To ask for your recommendations for a blocked breast duct?

[Treeshadow]

I have had a lump for several months now. I did get it checked at the breast clinic, it was biopsied and came back as "inflammation" in the duct. They said it would go away on its own. I am not breastfeeding or pregnant.

A couple of months later it hasn't gone away and it very hot and red. Glands are up too. GP has given me a week-long antibiotic. No result yet and it's the end of the week, in fact it's bigger and more fiery red than ever before.

Next stage is back to the breast clinic. But I'm going away for a month so unless the referral goes through very soon I will miss it. And anyway I don't want to take up an important space when I'm fairly sure this is not life or death.

Please can I ask for your cures to unblock a blocked duct without the help of breast feeding? Thanks so much.

Have you tried cabbage leaves in your bra?

I have been referred to a surgeon via the breast clinic for something similar. I stopped breastfeeding over a year and a half ago but can still hand express small amounts of milk.
Have you tried hand expressing and all the usual methods cold compresses etc? Can you borrow a breast pump (eBay?).

When feeding usually a hot shower head and hand expressing works, but given that you aren’t feeding I highly doubt there is anything you can do to clear it yourself.

The cabbage leaves are nonsense (and gross, and also could make things worse by introducing new bacteria) BUT a cool compress would help you feel better until you can get to the breast clinic - and absolutely do go, because infections are dangerous. You deserve that appointment every bit as much as someone who was, is, or will be breast feeding.

@mallorie Savoy cabbage has anti inflammatory properties.

I think this is something you will need the doctor to treat.

@Racecarddriver evidence please? Oh wait there isn't any!

Don’t knock a dark green cabbage leaf til you’ve tried it. I had mystery inflammation, bright red hot boobs in early breast feeding days (I know you’re not breast feeding), not mastitis or thrush, feeding itself not painful. Couple of cabbage leaves for a few hours, the relief was immense. Unless you have open wounds/broken skin you probably don’t need to worry about bacteria as a pp said. Hope you get to the bottom of the cause soon.

I was told to take soy lecithin tablets when I had recurrent blocked ducts while breastfeeding. I don't know if it would help if you're not, but might be worth a look online for some information?

Savoy cabbage is indeed used to treat mastitis.
Not any old cabbage but its the enzymes in savoy cabbage so may be worth trying.
AND its NOT an old wives tale Mallorie any breastfeeding clinic will advice savoy cabbage

If you do go along the lines of using a breast pump, can I suggest you use it on all fours with your breasts hanging down (sorry that really doesn't sound great ) this has helped me a few times with blocked ducts!

OP therapeutic ultrasound (from a physio) might work or just a good old fashioned vibrator, it can shift a blocked duct like nothing else, hope you get some relief.

Woman is engorged because of too much milk - she either waits, or puts cabbage in her bra and waits, either way, she becomes less engorged.

Woman has mastitis or another infection, has medical treatment and waits, or has medical treatment and cabbage leaves and waits, almost always, either way, she improves.

The cabbage leaves usually come from the fridge, so the coolness can offer a bit of relief that you can get more sensibly and hygienically from a cool flannel or a compress.

The waiting, or the medical treatment and the waiting, and the coolness of the stupid cabbage, that's what helps. Not the 'anti-inflammatory properties' of externally applied fucking cabbage, which is, indeed, utter bollocks. Otherwise intelligent people (many of whom may work in breastfeeding clinics) want to believe in magic, but OP, I hope you'll trust medical treatment and common sense instead.

Thank you for your helpful replies.

Stayawayfromitsmouth, have you seen the surgeon yet? Is there a possibility of surgery or what have they advised? That’s quite scary.

Thenewaveragebear, did you try the soy lecithin tablet and did they help? I will get some tomorrow anyway.

Noodledoodler I have a sonic face washer thing from Foreo. I’ll give it a go! And also a non sonic magic wand which has a much more powerful buzz to it. Maybe I’ll alternate.

And if that doesn’t work, or maybe once they have started to work, I guess a breast pump would be helpful to expel it.

I don’t think a cabbage leaf could hurt, at the very least it will cool it and it might have an effect. I did try cool compresses but why not the old fashioned route.

I hope you get it sorted OP. I used to get a lot of blocked ducts (breastfeeding, but I see you're not), and I used to be able to fish little stones out my nipples with a pin which was a lot more fun and a lot less gross than it sounds.
The heat of the shower while hand expressing helped a lot.

I had these a lot while breastfeeding, I'm not sure if it would help if you're not feeding but I was advised slow release ibuprofen helps reduce inflammation and obviously helps with pain - it's the tablets you take every 12 hours, not the ordinary ones - obviously only if ibuprofen is ok for you to take, I know it's not good for some medical conditions - this was a lifesaver for me. I also found heat more helpful than cold - a compress with a hot flannel or massaging under a hot shower.
I took lecithin, I don't know if it was that that helped solved the problem as I was trying a few things at once but it was fairly cheap and didn't do any harm. I also found that the type of bra I wore made a big difference, but again I don't know if that's just a breastfeeding thing - anything too tight or with wires was a problem, but equally sports bra style bras didn't seem to give enough protection/support and made it worse, t-shirt style bras with moulded cups but no underwire worked best in the end.
Hope something that helps soon, it's an awful pain, I really sympathise. If it is an infection, it could become an abscess, so do keep on at the doctor's if it's not improving.

Hi there. I've had this a number of times before. I have breastfed in the past. Antibiotics do not get rid of it, but what has worked is strong anti inflammatory drugs along with very strong wide ranging antibiotics. I too have been to the breast clinic and they were able to follow the infection up through the duct. They did say if it was ongoing they could clean the duct out under general anaesthetic.
One thing I have found very very helpful and that is to reduce my sugars. I do not get any breast tingling if sugar in take very low. I mentioned this to my surgeon thinking he would dismiss the link - he however said it was very likely high blood sugars would make it worse.

I had one bad one. They are a nightmare. I did loads of things after the first bad one so I couldn’t be sure what helped.
I used to dangle feed. I took lecitin. Massage in the shower.
I saw a breast surgeon for the bad one and like you he biopsied it and then the stuff just drained out. Has your bipopsy healed?
I used to read Kellymom a lot of all the advice. I can’t remember what else.
kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/mastitis/

Tree yes I did, and yes they worked. I hope you resolve it, it's really painful