Mastitis and breast health

Breast health is important, all the time but especially when lactating. Traditionally people are not taught about breast health, or how to deal with problems that may arise when lactating. Here are some of the common things that can come up during lactation:

• Blebs- these look like little pimples on the nipple, and sometimes they will open up and you might see a thick white stringy thing come out. Best advice for blebs- do NOT pop it! Don’t use a needle, don’t pick at it, leave it alone. And reach out to a skilled IBCLC for help. There are easy things we can do to help, and more importantly we can work on discovering and treating the root cause!

• Plugged ducts- these feel like little lumps in the breast, sometimes hard, sometimes tender, but not red or hot. Frequently people try to get rid of these by massaging and pushing hard, sometimes with an elbow or heel of a hand. Please do NOT do that. A breast is not just a muscle, or a sack filled with milk. It is a gland, like a pancreas. So please be SUPER gentle. As gentle as you would be to your baby. Choline can help as prevention, as can breast specific probiotics. Again, root cause should be identified if you want to avoid having this continue happening.

• Mastitis- red, warm, tender, and usually has a lump. You might also feel fevered, achy or feel like you have the flu. Thankfully about 98% of the time you don’t need antibiotics!! There are wonderful gentle options here that can help quickly. This is when you need skilled support from an IBCLC quickly! Don’t wait, the quicker you get help the faster you will heal. And healing quickly will protect your supply as well.

  Breast health is important. When everything is going well it’s not something you think about, but when you are hurting it can seem so hard to figure out what to do. Save this page and reach out if you need anything!!