Why is my nipple SO sore?!

[luckykitty]

DD is 17 days old and BF got off to a shaky start but now she has decided that its an excellent idea and feeds frequently - one nipple is absolutely killinig me though.
Its happened today, feels like its got pins stuck in the end of it :(
Latch seems fine, she is feeding fine, im squirming through the pain, and my god it hurts, to keep feeding her, any ideas why its happened?
Its only been tthe last couple of days that she has been feeding really well, could this be why?
any tips/advice would be welcome!!

Does the pain calm down luckykitty or does it continue after you have finished bfing?

Actually, there's a good table here about the different diagnoses of nipple pain.

Anything sound like yours?

Lucky how are you getting on now? Are you still in pain? Have you seen a Bfing Counsellor?

It sounds like you've got mastitis, if you have you'll need antibiotics.

I got it, it was like having shards of glass sucked through my nipples. You may see swollen milkducts on the surface of your breast.

The milk will be a bit off too and may make baby a bit sick, within 24hrs of antibs it starts to get better.

Please see the doc as soon as possible.

I had hideous sharp pain in one nipple for ages when I started BF. Eventually worked out I had an inflamed lump where baby latched on. Don't know what it is - it's just flared up again. But it goes away if I dig my fingernail into it and massage it firmly.

Just looked at that great table - the pinpoint pain and blocked duct sounds exactly right for me.

beanlet hope that clears up soon

Thank you everyone for your advice, its really really awful :(

Im going to try a nipple shield - had anyone got any tips about how to get them on?
i think maybe my nipple has just become damaged because my daughter is a total ganet and has to feed NOW and if she doesnt get it within seconds she becomes hysterical and screams at me, once she is one then she calms down.

When I had her I had to have loads of help with feeding as I had emergency section and it was all v.tricky, I think every midwife in the hospital had a crack at helping us and they all said that they have never seen a little one get in such a flap about feeding :(

Have also seen BF support worker who came out to see us at home and the health visitor has had a good go at instructing us too, in all fairness its only since the health visitor came that its started hurting, maybe the link is that its been so hard for DD to get the hang of it that now that we have mastered it so is going at it like mad and my nipple cant hack it?!
Anyway, seeing GP on tues so will have a chat either way.
Thank you again, hope everyones well x

lucky the GP and HV might not have enough training in Bfing to help you. Think that you need RL help as soon as possible, is there a Bfing Counsellor near to you or a Bfng Support Group or have you tried calling one of the Bfing Helplines?

Hope you get some help soon and its resolved.

The GP said that DD has tied to take a chunk out of my nipple as she wasnt latched on properly and to try other positions, which makes sense, things are going ok with the othe side though...HV is coming tomorow and then will call BF counsellor.

The other thing thats bothering me is that DD is so hungry, she BFs (when it works) and seems really happy about it but then still takes expressed milk, im a bit concerned that she is either greedy or im doing something wrong as she eats so much

thanks for listening again!

Your dd sounds just like mine! (5.5 weeks) I am at wits end, have been calling lactation consultants to get an appt. She clicks, squirms, nipples are killing me, and I may have to switch back to using shields. (I've also had a dreadful bout of mastitis, and we corrected her tongue tie).

Am trying to feed her expressed milk tonight using a NUK teat and nothing will come out of it when she sucks! NUK teats apparently require same sucking action as nipples so I'm guessing she is definitely not sucking right...

Lucky as far as I understand it, taking a bottle after bfing isn't an indication that your baby is hungry.

If I were you I'd give one of the Bfing Helplines a call this evening or a local Bfing Counsellor rather than wait until tomorrow.

Right, HV has just been and said that she thinks its all because I have a particularly windy baby. I was a bit about this as im convinced that she is just mega greedy, however, the HV showed me how to massage her tummy if its he belly that hurts and low and behold she burped for england, was sick a bit and then had a good go at my boob - the sore one! and it wasnt sore in the slightest!

So maybe thats the whole issue. She also said that she will be quite happy to just suck the bottle to get liquid to calm her pooly belly down, not cause she is actually hungry, which is only going to make her feel more sicky - so it all makes sense now, will see how we get on and update.

The BF helplines are amazingly good, i found them eally helpful, would certainly recomend running I hope you get it sussed cause its so horrible and upsetting fo everyone involved.

oh the tummy massage sounds good, i have noticed my dd seems less wriggly (and hence less likely to try and twist my nipple off) after she has done a good burp. Will have to try and find an internet site that shows how to do it!

I spent last night (all of it) tearing my hair out. DD has actually taken a chunk out of me making it agony to feed her, however the other side is fine but only if im downstairs on the sofa which is ace at 4am
Have started using Infacol, its definatley doing something as she is being more burpy and better in the day but I think i might actually lose the plot if we go at it again tonight like last night :(

runningrach this is the kind of thing the HV was on about, hope it helps you and your coping better than us!!