broken nipple - sore boob please help

[camdancer]

My left boob is agony atm. It got engorged when DD2 was a bit ill and decided to up her feeding a couple of weeks ago and it just hasn't recovered.

Symptoms:
The nipple has a white bit on it, but that white bit is cracked in half - so it doesn't seem to be a milk blister.

The actual breast has a tender side that goes all the way under my arm. When it is really bad, it hurts to move my arm. It is worse as the boob gets full.
After a feed I get sharp pins and needles shooting through my nipple. It really does feel as if I could just reach in and take the pins out!

DD2 is 8mo, loves solids but also still feeds on demand. She is more of a snacker so she doesn't really stop for a proper 10 min type feed - they are more 2 mins every hour or so. She still feeds 2/3 times a night. The other thing is that I got Raynauds in my boobs with DS and DD1, so I can't do any air drying. I need to keep them as warm as possible at all times.

Any ideas? Will it just get better soon? Anything I can do to stop the pain?

You shouldn't do any air drying anyway as it's acutaly best to keep them moist to aid healing. So don't worry about that one.

Funny I was going to suggest Raynauds before you meationed it. Have you had a read on kellymom to check it isn't a milk blister. I'd be worried about the pain in the breast, maybe having it checked by the doctor would be a good idea. You could also try feeding in different postions to see if that helps, having the chin of your baby to the soure part of the breast mite help.

Oh and have a read on Kellymom to see if it is a milk blister type problem

It doesn't seem to be a blister as the white bit is actually split in two.

I don't think I could feed her with her chin to the sore part as it is heading to my arm pit. She'd have to be upside down!

I really hope it isn't the start of Raynauds as that was the reason I gave up with DS and DD1. I don't want to take the medication for it as it lowers blood pressure and I already have problems with low blood pressure now.

Thanks for your ideas though. I think a trip to the doctors might be in order - or at least the bf clinic.