blocked duct? help?

[openerofjars]

I woke up this morning with a painful breast with a lump in it and a red streak along the breast.

Feeding DD helped and was painful but not agonising.

I feel really ropey and achey and have been sick.

What can I do &/or do I need to see a GP?

[openerofjars]

Scuse typo in thread title, bloody phone.

[babsmam]

Keep feeding on that side as much as you can it will hurt but does help.

It sounds like you are developing mastitis (although I'm not medically qualified) so go and see a GP pronto.

In the interim Savoy cabbage leaves do work as does a hot flannel and massage the affected area.

[openerofjars]

Thanks babsmum. I've called the out of hours GP (all GPs here shut for the afternoon on Thursdays) and they're going to call me back.

I haven't been sick again but I do feel kind of achey and ropey and feeding hurts on that side, plus the lump and the red bit haven't gone away.

Having rung them I now feel like a massive fraud, of course.

[scrivette]

Don't feel guilty. Did the doctor give you anything? Keep feeding from that side to push the blockage through. I found that having a very hot bath and then feeding helped.

[openerofjars]

The lovely nurse practitioner said it could be a bad block or mastitis and has given me a prescription for antibiotics and said to go and cash it in for tablets tomorrow first thing if it's the same or worse by the morning.

It has to be said that it has looked better. I mean, at 35 and with two years of bfing under my belt, they aren't exactly pristine any more, but having a red mark across one of them is frankly just unattractive.

I've got a night out planned for next Friday. I was going to get trollied with my friend. We never get any time off and now I've got a suppurating boob.

[SucksFake]

Poor you.

Blocked ducts/mastitis can both be so painful.

Definitely keep feeding fom the affected side. I had a blocked duct recently (& having been hospitalised with mastitis when feeding DC1, I was keen to sort it out pronto!); my friend is a bf peer supporter & gave me the tip to direct the baby's nose along the affected duct. It might take a bit of effort to get the position right, but it definitely worked for me.

I could actually hear my DS gasping when he relieved the blockage & obviously got a big flow of milk!

I hope you feel better soon.

[musttidyupBeforeSantaComes]

So painful and feeling crappy sounds like mastitis too. Hot flannels also a good idea and get a comb with roundish ends and comb the lump/strek down towards the nipple. Also express off after feeding if you can to drain the breast completely.

[musttidyupBeforeSantaComes]

Streak not strek

[musttidyupBeforeSantaComes]

Btw I once unblocked in the bath and oh my goodness it was like a fountain it hit me right in the eye full force. Felt much better after

[ChocolateCoins]

Really warm/hot bath or shower can help too I've heard. Hope it goes soon op.

[LakeFlyPie]

I had loads of blocked ducts during DS1 early bf days and found ibuprofen (and loads of bf on affected side) really helped.

Hope it's better v soon

[FaintlyMacabre]

Loads of good tips here but I got this from Kellymom (I think). Fill a disposable nappy with hot tap water and use it as a compress- it moulds nicely to the shape of the breast and doesn't drip everywhere!
Hope you feel better very soon.

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

I had a gel pack that you warm and applied to the area.it was doughnut shaped with a hole for the nipple so you could feed whilst warming the blockage. Worked a treat.

Wouldn't recommend shelling out for special pads though (we only had them because on day2 of breastfeeding DP was sent out for nipple shield and in a panic bought one of everything he could find) but maybe try the hot flannel whilst feeding?

[openerofjars]

Oh, thank you all! I've never had a buggered boob before so it's good to get some sensible advice (GP receptionist just told me to call back again in the morning, great). Ive been given special dispensation to have ibuprofen instead of useless paracetamol by the nice nurse. I don't actually own a comb, though.

I'm in the enviable position of having an amazing baby girl who sleeps for 12 hours a night , so will have a hot bath and express in the bath before bed, and try and do some hot flannel stuff after I've dropped DS at nursery tomorrow.

And DD will just have to cope with watching too much crappy daytime television for a 6mo person tomorrow. We're going on a demo tomorrow night so we need to be well rested.

Thank you again [wan tearful smiley]

[openerofjars]

The nappy idea is a great one but I can imagine it works best with a tiny size 1 newborn nappy and huge matching breast, not massive DD's size 4s and my b-cups. Hmm. You know that stage when you look down and notice that your baby's head is now bigger than its food source?

[freelancegirl]

Check for milk blisters too - dr google will tell you all about them. I thought I had a blocked duct but it was being blocked by a milk blister, I could see the thing when looking closely. It too developed into mastitis on that side. I couldn't get a docs appointment and was desperate so, knowing I had to unblock it somehow I - look away if you're queasy - found the best thing to do was to unblock the blister with a hot (sterilised) needle!! It sounds worse than it is and didn't actually hurt. It was just a case of pricking the surface of the blister so the milk behind could come out. Flipping scary to do though! I was desperate however, the pain from the blister felt like someone taking a razor blade to my nipple.

[Angelico]

Oh God the agony!!! I have felt your pain all too recently and although I am a novice what helped me was:
a) shitloads of Ibuprofen and paracetamol at the critical stage (I was getting loads blocked, one whole side of boob, ducts blocking in sequence like fecking dominos)
b) feed and express lots
c) hot bath
d) combing with wide-tooth comb
e) 3 lecithin capsules a day when any blocked ducts and occasional capsules when I remember in between.
ABs will help fairly quickly too but by aggressively using steps above I cleared the feckers within 24 hours when previously it took a good 48.

[openerofjars]

Right, update: I have the antibiotics and they are working. Also, there was an almost audible pop when DD was feeding yesterday and it is all feeling a lot better. It still hurts when I lie on my left side but it doesn't make my eyes water any more.

So, nearly home and dry then!

Thanks for so much sympathy and advice.