cracked nipple

[beela]

Dd is 5 weeks old. Tongue tie was diagnosed and divided at 3 weeks, by which time both of my nipples were totally mangled.

One of them has nearly healed, and the other is heading in the right direction I think, but the main crack is so large (approx 50% of the way around the nipple and very wide) i can't imagine it ever healing while we are still feeding on that side. I've tried pumping but she won't take a bottle and when we get the latch right, feeding is actually more comfortable than pumping, apart from the initial latching on which opens up the crack. I'm using lansinoh between feeds to keep it moist, but is there anything else I can do to encourage healing?

The breastfeeding network has some great info on healing cracked nipples

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/pdfs/Cracked_Nipples_and_Moist_Wound_Healing_2002.pdf

You have done brilliantly to keep going

Good on you to still be BF, I personally think feeding off a cracked nipple is the worst imaginable pain. (I persevered with my DD but have recently quit with my baby DS)

It will get better! I rubbed breast milk on nipple which is meant to help but for me what helped most (no idea if this is 'ok') was to use savlon over crack straight after feed, it helped heal much quicker, I was really worried about wound getting infected at the memory!! It's easy to wipe off without too much pain.

Good luck

Thank you for that link, it is very helpful, and the savlon tip.

And thank you for the encouragement too

I didn't believe that cracks could heal if you fill them with Lansinoh, but it really does work because you do NOT want them to scab. Hope they get better soon!

I had a terrible crack like that 3 years ago and i still have a scar on my nipple. What worked for me was using a nipple shield, an electric pump and some pretty strong pain killers (on the advice of my dr. )

I had cracks in both nipples and mastitis twice. Im pregnant again and BFing is my biggest fear. It was 1000 X more painful than recovery from a c section.

Anyway, i had a happy ending, once the cracks healed everything was fine. Ive no idea what caused it, various MWs and lactation consultants couldnt find anything obviously wrong with my latch.

I think it was getting better by 6 weeks. Good luck!

I totally agree, I had a section too, and the pain from that was nothing compared with cracked nipples!

I've got my 6 week check next week so might ask the doctor about stronger painkillers. I've got thrush too, which doesn't help as I am losing track of what is causing which bit of pain.

It's good to hear that other people have actually healed!