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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Blocked milk ducts - pleeeeease help!

16 replies

Biscuitsandtea · 14/03/2012 22:26

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me. DS was born 6 days ago. So far, bf was going ok but ever since my milk has come in both boobs felt quite tender down the outer side, the right boob seems to have fixed itself, but the left one seems to have quite badly blocked milk ducts.

I can literally feel lumps if I touch it, and it seems to go round a good third of the boob.

I am so desperate for this NOT to turn into mastitis but I just can't get them to clear. It's got more painful as today has gone on and I've started massaging that boob when DS feeds off it. I've also been expressing (with my pump) when he's finished feeding off that side. It seems to hurt even more now though?

Any tips, pleeeeeeeease - this is sooooo painful (well I know it's not nearly as painful as mastitis because I had that twice with ds1 so know I need to resolve this first,

Thanks for reading....

OP posts:

hermionestranger · 14/03/2012 22:29

Get in a hot bath and get your boob under water and push it the lump from the back towards the nipple. You need to let down first though. When baby feeds just keep pushing it through. It's horrid but it will clear up eventually. I had it with ds2 and you could see the actual blockage on my nipple.

NomNomDePlum · 14/03/2012 22:36

if not a bath, then breast in a basin of water, hot as you can bear, and massage towards the nipple. you could also check for visible blockage at the nipple, i had a fleck of dried milk a couple of days ago that i was very easily able to squeeze out (3 month old, very distracted, blocked milk ducts constantly...). but you need to be careful about doing this, since nipple damage just makes it worse. hope you can clear it soon

Original poster

Biscuitsandtea · 15/03/2012 01:42

Thank you both - if I can get the boob in hit water, how do I 'let down' without DS on there? To be honest I don't have a very strong let down reflex (and I never did with ds1 either) but it would seem mean to start ds2 feeding on it and then take him off

OP posts:

scrivette · 15/03/2012 02:01

When you are asleep or laying in bed keep a hot water bottle on it.

Did the midwives give you any tips on how to hand express? You need to massage your breast towards the nipple, then squeeze the bottom bit of your breast towards the nipple and the milk should start to come out. If you google hand expressing you might get some clearer instructions or a video on UTube.

I found that the best way of getting rid of it was a very hot bath, kept a hot water bottle on it and feeding DS as much as possible.

I hope it unblocks soon.

Original poster

Biscuitsandtea · 15/03/2012 02:07

Thank you - I'll try that too

OP posts:

Napdamnyou · 15/03/2012 02:08

You can also

Microwave a clean nappy dunked in clean water to use as a poultice (lasts longer and stays hotter)
Use a wide tooth comb to comb your sore breast,start from the outside and work in to the nipple
Keep massaging as much as possible and get baby to feed from it as much as possible but when not feeding, keep massaging.
Looking at your baby can help with let down
So can smelling something of the baby's
Don't be rough with your breast, be gentle but do it a lot.
Ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory that can be used.
If you feel shaky, shivery, tired, unwell, or have red lines or redness or pinkness get to P and ask for antibiotics.
Good luck.

Napdamnyou · 15/03/2012 02:09

GP not P sorry!

EldritchCleavage · 15/03/2012 02:21

Oh you poor thing. I had this massively both times-it's awful. I second the hot bath idea. I got DH to massage my boobs. It worked better than when I did it, and was a job he was very happy to do!

Original poster

Biscuitsandtea · 15/03/2012 04:52

Thank you. I've been getting DH to do the massaging when feeding - so I can hold it still and it's a bit less jiggly for DS . I'm not sure how delighted he is that night time feeds are suddenly a two man job!

Will see I'd I can find a wide tooth comb - that rings a bell from my mastitis days last time.

Will try to sort out a bath tomorrow I think for it. I'm just fed up of 'looking after' that boob now - silly thing

Thank you for all the tips and sympathy though

OP posts:

ZuleikaJambiere · 15/03/2012 05:32

I had this a couple of weeks ago, its painful so I really feel for you. In addition to all the great tips, the only other one my BF counsellor suggested is to feed in what (I think) is called the rugby ball position for blocked ducts around the outside - that is, with your baby's body under your arm rather than across you. This way his/het chin massages the boob and blockages while they feed.

Get some ibuprofen into you too, I'm sure that was what turned the corner for me

I hope you are feeling better soon

Original poster

Biscuitsandtea · 15/03/2012 07:52

Ah ok, I might try the rugby ball way then - I'd been avoiding it because it put DS in the was so I couldn't massage it, but will give it a go - might as well let him to the hard work

OP posts:

bcmummy · 15/03/2012 10:38

I had this a couple of weeks ago with DD (now 4 weeks) and it took a few days to really get on top of it - the ducts would clear with massage etc but then seem to block up again. All the advice so far here is great - it's what I did and it fixed the problem. I took ibuprofen and that really helped with the pain, plus reduces swelling within the breast. I alternated holds at each feed - first feed cradle, next feed rugby ball, then back to cradle etc (i think the idea behind this is that the baby sucks milk out of different parts of the breast in a slightly different way depending on the hold, plus there is pressure on different parts of the breast with different holds). Beware that baby's chin pressing on the ducts might hurt more in the short term...I also hand expressed in the shower (instead of the bath) with hot water running over the breast, using the heel of my hand to massage from the outside of the breast over the blockage towards the nipple, over and over again until I could feel that the lump/pressure was gone. As soon as I felt the lumps had gone, I stopped expressing.

The only other thing I would suggest is not to express with your pump, unless you are using that milk to feed. You don't need to express until the breast feels "empty", just enough to clear the blockage, and hand expressing with massage seems to be the most effective way to do this as you are just expressing the milk that has become trapped. If you express a lot with a pump and baby is not drinking that milk, your breast doesn't know that and the expressing will encourage more milk production, which could in turn encourage the blocked ducts if baby is not actually drinking it. Try just hand expressing the minimum amount that you need to relieve the discomfort.

Do keep a close eye on it, just in case it turns into mastitis...

Good luck and you have my sympathy! The pain for me was so bad I thought I had thrush & went to my GP but she correctly diagnosed the blocked ducts. A few days of doing all of the above has solved the problem and now I am totally pain free so it was worth it! Hope you get some relief soon.

NicolaSeal · 15/03/2012 18:10

I had the same last night - so I put a heated pad on it for a while, then brushed a comb over it . After about 30 mins of this & massage, whilst pumping, milk started to gush! The hardness has gone but I feel slightly tender today. I guess you should try to get rid of it asap, so it doesn't be worse x

Original poster

Biscuitsandtea · 15/03/2012 18:38

I've done similar Nicola - slept with a hit water bottle on it and lots of massage: it was mega lumpy yesterday - loads of palpable lumps and some even visible . And yesterday evening it was getting more and more painful as we were doing more massage - I wonder if that was because we were pushing the lumps through narrower bits of ducts?

But it does feel loads better today, just a bit tender - although after the pummelling it got last night I'm not really surprised! Am hoping I've sorted it and we've avoided mastitis.....

Thanks all for your tips though

OP posts:

ZuleikaJambiere · 15/03/2012 20:11

I'm pleased to hear it's feeling better today I've just remembered another piece of advice I was given (although didn't use it, as the feeding position had worked it's magic by then, so I don't know if it works) - it wad to put a hot compress on the breast before feeding and a cold one afterwards. I'm not sure what theory in changing the temp is, sounds odd to me, but worth a try

Echocave · 16/03/2012 00:37

I've had this several times and really sympathise with the pain. Last time I had it the only thing which worked was the rugby ball position and very gentle massage.
I found that too firm massage and lots of warm showers etc just seemed to encourage the boob to refill really quickly and painfully. My GP also told me not to overdo the massage.
Hope it gets better soon.

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