Blisters on nipples - how to treat?

[digitalgirl]

DS is 11 weeks old and has been on a bit of a growth spurt the over the weekend - feeding for up to two hours and waking more frequently over night. As a result I've ended up with matching clear blisters on the end of both nipples.
I'm making sure his latch is good each time he goes on now because otherwise it's really painful. But he's getting a bit agitated and pulls on and off and moves around which is not helping. The blisters are clear rather than blood filled or milk filled. Do I pop them or do I just leave them alone? They seem to get bigger after a long feed, but then slowly shrink in between feeds.

Or is this what blocked ducts look like? Just want to do whatever's best to minimise getting mastitis again.

I've got one too! Only one though, poor you with multiples
Never had this before, but googling suggested the following: lansinoh, with a gauze called jelonet on top, then a breastpad. I substituted breast shell thingys for the pad. This started Saturday, was loads better yesterday (blister had kind of 'collapsed') but after a night of feeding is sore again.

Lansinoh and feed with nipple sheilds till they feel better. Thats what i did and eventually they cleared up. Dd used to end up with soggy nipple skin on her lip as it peeled off!

Thanks - have been using Lansinoh but not breastpads. Not sure I want to use nipple shields as ds's latch is so precarious as it is. Might pop them in my next shower...bit scared though.

Well if you pop them let us know what happens!

I find the breast shells useful as they mean nothing rubs against the nipple. Haven't tried nipple shields though (yet).

Lansinoh and feed with nipple sheilds till they feel better. Thats what i did and eventually they cleared up. Dd used to end up with soggy nipple skin on her lip as it peeled off!

dont know how i posted twice

i used nipple sheilds with ds at just 3 wks despite being told it was too early. for me it was a choice between them or stopping bf as it was so painful. he was fine, bf for 1yr and it gave nipples time to heal. i used themagain with dd1. not needed them with dd2 theyre as tough as leather after 3

Defo loads and loads of lansinoh, apply very liberally after each feed. I had a nasty blood filled blister on one side and had express only from that side until the blood had gone and then use nipple shields until it had healed. Yucky. If you do use them, I found a really useful video on YouTube on how to fit them properly (well actually dh found it, we had words as to whether he should be looking for nipples on YouTube, but I forgave him once feeding was so much more comfy!)

I thought I'd pop back on to let you know how I got on.

I did a little experiment for future reference! I popped the blister on the left side and left the right one alone. The left nipple stopped hurting earlier, but the skin cracked a little and bled a tiny bit so is actually taking longer to heal. The blister in the right collapsed on its own the next day and the skin came off after a shower. Looks back to normal today.

I didn't use nipple shields (too faffy for me) but I did use plenty of lansinoh and wore breast pads and a bra overnight for a couple of nights to stop the rubbing. I took paracetemol for the initial pain which did help, and also started using a cushion again when feeding. All in all took me just under a week to get back to normal. Just in time for ds to have another growth spurt (I swear he saves them up for the weekend).