Multimedia

Most breast rashes have the same causes as rashes occurring elsewhere on the body. Some rashes occur only on the breast.

Causes of rash that occur only on the breast may include:

  1. Breast abscess
  2. Inflammatory breast cancer
  3. Mammary duct ectasia
  4. Mastitis (an infection in breast tissue.)
  5. Nipple dermatitis
  6. Paget's disease of the breast

General causes of rash that can affect any part of the body, including the breast, include:

  1. Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
  2. Candidiasis (especially under the breasts)
  3. Cellulitis (a skin infection)
  4. Dermatitis
  5. Hives and angioedema
  6. Psoriasis
  7. Scabies
  8. Seborrheic dermatitis
  9. Shingles

Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

March 24, 2022