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Mastitis- Helpful tips?

I was diagnosed with Mastitis today. Worse pain I have ever experienced. Any helpful tips for relieving clogged ducts? Currently have tried warm bath and releasing milk in tub, sunflower lecithin, and Poke Root.
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Get your boyfriend/husband to suck it out, or feed the baby with them on their back, and you on your hands and knees. Sounds weird but either should work.

Wet cloths in the freezer on my boobs, I puMped all day and went into the hot shower and milked myself. I’d get my partner to massage one aside while I massage the other while pumping n

Cabbage leaves directly on your breasts. Warmest shower you can handle while massaging it out. Good luck mama💗

My grandma would buy me a head of cabbage lol I would tear off a few whole leaves & they cupped my breast perfectly under my nursing bra. It was amazing, so the stink was not gonna keep me from doing it (: plus then as soon as I could get an antibiotic from doc, together I would start feeling better almost immediately (: It helped to drink one heavy on the hops beer, like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Going forward I kept a timer & journal so I wouldn’t get distracted & nurse more on one side(10 min each side) & rotate sides at the beginning of each feed & spaced exactly 2 hours apart. Sometimes they had to cry & rock till that 2 hour mark. La Leche League seriously helped me.

Hippy advice here. Took 3 rounds of antibiotics and I still had mastitis. Found an herbalist and she had me buy a tincture called happy ducts and take the full dose. We put pure castor oil on the infected breast then a wool flannel cloth over that, wrapped it in suran wrap and put a heat pad over that. This pulled the infection out. It worked after only a few days where antibiotics had failed. She also had me stop ✋doing my daily life and STAY in BED! Bc your body needs to rest.

R u in the la leche league tyne and Wear bf page on Facebook peer supporters will be able to help hun fab support x

Has anyone not been able to express at all when having mastitis? There is nothing coming out every time I try plus it’s extremely painful. I’ve been given antibiotics, I really hope it will go away soon 😭

2 replies

Did your supply get back to normal after antibiotics? I am in the same boat as you were earlier.

I currently have a few blocked ducts too and been trying since Friday to unblock with no luck , when I pump I barely get a thing out and my bubs is getting so frustrated I’m worried she’s hungry xx

I'm so sorry you're going through this! It's so painful. For me I have done hot showers, and warm compress. My favorite is using a Haakaa. If you have a haakaa manual pump put 2tbsp of epsom salt in it with warm water (or as hot as you can tolerate) and make sure your nipple is in the water. This pulls the clogged duct right out. I would try for 10-15 mins, if its a stubborn try for longer. Hope you feel better soon!

Defo usually a bleb with me still get them six months on 😆

I had a little white blister type dot on my nipple last week I had a really hot shower n kept running my nail over it till it popped it felt 100% better!

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That's what I get rather frequently. I read it's a milk bleb, but that was randomly online. I'm still wondering if it is a clogged duct and the milk bleb is what causes the clog.

Always offer the affected boob first and after feeds pump to completely drain it. I’ve had it twice in 7 weeks :(

I used a massager from Amazon called the LaVie lactation massager and that really helped. It is the worst pain. Sounds like you are doing everything you are supposed to do to fix, but the massager did help me. Hope it can help you too.

I had mastitis two weeks into nursing my son. Oversupply messed me up bad lol. Once you have a fever, you need antibiotics from a doctor, or it won't go away on it's own. Definitely keep pumping/nursing. I alternated ibuprofen and acetaminophen to control the fever and aches until the antibiotics kicked in.

I had to go on antibiotics.... Express express express Hot compresses And rub a viberator/personal massager/electric toothbrush on it... Nurse the babys chin pointed in the direction of the clog if possible

I hope you were able to get medicine from your doctor. I had it also it’s awful!

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I had a fever when I had mastitis. I could barely get up and the slightest touch of the problem boob was so painful I couldn’t lift my infant at all. I had symptoms similar to the flu, where my body was all achy and I had a fever. I have a high tolerance for pain, but the fever and pain was really slowing me down as a mom and I needed it remedied right away to care of my son. My mother in law (who also had mastitis) knew exactly what I was going through and she came over right away. I went to the doctor and they prescribed antibiotics. The results were almost instantaneous. I was nursing at the time, but the antibiotics was safe and necessary. In addition to the medicine, I kept nursing and pumping, also massaged my boob in the shower with a comb. Good luck! Mastitis is no joke!

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Good luck. Being sick while taking care of a little one is so hard. Hope you feel better soon 🙂

Thanks! Heading to urgent care now!

Has anyone had a headache, low grade fever with mastitis? Have this currently and debating whether to try and use warm compress and nurse to resolve or go to the doctor

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But keep nursing! Take ibuprofen too! Best of luck.

Go to the dr. If you have a low grade fever. Heating at this point could make the infection worse if you're not on antibiotics.

A long very hot shower with the spray as low power as possible so it doesn't hurt (twist the head or use an eco camel attachment to get gentle spray of water). Then tuck your self in bed with ibuprofen and rest. It will come back if you don't rest so use it as an excuse to have a babymoon. Get the baby feeding while you doze in bed. Hope you are feeling better soon x

Warm/cool compresses, and keep nursing!! That is the most important thing. But pumping enough to feel comfortable helps, or hand expressing.

1 reply

Lean over in the shower and manually by hand push from the top along the ducts toward the nipple. Instant relief for me alongb with heat compresses then coooling ice compresses and cabbage leaves during the day too under a bra right on the skin. Pumping... but not a lot! ...bc then your body thinks it needs to make that much more...just about 1- up to 2 oz... Expressing it out by hand is the best way.

Keep pumping.

I had mastitis but at first I thought I had the flu because of my temp and body aches... it was bad! It was really painful to nurse so I pumped which really helped, and then I let my mom and partner feed the baby while I slept/rested. Make sure you take Tylenol or Advil to stay ahead of the pain & use a heat pack. Lots of rest, fluids, and nourishing foods like soup with lots of garlic! Also lots of rest! Hope you start feeling better soon... it will get better ✨

Express.

Pineapple juice. Drink a whole bunch and you’ll be able to massage it out while breastfeeding. Also lean over your baby while you breastfeed. The babies chin where the clogged duct is. I had to stop pumping. It kept giving me clogged ducts and cracking my nipples.

Alcoholic free beer, the yeast in it is supposed to help

Raw xabbage leaf for no more than 40 min does wonders for me. Be careful not to leave it for too long since it decreases breast milk production..at least thats whats said. But in my experience is the most effective against mastitis

The best thing I did was raw cabbage leaves over night, I had it that bad that I couldn't move. Hope it helps xx

Get it aaall out. Feed. Pump. Completely drain. And Take your meds!

I never had mastitis but I’m in this breastfeeding group on fb that always has amazing advice! It’s called breastfeeding mamas if you want the link message me. 😊

3 replies

@Lyndsay can I have the link please

Can I have the link to this??

Your spouse can help you. That’s what my lactation consultant told me. She said that your spouse can create the same motion as your baby but get more suction. Lol it helped me. As well as using a warm cloth while I pumped and managed my breast. Sometimes it takes all three things to get it unclogged. Not to mention that if your man is sucking away it tells your body to produce more milk.

Comb your breast!! Literally get a wide tooth comb and comb your breast up and down take a hot hot bath then put coconut oil and start combing good luck!!

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They say once you’ve had mastitis you never forget that pain! So true! I had it only on one boob. It looked like that one boob went on a trip to Cancun! It was sooooo red and swollen. Just grazing it with my shirt hurt like I was being electrocuted. I tried everything including cabbage leaves, combing it in the shower and even my husband trying to suck it out (he was for sure happy to help out!) What really worked were antibiotics. As soon as I took it, I started feeling so much better! My fever went away and I was able to stand up without feeling nauseous. The boob went back to normal, but it did take a few days. This post looks to be a couple months old, so I’m guessing you’ve found a solution. Hoping somehow some others may find this response helpful? :) Boo @ Mastitis! 👎👎👎👎👎

Heating pad is going to be your best friend I've had two clogged ducts and was flat miserable until I put a heating pad on them before pumping or breastfeeding and it seemed to help it didn't make them go away but it did ease the pain for a little bit

Girl I had it 3 weeks ago it sucks stick to a pumping schedule

My doctor recommended I pump 5 minutes longer than I usually would to relieve the extra engorgement

Maybe I'm weird but when I was Taking a hot shower I would try and remove it like myself would like a my nail I would softly scratch at it to try and unclog it as much as possible other than rubbing and rubbing . I also had heating pads that I would use while pumping and breastfeeding. The quickest way I found to remove it was hot shower and then breastfeeding immediately after

Just sharing from my experiences, I've had mastitis maybe 5-6 times my last two babies. I took colloidal silver and wrapped hot/warm diapers around my ta tas. The dipes work amazingly. They actually keep the heat for quite a while. Where other warm compresses just get cold. Lecithin is definitely a must. Proper hydration. So easy for a Mama to get dehydrated. Even a gallon for some moms isn't enough! 😳 Going bra-less, sleeping on your back. Mastitis is not pleasant at all!! Good luck Mamas!

Breastfeed, then pump to drain the breasts as much as possible, then soak your breasts in a HOT bath and while in the bath massage and manually express milk by hand under the water. When I do this, I will visibly see the ‘clog’ crystals come out of my nipple underneath the water! Strange but works!

Sounds weird but if you have a massager, I've heard that firm pressure and vibration can help release the clot.

1 reply

Oh wow. I think this would've worked when I had mastitis. I basically massaged it myself hard and aggressively.

It's so painful mine was worse , but use warm towel as you massage it plus pumping.

Warm pack for about 10 minutes then pump right after, massage the breast while pumping.

Take lots of probiotics !!!!!!!

If you have a Hakaa I heard you could fill it with hot water and epsom salt and put it on your breast and then massage your breast to help loosen the clog and pull it out

4 replies

How high do you fill the hakaa?

I can verify that this works!

I used cold cabbage leaves when i went cold turkey and stopped breastfeeding but i think you should avoid this if continuing to breast feed as i think this encourages the milk to dry up. Grin ans bear it, it will get better its just bloody painful. Massage and warm showers.

Probiotics !!!!

I got it twice , I only have one kid lol but I saw some one mention cabbage leafs , that really does work wonders , I went to the doc & the prescribed me something as well that combo definitely helped

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If clogs are reoccurring, hands down, try sunflower lecithin...it makes the milk come out quicker and less likely for clogs. You can get powder, liquid, or pill lecithin off Amazon. I was an exclusive pumper for 14 months and once I started taking this...no more clogs

Do feedings when you dangle your breast over your baby and they are laying flat

Vibrator works great

Do you have a pump? Or try breastfeeding to relieve the pressure

1 reply

Massage, have the baby nurse from the breast affected first, and I filled a Poland spring water bottle with hot water and rolled it on the area that hurt to loosen it up.

Make sure you also gently wipe a warm wet cloth across your nipple to make sure no skin or debris is blocking the duct from the outside. That's what happened to me. I had a milk blockage at the nipple. Good luck and feel better!

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