Breast abscess - some questions

[bunnyfrance]

Hi there,

I've been diagnosed with a suspected abscess (suspected as the results of the biopsy they did earlier in the week haven't come back yet).

If there are any experts out there, I'd be most grateful if you could advise me.

What does an abscess look and feel like? Mine is a hard solid patch/lump 6cm by 3cm (not liquid according to the ultrasound), not red and not particularly painful. They said they couldn't drain it as it's too solid. Does that sound like an abscess?

It came up from one day to the next - I thought abscesses were a result of mastitis, which I haven't had?

Will I be able to breastfeed again from the affected breast? I'm 6 weeks pregnant with DC2...

I'm on a course of antibiotics, but have been told that if they don't work, they may have to operate. Would this be a general or local anaesthetic?

Thanks a lot for any answers, I'm finding this hard to deal with!

Hi, sorry no experience of a breast abscess but had a friend that had a large one. She said it was hard, red and quite painful. She had to have hers drained by the local hospital but to my knowledge it was not connected to mastitis and she continued to feed from both breasts although not comfortable from the affected breast.

Hope this helps!

I've got an abcess very similar to the one you have described - hard lump, not painful or red. Mine is the result of mastitis and the position meand DS can't latch on at the moment, but that's a whole other thread! I've been told that now my lump is sterile it should start to be reabsorbed by my body. This is a long process - could take up to a year, but better than alternative which is surgery. In my case this would leave a crater in my boob and bad scarring - may be different for you depending on where it is, but mine is right behind the nipple. Ifyour lump isn't by the nipple, and dc2 can get a good big mouthful of boob to suck on then should be no prbs BFing for you. hth

I had a breast abscess drained under general about three weeks ago. My lump was about the same size as yours and caused by repeated bouts of mastitis (which were in turn caused by poor latch and other issues). It was filled with "lots of" pus (as the surgeon gleefully told me as I came to..!). The scar is red and about 1cm across, seems to be fading by the day though and I am pretty confident that it will heal well in time. No crater thank goodness! It was very uncomfortable and I was told that in time it may have burst so better out than in!

:(

Sounds quite like an abscess - they are not always painful and they are not always connected to obvious mastitis, either. I have no idea what they look like on ultrasound but I know they are full of pus and dead tissue and rubbish, so this might not show up as liquid.

Yes, you can normally bf again from the affected breast. Treatment can be by aspiration - they 'suck' it out rather than digging. You would normally have a local.

You could maybe phone the hospital tomorrow and ask to speak to someone - the named surgeon looking after you - and get details?

Hope things work out ok.

Thank you so much for your replies, ladies. It does certainly sound as though it's an abscess.

kd73, good to know your friend could still feed. It seems quite a rare thing and hard to find other people who have suffered.

Patsy, do they know your lump is sterile from a biopsy, or how? Mine is on the side of my breast, going up to the armpit.

Dubai, sounds like yours is healing well, that's encouraging.

Tiktok, haven't been assigned a surgeon yet. At the moment I'm being sent to and fro between the gp who prescribed the antibios, the radiologist who did the ultrasound and biopsy and the gynae who's looking after my pregnancy. They're all waiting for the results of the biopsy to see what to do. Then it's up to me to pick a hospital and a surgeon out of a hat. But good to hear that I should be able to feed again from that side.

Goodness knows why I got this now, I've been feeding for 15 months without a hitch. My gynae's theory is that it's because I'm pregnant and breastfeeding so there are conflicting hormones in my body.

Also feeling very about this pregnancy, it hasn't got off to a good start!

the doctors think my abscess is now sterile as i've been on antibiotics for about a month and pus has now stopped coming out of my nipple when i express milk (sorry if tmi!)

I have had it aspirated several times. This was done by a sonographer using the ultrasound under local. all that's left now is the material that's too solid to drain and they're hoping that this will reabsorb over time. If the matter in your abscess is less viscus than mine they may be able to aspirate.

oh and just another thought, I can't feed from the 'bad boob' at themoment because of the location of the abscess. ds can't get a big enough mouthful of boob because it's right behind the nipple, but i'm easily expressing 100-150ml at a time about 8 times a day to keep my supply in and for emergency top ups just in case, so if you can keep feeding/expressing from that side atm, it's probably worth it.

Well, after all that hooha, the results of the biopsy have come back and I don't have an abscess! "Just" acute mastitis! So no surgery required and more antibiotics for another 5 days.

Have blood tests lined up for tomorrow to see whether there's an infection (I think that's what they're for, didn't quite understand the rapid French...)

Of course I'm well aware that it could still degenerate into an abscess but I'll keep a close eye on it.

So now I've weaned my DS following the doctor's advice, but he's actually been fine about it. Had I not been pregnant I would have regretted weaning him, but I do need to give my body a break and gather strength for the next baby. That's what I tell myself anyway!

Thanks for your support everyone!

Hi bunnyfrance, glad to hear you have no abcess, lucky you! just wanted to say that when I had mastitis I was told it was a bad idea to stop feeding as boobs would become engorged giving the infection more milk to grow in, so if I wanted to stop feeding, I should keep expressing and gradually reducing the number of times I expressed. My case is slightly different to yours though as I have an EBF 8 week old so lots of milk where as presumably you fed ds less often as he is older. Hope you get better soon.