BF pain - is it only thrush?

[Bunbun81]

My LO is 7 weeks, have breastfed from the start. I initially had cracked nipples, they healed, then got blocked ducts 3 times and potential mastitis and now am on treatment for nipple thrush (cream and tablets plus baby on drops) Most of the time BF has been painful, currently my nipples are very sensitive to touch and when baby feeds I get a strong painful pinching feeling in the areola which gets unbearable by end of the feed. I had a lactation consultant who said the latch looked good.
Has anyone else had very painful pinching pain on areola during feeding and was it thrush or something else?
I don’t want to give up but the pain really gets me down and I almost dread feeds...

Hi Op, I think I have similar to you. Does the pain start behind the nipple and carry on even once baby has finished feeding? If so, it could be the latch. My daughter has fed fine until she was 10 months and then I started getting that pain during feeding but only in one breast. I asked for help and it was suggested it could be her latch. Her latch looked fine to me but as soon as the pain started, I took her off and put her back and over time it has helped. Sometimes if she’s being lazy I get the pain again but I just re-latch her and it seems to fix the problem.

Thrush usually occurs in both nipples and the pain only happens after feeding, rather than during. Did you have a swab for thrush? If not, get your GP to do a swab to confirm it, a lot of GPs just dish out antibiotics without checking first.

Also have a look at nipple vasospasm- it’s a condition where blood flow is obstructed causing pain and typically occurs during feeding if the nipple is compressed. If your nipple is ‘blanched’ after feeding it could be this