Do Breast Angels/ Silverette cups really work?

[BadBadBeans]

I'm looking for people who have experience of using the Silverette / Breast Angels silver nursing cups to heal cracked nipples!

My baby is nearly 8 weeks old and I have had a bad crack in my left nipple for at least the last 5 weeks. It opens up to a big red triangle after most feeds. I have used lansinoh after every feed since day 1 so it's not that. I've seen a lactation consultant - it's not tongue tie. I've also seen my GP and have been using a Canestan/steroid cream religiously for the last week, with no real improvement.

I'm absolutely bloody desperate now. I've read about these silver cups being amazing and I am more than willing to shell out 40 quid if they might really help. Has anyone on here used them please?

Just bumping this thread for you, OP. I haven't actually tried silver nursing cups so I'm not much use to you, but I well remember the toe-clenching days (and nights ) of cracked nipples.

Really hoping someone on here can give you some advice.

I know someone who used silver nipple shields (I’m not sure of the technical name but they were quite pricey). She had a similar sounding gash in her nipple, it was awful. She said they did help. Lansinoh is ok but won’t help something that deep to heal. You might need to keep that baby off that side and just pump while it heals and until you can get to the bottom of what’s causing it.

However, OP I would really urge you to get your little one checked again. For my friend, it took 3 different ‘experts’ to check her baby’s mouth before it was found that she had quite a serious posterior tongue tie. The first two told her everything was fine. However her nipple was practically hanging off and there is no way that should be happening if everything is fine in your baby’s mouth.

Have a look at this link to find a consultant in your area. These are the people you need to see to double triple check things:

www.lcgb.org/find-an-ibclc/

Good luck

Thanks guys! I took the plunge and bought them. Just put one on so we shall see how it goes!

@FreakingOut thank you so much. I had a similar situation where I was told DS1 didn't have tongue tie multiple times and it turned out he did, so I went straight to an LCGB this time and paid her to check. She is confident he is clear of a tongue tie. However she has suggested trying fusidic acid and then bactroban if the silver cups don't work. They will need a prescription, so I will give it a few days with the silver cups and then head back to the GP! I'll update here for the sake of anyone googling later down the line.

Okay, here is an update! I've been wearing the Breast Angels silverette nipple cup for 10 days now and the crack has almost healed! I am so impressed. I started seeing an improvement after 48 hours. I had a triangular crack that was about 6 mm across and now it is about 1mm. I'm no longer experiencing any pain when I feed either. I have been following the instructions and expressing 1-2 drops (sometimes 3 or 4 if it comes out fast!) of milk into a clean silver cup after each feed. Sometimes I don't have milk left after a feed so what I try to do is pop a bit in the cup ready mid-feed if/when the baby comes off the nipple for whatever reason. I would definitely recommend these cups!