mastitus - help

[cupsoftea]

It started on friday night - very painful when milk was let down. I went to the docs on saturday & got antibiotics.

On saturday had the shakes & high temp. I'm hoping this is now over.

Now the redness is covering all the breast at the front ifswim & is really painful. My dd will bf fine from it.

What can I do to help this & how long will it last. Thanks xx

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/1364/470532

(Hope the link works)

cpusoftea, I can totaly sympathise with you, I am going through my first bout of mastitis and OMG it is soooooooo painful, I would rather be in labour.

The link above (if it has worked) is to the thread I have started asking for help, lots of good advice on it. I hope it helps you and I hoep you are feeling better soon.

Yay it has worked

should clear up quickly with the ABs

keep feeding on that side making sure it is drained and rest as much as possible.

It's horrible, I've had it loads. Hope you feel better soon.

thanks xxx

Hi Cupsoftea, I had my 3rd case a couple of weeks ago and found that expressing helped to drain when DD wasn't feeding. It was easier to clear up that time than the previous.

good idea Lucy - I don't have an expressing machine but might get one.

I never got on with the machines but always expressed in the bath with mastitis, it seemed easier to do it from different angles to really drain all of the ducts.

It also seemed less of an assault in a hot bubbly bath!

sounds nice MissC! - I'll see if I can get a breast pump tomorrow (or ask dh to get one)

Would definitely recommend a bath! Even if for just a bit of time to yourself But the breast pump has been one of my best buys.

have some Jo Malone bath oil - a good reason to use it (smells lovely)

Oh Poor you.. Mastitis is far worse than the labour and childbirth in my opinion too. I have had it 6 times now

Keep feeding feeding feeding from the sore side first and Hand Express in between feeds if necessary (due to pain).

If you still have a blockage there i would feed whilst on all fours to allow gravity to help clear the blockage.

Apply warm packs before feeding/nursing and cool packs afterwards to reduce swelling/redness. This is great if you still have a HOT HOT HOT breast. Mine was so hot that the skin peeled from it!

Bellandonna is a Homeopathic remedy for Mastitis which i found was SUPERB. it quickly helps reduce the inflammation and swelling. I would buy this just in case you do get Mastitis again.

Also, another natural way to treat Mastitis without Antibiotics is to use the Silverlon Pad. I used this the last 2 times i had Mastitis and did not take the Antibiotics i had been prescribed.

Hang in there, you are passed the worst of it now and you are doing fantastically!

Glad determination has helped you bot out. She helped me loads when I got my bout of mastitis. I got some gel pad things (like eye masks) from boots about £12 had one in fridge all the time and the other i heated up in boiling water. Also using a wide tooth comb in the shower as in yes combing my boob also helped to get it moving and although it nearly killed me to feedher from that side i did it through tears and gritted teeth it even hurt to hold her near me.. Keep with it ladies I did and I am still breast feeding at 39 weeks Although trying to wean now onto fingerfoods but thats a different matter.

thanks for all the tips & links xxx