Blocked ducts 5 months in, sorted but how to avoid reoccurring

[Littlef00t]

So my right boob has been playing up a bit recently, been tender etc but I just put it down to sleeping on it and dd going longer at night.

Except today I finally realised I had proper blocked ducts, dd basically refusing to feed from that side, rock solid painful boob all over, complete with a white dot on my nipple that's been there for weeks but I hadn't thought anything of.

Managed to clear it after intensive pumping in a hot bath (and some v dodgy things with scissors I don't really want to think about) but worried about it coming back. The dot is still there.

Please can you advise me what I should be doing? Just carry on as usual but be a bit more mindful? I'd been favouring that side for night feeds so I wasn't sleeping on a full boob, but maybe this is encouraging more milk and bit of a vicious cycle? Do I need to worry the white dot is still there?

[Philippalc]

These two articles will hopefully help Breasts Full and Tender and Mastitis Symptoms and Treatment. In the mastitis one there is a section about repeated episodes of blocked ducts/mastitis. Yes paying very careful attention to positioning and maybe trying breast compressions will make sure the breast is drained. The dot could be a bleb or something else, read more here Hope that helps.

[Littlef00t]

Thanks

[Littlef00t]

Just had a read, some v useful tips, thanks so much for posting!

[mrsnest]

I've been having this too. I did recently try Lecithin for a couple days when I was having my last incident of plugged ducts and it sorted me right out in about a day, kind of amazing. I think some people carry on taking 1x/day for a long time. I guess it improves viscosity of milk. I'm just keeping it on standby incase they come back (which I think might be due to stress?).