Any doctors around? Nipple not right...

[nappyrat]

Hoping for some help...

I bf my 9month old and about 3 weeks ago developed a sore nipple and a little white patch / spot about the size of spin heAd on one nipple. It's painful to feed my little one, and my nipple is v tender. Have seen 2 doctors - first one 3 weeks ago prescribed calamine cream but no chemist had it so I didn't actually use that, and anyway it's not just a sore nipple is my gut feel. Maybe to do with a milk duct???

Anyway no improvement and last week I went to see a diff doc after nipple bled v v slightly when I had a gentle poke of the white spot in bath & he said might be thrush & so my little one (no symptoms with him he said)and I are bring treated for that now.

4 days on,still no improvement and I'm starting to become more worried.

No prior bf issues at all, generally good health. Please help as I feel no GP is taking the time to really get the diagnosis right. And bf shouldn't have to be painful I know that. :(

And I'm worried it might be something serious...

Thank you.

Sorry just re-read this & realise I sound a bit like a wounded bleating sheep!!! Sorry! Just getting me down a bit!

It is most probably a bleb or milk spit, the head is blocking a duct. Squeeze it out and milk may flow...the pain on let down is intense and nervy as the let down reflex pressures the duct.

Milk spot not spit! Sorry

Thanks error. I've given it a few squeezes but there's not sense of anything popping out. / squeezing out. The white patch just looks like normal - but only white - nipple skin. Doesn't look like a spot or anything....

Have you got a bruised boob, blocked duct or lumpy feeling anywhere in the boob?

I had similar, thought it was a bleb but I think it was broken skin due to dodgy latch/teething. Was really sore, and didn't heal until I soaked my nipple with saline solution after a feed. Healed quite quickly after that.

Do you suffer from bad circulation OP?
It could be something called white nipple syndrome. Basically, the sucking makes the blood flow to the nipple stop so goes white. With normal, healthy circulation the blood flow back after a few seconds. But bd circulation combined with had, prolonged sucking means blood can stay away for much longer. It causes a stabbing pain that comes and goes. Not fun.

I was advised a hot flannel applied to the nipple and avoiding cold in the area. Did not help much though I'm afraid. Only got better after I stopped BF.

Do you have any lumps in the breast? Sounds like a milk spot which results in a blocked duct to me. The skin over the nipple has hardened like a blister, possibly from a bad latch and grazed. When this happens me no amount of warm flannels, expressing or feeding releases it. My trusty fix is a needle, sterilised of course. I've done it 4 times, the first three was a case of only breaking the skin like a normal blister and the milk oozed out, and then flew out when expressing afterwards. The last time I had it for 2 full days with no joy in releasing it, in the end I put the needle straight into the spot. I know this sounds horrible but it went in nearly 1cm before I felt it in there. My milk squirted me in the face it came out that fast with all the pressure built up behind it. The milk had hardened/congealed at the nipple so was unable to flow. I've also read of people remove a strip of congealed milk with tweezers but I couldn't get a hold of it with my tweezers.

Hope I haven't scared you but I sat up all night trying to sort mine out. If the milk isn't released it could lead to mastitis which I wasn't chancing. Take some ibruprofen if you have them, it's good for the inflammation.

Oh and it doesn't sound like thrush at all. I've had that too, think glass shards in the breast and that's thrush.

Also GPs around me are useless with anything bf related, do you have any bf support people in your area? HV should have contacts. Or ring one the helplines!

Thank you so much. For some reason it's a bit better this AM. Fingers crossed it continues to improve.

Thanksa million for your advice . :)

And no...circulation is good....and nothing seems to be backing up behind it...I guess more than one duct can drain one milk 'chamber'(?!) though so I think it could be a blocked duct.