new pain :(

[Rachog]

After maybe a week or two of bfing being ok and mostly bearable we now have a new pain.

At latch on it feels sharp, on the left breast the Sharp feeling is throughout, on the right it comes and goes. The pain continues after a feed for at least ten minutes. My breasts feel always sore, sort of inside with very tender nipples and the pain is worse when they get cold.

Any ideas what is causing this? Baby is still feeding well and I seem to have enough milk.

It could be something called Vasospasm (this can be caused by a condition called Raynaud's Phenomenon or by compression of the nipple by the baby's tongue against the hard palate/gum) - lots of info on it here.

When baby finishes feeding is your nipple squashed or misshapen in any way (lipstick/bullet/wedge shaped, a ridge running from one side to the other, etc) or is there a colour change?

Exaggerated latch can help get a deeper latch (shallow latching can cause the baby to compress the tip of the nipple against the hard palate instead of breast tissue which HURTS).

Is there anyone who can observe a feed in RL - someone like a breastfeeding counsellor, bfing peer supporter, Infant Feeding Co-ordinator - as the whole feed from latch on to baby finishing needs to be watched.

Truthsweet it is sometimes lipstick shaped and a funny colour when he has finished.
I will have a look at the link now. I thought we had cracked it with latch but maybe not.
There is a breastfeeding support group on a Wednesday I will go along to.

Thanks for the reply.

Sounds like there might be something going on with the latch then or possibly a tongue tie (but as I haven't seen your DS's mouth I couldn't say if he needed referring for a proper oral assessment or not). In the meantime have a look at this about TT and this about deep latch technique (aka exaggerated latch).

Ds was treated for tt at 8 days after which feeding got gradually better. We already do the latch thing where I sort've flick my nipple into his mouth, is that an exaggerated latch? We are on day 32 now and feels like we have gone backwards. The previous link mentioned thrush, could that be it?

Thrush can cause vasospasm BUT thrush doesn't cause misshapen nipples - poor latch/positioning/TT does (TT can reattach/reheal or not be cut deep enough or it might even be there was a anterior TT [visible bit of frenulum on the underside of the tongue] as well as a posterior TT [a tie underneath the skin of the tongue]).

It may be that your Baby's tongue needs to be reassessed as well as getting latch checked - are you still doing the post-TT exercises?

This may help with working out the nipple pain cause (as well as seeing a professional!).

Thanks truthsweet I really appreciate all the time and effort you are giving us. We weren't given any excercises after the tt was treated. I think we need to get looked at, I will see if there is anyone near us that can help.

This is a list of private (i.e. paid) IBCLCs who specialise in TT assessment and division.

This is a list of NHS TT clinics where they do assessments/divisions.

Glad to be of help (it's either MN or playing Cinderella dress up with my DDs and I certainly won't fit in a ball gown at 8m pg ) hope you get things resolved soon.

8 months, not long for you to go now!
I have just rung the infant feeding team at the hospital where ds was born, they were lovely and referred him first time, hopefully I can pop him up there to find out if it has reattatched. Also got a doctos appointment on Monday just to rule out thrush etc. The side which comes out mishappen is the side I am having least pain with. The left side has a constant burning pain in the breast after feeding.

One sided pain is almost certainly not thrush then - thrush is highly communicable so it would pass between breasts pretty quickly even if you were block feeding (also GPs aren't known for their extensive bfing training ). You could try one of the bfing helplines while you wait for appts to come through?

Ds's mouth seems clear too so your probably right. The breast feeding helplines don't tend to have groups near us and the nhs support worker is off long term sick at the moment. I can give them a call though.

We were referred and sorted quickly last time so hopefully will be again. I'm just not sure who to see to get another referall.

If you pm'd me your locale (nearest town or your county) I should be able to find someone near to you. Obv. you don't have too though, I won't mind.

If you've been seen by the TT clinic, did they give you a pass to see them again or a follow up appt?

Sorry was sleeping before the baby woke. I will try a pm now, am on my phone so not sure how it works.

Nope they discharged ds with no follow up or any mention of excersizes.