advice needed re cracked, throbbing sore nipples

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I cannot believe this, really. She's almost 3 ffs.

My first cracked sore nip since my first one was born...

I am in AGONY. Its been going on over 2 weeks now, i cannot get it healed. Its red, goes a bit white sometimes / purple sometimes. It scabs up at the end when it dries.

It feels like a needle stabbing deep into my breast with every suck.

I dont want to give up - the other boob is working v well. But the pain is almost more than i can stand, and I have 6.5 years of practice between the two of them - even mastitis , the umpteen times i've had it, never, ever felt like this. This is a localised agony.

What do i put on it? Lanolin not helping so much. Is this yeast by now?

I don't know the answers to all your questions. I think ringing one of the helplines might help. Breastfeeding network number is 0300 100 0210.

I do know that keeping a cracked nipple moist is good for it. There are burns dressings you can buy in the chemist which are good for this. They are a very rich lanolin on a piece of gauze that you can cut to size and keep in your bra. Like this. That brand has gone out of production now and I don't know the new brand name, I'm afraid but the same thing exists to buy in pharmacies.

Also, try expressing a little milk on the nipple after a feed. It will help it to heal and keep any infectious things at bay.

Does the pain go throughout the feed?

yes, sometimes enough to make me cry.

she's never been gentle with me and these days she verges on aggressive with my boobs - its taken me 18 months to get her to stop touching the other one while nursing! i think one of her stints at acrobatic nursing is what caused this.

been using a plaster with lanolin all over it actually...

Think it sounds like thrush. I am in the middle of it and have been feeding easily for 10months and suddenly this. If the pain goes on through the feed, worsening even and afterwards, it is likely to be thrush.

I also get sharp stabbing pains for up to 2 hours afterwards.

I am struggling to get rid of thrush and have given up feeding on that side and am expressing there and feeding off the other side. At 3 I expect your LO isn't feeding that much? Can you get away with feeding from one side only? I would google stuff on thrush and see if matches your symptoms. Good luck though - it's a bugger to shift and I am seriously considering weaning due to it.

yeah sharp pains after for hours. thank buggery she only feeds 2-3 times a day...

thanks. shit. she's my last and i dont wanna quit til she's ready...

Does it hurt after a feed? Pain from thrush will often only start after a feed.

Thrush would possibly have spread to the other nipple after two weeks, if it is thursh. ARe there any signs of thrush in your daughter's mouth?

A cracked nipple can sometimes just take a long time to heal. The length of time it has been there for doesn't necessarily mean infection. If she's not very obliging about her latch, this would make it harder to heal.

Sorry, didn't se eyour last post about pain after feed.

If it is thrush, it can be treated.

If it's thrush you need to treat both of you, even if your dd doesn't have symptoms - otherwise you'll keep passing it back and forth between you.

Breastfeeding Network do a really good leaflet on thrush - you can google it. You might need a course of fluconazole if the pain is also in your breast.

I was just reading it! It's here

no signs of thrush in her mouth at all, that i can see.

Bleh. I put miconazole and lanolin on it tonight after the last feed just now, it'll stay there behind a plaster til morning. Hopefully.......

much better this morning, though still sore, so will use the creams + plaster again today after i've showered, to keep it moist.

Good luck. Get the GP to give you fluconazole though. I think if it's in your breast that might be what you need. It's really horrible - worse even than the mastitis I had in the early days.

tbh i think its just from the abuse /trauma of nursing her - she climbs and twists and if she's standing, she sometimes jumps up and down, all while latched on!

i will be glad when she's done, in a way, but at the same time i will be gutted as its my last nursing baby ever, barring being the messiah's mother...

hi there you may want to Google Reynolds it sounds to me that thats what you have as i have the same thing and often can be mistaken for thrush!Its very painful and gee its hard to feed.my little guy is 11 months and now i have this!! you can go to your doc and get medication for this and there a number of things you can do to ease the pain!Keeping the nipples warm.Let me know how it goes and its worth doing a bit of research on this!!one of the things is your nipples goes white or blue.