of dark skin surrounding the nipple). It can occur on one or both nipples. Usually it is caused by irritation from certain articles of clothing, soaps, laundry detergents, or lotions.
Galactorrhea is a condition where your breasts leak milk. The main sign of galactorrhea is when it happens in people who aren't pregnant or breastfeeding. It's caused by stimulation, medication or a pituitary gland disorder.