Tender area on left breast, what is it?

[peanutMD]

I've been exclusively BFing DD for almost 11 weeks and with the exception of a few latching issues the first 4 days everything has been fine.

This morning i have woken up with a tenderness in my left great, not the whole breast just a patch abut the size of a 50p on the outer in the middle.

There is mild pain when DD is feeding but nothing major.

Any ideas what it is and what i can do about it?

Probably a blocked duct. The Kellymom website has good instructions on what to do to get rid of it. And do that promptly to stop it developing into mastitis.

I've just had this with a milk blister on my nipple.

Hot flannels over the tender area, and massage down while feeding. Watch out for any red / hot / lumpy areas. Drink loads of water and rest!

Kellymom is very good.

Sounds like a blocked duct. You need to feed on that side as much as possible to try to clear it. Massage it as you feed. Any redness or feeling fluey consider mastitis. Warm shower or hot flannel on area too to get things moving

thank you :)

Keep it as empty as possible- pump if you can as well as feeding. Massage the area as hard as you can with your knuckles. It hurts at the time, but it works. Of you start to develop a fever go straight off to the docs.

I'm quite prone to blocked ducts and now as soon as I feel one beginning, I completely empty that boob and then again an hour later. Seems to stop it developing.

London i've been latching DD on as much as possible so hopefully that will help :)

Will try massaging again but didn't do anything earlier.

Wouldbe nope no white bit, does that mean its not a blocked duct?

Can you feel a build up of milk anywhere in the breast, probably near the patch of tender skin? When I have a blocked duct (and I've had a few!), a sort of triangular wedge develops around the blockage. I always have to massage pretty hard to get it to release (and the effects can be spectacular). I find it feels quite bruised and continues to do so even after clearing it. I never get the white blob (bleb) with a blocked duct, the blockage is always deeper than that.

No itchiness around your nipples or strange feelings inside the breast between feeds?

If it is a blocked duct, you might not find out why, sometimes they just happen but often a different bra can cause the problem (squashed ducts) and I seem to get them when I ovulate so if your cycle is about to return, this could be a cause. Otherwise, just work on unblocking it and hoping it's an infrequent, even rare event for you.

Well this evening i started being sick and burning up so have disappeared to bed with DD and plenty of water.

Does this sound like the start of Mastitis?

My manual pump randomly lost suction the other day so i tried to hand express and was probably a bit rougher than i should have been.

Will phone doctors in morning :)

I feel roasting hot but DP and my mum say i feel fine so not quite sure.

Can i keep breastfeeding with the anti-biotics?

How are you feeling today peanut? I've had two bouts of mastitis - lo is 5 wks old. First bout, when she was a week old, my temp soared very quickly and I got antibiotics and felt better quite soon. Then it came back this weekend. In hindsight, I don't think I ever cleared the blockage as my affected boob continued to be a bit sore/ lumpy in between.

This second bout wasn't as bad - had a temp, but not as high, and I've so far managed it using the non-antibiotic treatment tips on kellymom here kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/herbs/natural-treatments/#mastitis. I did lots of massage, fed exclusively from that side for most of one day (pumped the other side according to usual feeding schedule), fed more frequently (luckily I think lo is going through growth spurt, so she's demanding more frequent feeds at the mo), took ibuprofen, took raw garlic (yuk!) for the fever, and probably most importantly got lots of rest. My boob is still sore and feels lumpy, but at least my temperature is normal and most of the flu-like symptoms have gone away.

So - my points are - even if you get antibiotics, make sure you continue to work on clearing the blockage/ lumpy bits otherwise the mastitis may recur and, secondly, if the mastitis is quite mild you may be able to treat it yourself and avoid antibiotics.

oh City that sounds awful, glad you're on the mend :)

i woke up yesterday morning feeling fine so gave doctors a call and they got back to me and says to call straight in if it happened again as they don't like to comprise feeding but fir the time being keep at it and drink plenty of fluids asi felt okay.

Blockage seems to have gone, poor DD was feeding happily and i was in a bit of pain then she started flipping choking pulled away and fountain was going off, mutate caught her throat poor more but pain has faded since then although I'm still working that be extra to be sure.