Can Mastitis clear up by itself? Any cases you know of?

[RollerSkateKate]

I had the red blotchy patch and soreness, was awaiting the flu-like symptoms...24 hrs on and no progression of the infection and redness has gone.

Is it possible it has gone by itself?

I had it with dc1 5 years ago and needed antibiotics. Was bracing myself for the fever & aches, booked my doctors appointment and now it appears to have gone.

Should I go anyway or trust What i'm seeing and feeling? Can't see any redness but don't want to leave it if its going to suddenly get worse.

Does anyone have any advice please?

It's possible that you've had a blocked duct which has now cleared and that there is no bacterial infection, which is what antiobiotics treat. However, mastitis can come on really quickly so get yourself to a doctor at the first hint of any symptoms. Maybe take your temperature to monitor.

Yes it can. If you keep expressing/feeding and keep your fluids up you can sometimes bring out the infection.
If your temp spikes go to the doctor though.

Yes that's possible. You can try and treat mastitis yourself by feeding often in different positions, massage, hot showers and plenty of rest. I did this a few times.

If it starts to get worse after 24 hours, then antibiotics might be needed. This has happened to me as well.

I would go to the doctor anyway.

Yes I did it with rest etc but went to the docs anyway to get meds just in case, as didn't want to be stuck over weekend.

yes, the human body has strong immune system and can fight off infection. Prior to anti biotics women bodies had to fight off all kinds of infections.

I hope you are feeling better

I definitely had a blocked duct. The lump was tender and I followed advice to unblock it which worked.
Definitely had a couple of hot showers so I could have encouraged it without realising.

I'll go to the doctors anyway and get it checked.

Thank you for your replies.

Yes perfectly possible, in fact antibiotics are massively oversubscribed for mastitis - I got to the shivering temperature stage and still managed to get through it without them on mw's advice. I just fed fed fed to get rid of the blockages and then the symptoms went away.

When I first had it, Doc was adamant that only antibiotics would fix it so I worried a little this time. I hate taking antibiotics anyway, (hideous side effects for me.)

I think I'll get it checked and go from there. Can't waste the appointment as they're like gold dust at our surgery!

Thanks for all the advice, it's really helped.

Yes, I had it last weekend for two days - red patches, painful sore breasts, aches, flu-like feelings and exhaustion. I kept on feeding and expressed whatever the baby didn't want from that breast and by day three the aches and flu symptoms had gone and the red patch was fading, by day five the breast pain and red marks had completely gone and I am now absolutely fine. Had Dr's appt in between and she agreed it was mastitis but I had dealt with it in the right way and it was passing. Good luck!

Forgot to add, yes to the hot showers as well - really helped keep the flow going.

Yes there are 2 kinds of mastitis and only the one caused by bacteria needs antibiotics.

Basically, a blocked duct can cause milk to leak into the surrounding tissues leading to an inflammatory response, hence redness, pain, chills etc. Getting rid of the blockage thoroughly and quickly can sort it out. If it's left too long though it can get infected and need antibiotics.

Or, you could have an infection, usually caused by bacteria getting in via a crack or sore place on the nipple, that causes inflammation, redness, pain chills etc etc and will probably need antibiotics, as well as using the techiques you'd use in the first type to make sure the breast is drained.

www.kellymom.com has a good section on telling the difference and when to go for self care/get to the doctors. pretty much if you're not better in 24hrs err on the side of caution.

Please be aware, though. If the pain and redness goes away, but the lump remains, then you may have a breast abscess, which does need medical treatment.