Please help!

[singmelullabies]

OK, so in a nutshell . . . DS is 8 weeks old and I have had a wound on my left side for about 4 weeks that WILL NOT heal.

I have tried:
*Lanolin after every feed.
*Expressing only for several days, which seemed to work but wound opened up again as soon as I started feeding again.
Persevering with feeding in the hope that the breast milk would help it heal.
*Changing to rugby ball position, but this just made me more sore generally.
*Changing my hold which I think has improved DS's attachment but has just made my nipples more sore.
*And, most recently, nipple shields.

Also:
Is it normal for feeding to hurt more when using nipple shields? (I think maybe because DS struggles to latch on and seems to chomp down on it more)
Is it normal for the nipple to get sucked up into the shield or is this a sign that DS is latching on incorrectly?

Anyone got any suggestions about where I go now? HV today looked at it and said I need to see GP. Really want to carry on breastfeeding but getting fed up with it all now. :-( Just want it to heal so that I can forget all the faff and just get on with feeding normally.

Please help!!

I feel for you, I really do! Nipple pain is not fun.

I used nipple shields on one nipple at first because of adhesions. The nipple does fill up the shield, that's normal. It actually does that in baby's mouth too, apparently!

I did just nurse from one side for a day or so, just to give the painful nipple a break. I did get pretty engorged, but a cold compress helped.

When I felt it wasn't too painful to put him on, I started again.

I did have a pump, as I have to pump for work, and that acutally helped, to get things going a bit then put him on.

And it hurt, a lot, even when everything was healed and ok! It does get better though!

ooh, I also did lanolin between feeds, and I'm sure Ds ate a lot of it, but it did help some.

has DS been checked for tongue tie (not by midwife or HV but by someone who really knows what to look for...)

Get checked for tongue tie ASAP.

I found moist healing the most effective way. My preferred treatment was vasaline after every feed a d a piece of jelonet stuck to breast pad to keep nipple moist at all times. Don't be afraid of painkillers keep taking paracetamol and Ibuprofen untill pain is gone!

The mantra that helped was take one feed at a time and don't think further than that!

I would find a good lactation consultant to help and support you. I found an amazing one privately who also worked at one of the sure start centres so saw her for lots of follow up but also was at the end of the phone.

Well, we've had 2 days of (almost) pain-free feeding!! Am so pleased. Don't want to get my hopes up because it's not perfect - still using nipple shield on one side and looking a bit 'squished' after feeding on the other side so I clearly need to do a bit more work on positioning - but soooo much better than it was. Haven't needed any formula top-ups for the last 2 days either, which is even better!! Hurrah for nipple shields!!

Thank you all for your replies....am still going to ask HV or breasteeding support person (what is their actual job title???) about tongue-tie just to rule that out.