women. Known risk factors are age over 30, primiparous (first birth) and late delivery. No correlation was found with smoking status; however, this may be in part because far fewer smoking women choose to breastfeed. Antibiotics were not shown effective in prevention of lactation abscess but are useful to treat a secondary infection (see the section on the treatment of breast abscess in this article).

Keratinizing squamous metaplasia of lactiferous ducts may play a similar role in the pathogenesis of nonpuerperal subareolar abscess.