Mastitis - advice needed please

[misspollysdolly]

I have got mastitis in my right breast which looks like an orange peel covered red cannon ball.

Am 4 tablets into a course of Fluclox, and am taking paracetamol and codeine plus ibuprofen. It is still extremely painful though and I do feel quite pantsy.

In the left side of my breast I've got an enormous lumpy area and although I am trying to continue feeding (OWW-EE!) as normally as possible, or expressing, I cannot seem to unblock those ducts at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I can help the situation. Am scared that this will never get better and that the huge lumpy area will becaome an abcess. What do I do?

[Lisa38]

I Had that hot bath helps , cabbage leaves also, it was very painful but after few days went dont give up it gets better

[misspollysdolly]

just bumping...think the pills are kicking in but still v lumpy and sore.

[CharCharBaGOOOOOOORE]

Try getting in a warm bath, dipping your breast in the water and comb down along the lumps with a comb. Hopefully should clear the blockage. If that doesn't work, lay baby on the floor and kneel on all fours above them and feed them. The gravity helps to clear the blockage. Hope you feel better soon and definitely keep on feeding/expressing as much as you can.

[Ghouladalupe]

I second feeding on all fours, also express on all fours in the bath doing the combing thing. I remember HOURS of unblocking ducts in the bath. Hope you feel better soon.

[ilovemyghds]

I sympathise - it is truly horrible. Just advising what the others have said. Hot bath, and gently stroke around the edges to try and ease the engorged areas. Carry on feeding obviously, and I found (though it could just be me) if the baby was not draining the breast properly and feed finished with breast still lumpy, I did express a couple of times to 'finish off' the feed. Of course, that can't be done a lot, but it did help me in the initall period when I was in agony.

I also used to stroke/massage the lumpy bits when baby was feeding, so if the 'suck' was not taking it away efficiently, then I was helping it along. Though I think I had mastitis because my baby was an inefficient feeder initially, so this technique may not be advisable for everyone.

Hope it clears up soon.