OUCH! Blocked ducts again :(

[Jnice]

DS is my third bf baby and I never experienced this before. I am nearly 40 (does this make a difference?) and am constantly getting blocked ducts (painful lumps deep inside) plus the odd milk blister. I have been treating with hot compresses, massage and a lot of feeding plus taking ibuprofen.

Any tips on clearing this up and preventing it recurring?

DS is 6 months old.

Woken for second bf of night and the other breast is now sore and hard on one side. DS is refusing to feed, latching then puling nipple about as if no milk coming. Given him to DH and now expressing but not getting a letdown

I feel for you Jnice - I'm just recovering from blocked ducts and it is so painful. I phone the nct breastfeeding line and the counsellor I spoke to was great on advising ways to help.

Mostly, she suggested trying lots of different positions - I'd already tried rugby-ball, but she described some bizzare positions that really seemed to help - I would never have thought of any of them, so I'd recommend phoning them. She also suggested hot compresses before feeding and cold compresses after feeding. She said the most important thing is to keep feeding.

She said the most common cause was an unusually long gap between feeds (it seems a mean price to pay for a 3 hour nap!), but it could also be linked to tight bras/clothes, I think.

If your hv is any good, I'd give them a ring too.

Thanks bb. I now have another milk blister too on the left. My right seems to be producing no milk at all so DS won't feed from there. So fed up right now. Thanks for all the tips - will call the HV.

To anyone suffering I recommend trying lecithin, it cleared both sides by the end of the day

I took 1200 mg 4 times a day as per the kellymom site.