Onset of mastitis??

[katerose2022]

FTM here... I've been unable to breastfeed my 3 week old baby (he's too used to the bottle) so have been pumping breast milk around 7 times a day plus bottle feeding formula. My right breast has always been less productive than the left one. Today I just noticed some hard lumps on my right breast. I'm not feeling any unpleasant symptoms yet but worry that it could be the onset of mastitis? What should I do now pls? Keep pumping? Applying warm towel?

Thanks in advance for any tips pls!

Massage them while pumping and see if they shift.

Also, in desperate times I pump while on all fours with my boobs dangling down as this really drains them!

Does really make you feel like a dairy cow though.

Thanks a lot! @luckbealadytonight

I also found some tips here www.mumsnet.com/articles/mastitis-and-blocked-milk-ducts#

Just applied hot towel and massaged with comb and hand and pumped, but lumps still seem to be there :(

Keep pumping. I had lumps but with very very very very painful heavy and hard breasts. Pumping regularly is the only thing that helped me personally. Massage and pump regularly and see if it goes. If it doesn't, talk to your HV or midwife if you're still under their care.

The protocol for mastitis was changed last year, now it’s cold (ice pack wrapped in something), rest, comfortable breast, the old advice was heat, rest, empty breast. Feed or express for comfort not to the max to empty the breast. If massaging do it very gently, the pressure you would use to pet a cat, no harder. If it hasn’t started to improve in 24 hours contact your gp.

Does your pump fit correctly? Have you the right sized flanges for your nipple size?

Thank you all for the kind comments! I contacted NHS 111 for advice too and a nurse called back within an hour. She advised massaging and expressing. Technically I don't have mastitis yet, just blocked ducts.

The good news is that so far I've managed to dislodge some lumps over a few days by: before each pumping, applying hot towels for three minutes, massaging gently but firmly with two fingers clockwise around the lump and with the thumb towards the nipple, using electrical toothbrush (replaced with old brush head) to massage the lump, using comb to massage the breast towards the nipple. Got the baby to suck a bit using the nipple shield too.

The not so good news is that more lumps seem to pop up in other parts of the same breast.... but they seem manageable so far using the same methods above. Think if you catch the blocked ducts early and do something about them, they are less likely to evolve into mastitis.

The factors that may have contributed to me having blocked ducts: Not pumping for 6 and a half hours on that day (due to going out to a breast feeding support session!), wearing a possibly tight bra with breast pads (due to leaky breasts!), drinking some rich soups (to increase milk supply), baby not sucking much for a few days (trying to switch from nipple shields to breast directly). But still not clear why it's my less productive breast that's getting blocked ducts. Perhaps the other one is drained better by the pump.