Blocked duct? Worried

[islingtongirl]

Woke up this morning and the underside of one boob feels sore and lumpy. Its always been a little lumpy there but now its sore too and getting worse :( kept feeding dd today and massaging etc. worrying now its something more serious and googling isnt helping :( does this sound like a blocked duct? The lumpiness seems sort of tubular shaped iyswim? Starting to ache now. Next docs appt is tues morning...feel I will be worrying all weekend now though that is something scary

Kellymom.com has good advice on this.
I'm no expert but I believe feeding is good. You can take ibuprofen too, which may help if symptoms worsen - really hope they don't, though.

I'm not a doctor but AFAIK if it's painful then it's unlikely to be anything sinister as cancerous lumps are usually painless.

YY to Kellymom - there is lots you can try. Moist heat on the lump, especially before feeding. Have a shower and let the water beat down on the lump, or have a deep bath and massage the lumpy area under water. Feed, feed, feed, if possible 'dangle feeding' where you get on all fours and baby feeds from underneath.

Finally, check your nipple for a small white dot, which could be dried milk blocking a nipple pore. You can sometimes carefully scrape this away with a warm damp, washcloth, or use a sterilised needle to lift it verrrrry carefully.

Good luck - I feel your pain. Obviously raise it with the GP if you can't address with self-help measures but please don't worry too much.

Thank you both. It's very slightly better after feeding dd and massaging. Hope to wake up tomorrow and it's better. Honestly feeding dd at the moment is taking up all my waking thoughts (other threads!)

Most likely blocked duct.

Are you feverish? Is it red and hot to the touch? Could be mastitis too.

Test

Sorry phone playing up. I have had mastitis 5 times (breastfeeding twins) so here's my advice..feed as much as you can, massage area when you feed (or use an expresser to draw out the blockage), blast area with hot shower. If none of this works after 24hrs, get antibiotics from GP. An untreated mastitis can turn into a lump which needs draining which can be very painful.

I got loads of blocks in the early days of bf. Kellymom great source of info.

Ibuprofen is impt.

For me was two types of blocks each with dif solutions.

If block was from impact eg sleeping on tummy the block would be less acutely painful and take longer to clear. It was almost like the milk had backed up and turned to butter DS couldn't suck through! Needed consistent heat and gentle massage and would slowly get better (over day or two)

Other type was from a missed feed. Would block at nipple. There'd be a hard area running in a thick strip towards nipple. Really painful. If lucky could find bright white bleb in nipple and scrape off. Or lean over bowl of warm water with boob in it for a few mins first to see if one appears. Otherwise use gravity during feed to help unblock ie feeding on hands and needs over baby. This type of block would resolve instantly and milk will just come streaming out.

Stay rested and keep on look out for red triangle patch orpother sign of infection.

I've also been plagued with blocked ducts, as DD is not a very good feeder and so doesn't drain the breast well. I think every approach has been mentioned above, but if this becomes a reccuring problem then LLL suggest taking a supplement called Lecithin which is supposed to reduce blockages from occuring. I started taking it nearly two weeks ago, and I haven't had one since, could be a coincidence but I plan on continuing to take it!

Thank you for the replies - no not feverish thank goodness. Have tried the suggestions, hot shower, massage, feeding positions and seems better today so thank you! Dd is 5 months today and thought I had avoided these sort of bf problems by now...she has started sleeping longer at night so feeding less, perhaps contributing?