blocked duct -PLEA for help

[poppy34]

PLEASE anyone got any bright ideas to help me..am so fed up - dd now four weeks old and basically I've had problems with a blocked duct/mastitis since she was born. Two sets of antibiotics plus visit to specialist (who lanced the milk late and identified issue as blocked duct) not really cleared issue up. am siting here as only visited specialist this morning and can see saga continuing (breast already swelling as I express for second time..have given up b/f as latest round of antibiotics affected dd so badly).

am trying to express whilst massaging,using hot water bottle first and then cold compress (done all this previously and used savoy cabbage leaf but to no particular effect). am also happy to give dd a go in different feeding positions

and before you ask I have rung la leche and nct (plus mw) for help and got no answers from any of them (literally )

am on verge of giving up bf as so fed up but please help anyone wiht any bright ideas of how long/what I need to do to clear this up.

and dd usually good feeder/with good latch (albeit we are using nipple shields) so I don't really want to give up as she clearly likes breast better

It is possilbe that the nipple shields are causing your DD to not feed efficiently and drain the breasts causing blockages?

have you tried to stop using the shields?

I also found that expressing caused more problems than it solved as the funnel bit on my pump was pinching the ducts and causing blockages......medela make different sized funnels for different sized boobs, but the Avent one I had was a one size supposedly fits all.

and have you made sure your bras are fitting well? poorly fitting cups on feeding bras can also cause problems with blockages.

oh, and should have said, sorry you are having problems; blocked ducts and mastitis are miserable

lackadaisy..thanks - yes been and checked bras..also stopped wearing at night to stop pinching.

Good point re pumps but issue started before I ever started expressing.. Will try without shields but have very inverted nipples so will have to see how it goes.

you can get a wee device that suctions your nipple out a bit to help with the latch (sounds like an instrument of torture though)

there are some links on kellymom that might be of use

and some information on blocked ducts and mastitis as well

keep this bumped for tiktok, she is an NCT BFC

there is a way of figuring out what position babay needs to be in to most effectively 'drain' an area of the breast....but was so long ago I've forgotten.
Had blocked ducts a lot when feeding DTs. I do remember making the effort to position the baby in every 'clock' position...hard to describe...if your nipple is centre of clock and baby is hands, rotate bay through say 1/4 turn for each feed. You do end up in some very odd positions but it worked for me. I also found pressure from straps of baby carrier could cause it, not just badly fitting bras, and leaving long gaps between feeds. A shame that LLL and NCT aren't available, have you tried the Breastfeeding Network?
Keep trying, it WILL be worth it in the end

Oh lordy blocked ducts are horrendous.Bra too snug caused mine,also wearing a sling that pressed on the breast.I think the nipple shields don't help either actually as I think the flow is slightly affected but that is just my personal feeling looking back to when I used them.Mine went with a long feed but never by expressing no matter how long I persevered so get the baba latched on.I also laid a flannel soaked in warm water and wrung out over the breast while feeding and stroked the breast towards the nipple with my nails,gently,sort of a combing action.There is a homoeopathic remedy called phytolacca and it worked wonders for me -you need the 200c potency and take three doses over a few hours.Don't keep taking it over and over again. good luck.You can get the remedy posted from a homoeopathic pharmacy if you are not in London.Ainsworths on new cavendish st or Goulds on Crowndale rd.

madletileater, I was told to have the baby's chin pointing towards the location of the blocked duct....best achieved by feeding with baby lying down and mum kneeling over the baby on all fours.

My blocked duct was always on the cleavage side of my boob, quite high up and I sat for ages thinking how I was going to get baby's chin pointing at it without having her hanging upside down over my shoulder ...the joys of sleep deprivation

Another solution is to comb the breast (yes with a hair comb) from the blockage towards the nipple. bloody agony, but it worked for me.

yes, that sounds right...you can acheive loads more positions if you lie on your side with baby lying alongside you...then you can have her legs over your shoulders etc.

feeding lying down and me never got on, but I'm determined to master it this time around!

thanks...all really helpful adn will pop to chemist that does homeopathic remedy tomorrow

Also try Neal's Yard (online) - they're great stockists of homeopathic remedies.

There, a handy bump

noone has mentioned this yet.

It is a miracle solution sometimes.

Good luck, keep us posted,

lol vlc; I'd forgotten all about blocked nipple pores

I always took a furtive enjoyment in the 'ping', embarrassingly.

My regular blocked ducts pretty much went away at 6 months - odd.

lol, it's like squeezing blackheads as a teeneager

my blocked ducts went when I stopped expressing.

and poppy, i hope things are better this morning

poppy - vlc is referencing 'white spot', something the bf support people you talked to probably should have suggested (maybe they did). Worth reading her link.

Nipple shields may be contributing to the problem (interfering with effective removal); expressing may be contributing to it (stimulating excess production). I know you say it started before you started to express, but all that shows is you may have a tendency to bocked ducts already.

Try the breastfeeding lines again and keep reporting back here.

Is it the same blocked duct each time?

What did the doctor lance?

Ouch! This brings back memories. I had quite a few blocked ducts in the same place and extremely sore nip. I was training as a volunteer BF counsellor at the time and none of us or health vizs who were training us or docs diagnosed the blocked pore. But that's what it was. I even sterilised a needle several times with a lighter (don't advise doing this by the way but I just couldn't get the b*gger out!). Eventually came out with very vigorous rubbing with flannel in hot shower. Again don't advise that but just sending support and commiserations. Do check those pores for the little white dots.

Feeding in diff positions did help I think but my main memory was of DD thinking it hilarious that I was kneeling over her upside down dangling my breast and kept biting me!

I also agree about the nipple shields possibly preventing the milk from draining from the ducts. Have experienced this too. I used them as I have flat nips! Even flatter since the needles and flannel rubbings probably!!

Hope you find a cause and a release soon. And a big "good for you" for persevering x

I woke up with two blocked pores and a sore, hard boob this morning. I've got a horrible case of man-flu so I'm putting it down to that. I've had this once before and I managed to get things unblocked and flowing again with hot flannels on the nipple before every feed, but feeding is still agonisingly painful hours later. My little boy is 16 months old and a very wriggly feeder, so that's not helping! I only have one working breast (he never took to the other one and it went into retirement months ago) and he's been asking for 'nim' constantly all day today, so it's just not getting a chance to ease off at all. I know I've just got to grin and bear it and it'll all be dandy again in a day or two - just wanted to moan to people who'll understand, because it huuuuuuuuuurts!

Incidentally, when I had this before and it was harder to ping, someone told me to put grated raw potato on my nipple overnight and the blockage popped out like a cork the next morning, so that's another tip worth trying/

ta...have been trying this (esp no bra) and things much better but not cleared up... am going to check fot plugs later...

but all advice appreciated

I second all the advice above. Something else to think about is what clothes you are wearing - I used to get blocked ducts whilst wearing a certain jumper that I would not have considered tight, but it definitely caused them and I found later that a vest top I sometimes wore did the same thing. Poor you, it is a bugger if you are susceptible to blockages.

A mum i knew bought white and black nursing bras, same stylew/brand and always get problems when wearing the black ones we decided it might have a little less 'give' in it so she stopped wearing it and hey presto no more issues.

provincial lady ...good thought.. have tried wearing looser tops and seems to help..trouble is cannot do without bras totally as leak like hell any tips there? and blockage still there (admittedly not bigger but not going either)... am at a bit of aloss now as been trying the regime for a week now and no real progress. maybe just have to resign myself to this?