Please help! extreme nipple damage

[beachavendrea]

Hi
I have extreme damage on one of my nipples from breastfeeding. Basically it started off as a gash on the side of my nipple and now has spilt open and half my nipple is raw much like a burn about a centemetre wide in one place. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and i have tried everything, expressed instead of feeding alhtough this still strechted the wound, silverette cups, nipple cream, steriod cream that the doctor gave me and it's just not healing!
My son is only 4 weeks old and it hurts to feed at the beginning but does get better the longer he feeds. I am off to the doctor today again but thought that someone might have a idea to help heal it that I haven't tried.

Any suggestions gratefully received. xxx

Try rubbing in your own breastmilk into the sore several times a day. Try to keep the area dry too. I know that it is probably very sore, but keep feeding from that side.

Breastmilk has healing properties. Good luck. Many congrats on the birth of your baby.

nipple shields. worked for me.

It may be you actually need anti-b's. I had something similar and swab showed staph aureus infection- anti-b's kickstarted the healing- its not completely healed but it is a lot better than it was.

Ring one of the national helplines and get yourself checked out by a qualified bf counsellor quickly - I'm betting your latch isn't right and / or your baby has a tongue tie

I agree look in to getting anti-b's. In the meantime, keep using lansinoh after every feed, put breasmilk on and let dry before applying lansinoh.

The damage sounds quite bad atm, could you try starting all feeds on good side and just using that side for top ups till it heals a bit (this is what my lactation consultant advised me to do). You could even feed just from good side and pump from bad every other feed or something like that so you would only be topping up from it every other feed?

Yes, do get latch looked at too.

I really feel for you, hope it heals soon.

I second the anti-biotics tip - I had a deep, red gash of a crack on my right nipple for 7 weeks - from weeks 2 to 9. I was treated for thrush, which cleared up the cracks on my left side. I tried everything for the crack - rubbing in bm & airdrying, silverettes, lansinoh (spent a fortune on tubes!), jelonet (very good combined with lansinoh), getting my latch checked - and it persisted. But a week long course of anti-bs cleared it up. I still have a scar, but it's healing well (3 weeks after starting the anti-bs) and crucially it's pain free to feed my son (who's now 12 weeks).

Thanks guys, I have just got back from the doctor and she said she wouldn't give me anti-biotics because it wasn't infected and advised me not to feed from that side and hand express for a week! as expressing with a machine makes it worse.

I was on anti-bitoics already, I finished the course about a week ago as I had an infection and the gash grew.

He was tounge tied but we got that snipped a few weeks ago. That's how the gash started, i think his latch is okay but he might not be opening wide enough.

It's so frustrating as he is a big boy and really need both breasts to feed! And this is the third time I have gone to the doctor about it and I have shown it to two midwives. Each one offering different advice and solutions.

I'll try resting the breast as much as possible and then go back to the doctor at the end of the week if it still hasn't healed and demand anti-biotics.

Thanks for all your tips. xxx

Please go see a BF person, there may be ways you can change your positioning so that he will open wider, iyswim. This website has a pretty exhaustive list of BF support groups nationwide ...

this stuff helped me but you have to order it. i actually watched my nipple heal over. i did express too as it kept opening the wound when DS fed. australian women swear by it for cracked nipples.

this

"For pawpaw ointment the active ingredient in the papaya fruit is the enzyme papain which is found in the fermented fruit. Papain within the papaya has been used in its native South America and in the last century elsewhere as a topical application to treat various skin ailments."

www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/nipplehealing.html

moist wound healing worked for me with DC2 and I had a gash that I thought would never heal

I would use lansinoh or kamillosan
Try to see a BFC to check your latch is the best it can be
Take painkillers

Good luck

Can I second using jelonet. Available from boots and turned things around for me in a very short space of time when I have shredded nipples. It's also very cheap.

I hope its starting to feel a bit better with the previous advice.

I lost a large chunk of my nipple a few weeks in (it peeled off onto a breast pad). I'm wincing just thinking about it! So I feel your pain

Someone on MN told me to sit with my top off and let the air get to it. I just sat on the couch with a hand towel under my boobs to catch any drips and the curtains closed. I fed off the good side mostly and the bad side a few times a day. It worked a lot having it out and free of a bra or nursing pad against it.

Tea and Cake also help the healing process!

I second EldonAve, cleaning yourself with some mildly salty water really helps the healing process. If you get some salty water in a shot glass or similar and tip it up over your nipple so that it creates a seal and doesn't spill if SWIM. Leave it there for 3-4 mins then pat dry.

Don't leave for any more than 5 mins or the skin will get saturated.

I used this in the evenings after DS asleep then slathered on lansinoh - it worked a treat

Another vote for the Kellymom wet healing method. In my case I used Lansinoh and then a breast shell over the top to protect the wound and maintain the moisture level.

Worked well for me but I only had a small crack, your wound sounds awfully painful, well done for persevering.

How are things now beachavendrea?

Lansinoh is only good for soreness, IMO it does not help a wound close.

Only one thing for it and that is fresh air as much as you can.

Feed from sore side second so baby not so enthusiastically sucking.

Another useful tip is to gently ease their chin down and therefore their mouth wider once latched. This can help improve a latch once they are on. It's sometimes better than having to start over as it's agony when to put them on the breast. Your nipple needs to get back past their gums towards the roof of the mouth. Some good video demos on YouTube.

Good luck I know how painful it is I also had a major wound and tissue damage on my nipple.

I had EXACTLY the same thing - I went to the docs and they said it MIGHT be thrush, which it wasn't. Nothing worked, but i kept on going, the pain was awful. Then one day, at about 8 weeks I noticed i was in no pain, and BF was pain free and incredibly easy. I'm glad i didn't give up, it was worth the pain. I have a dent there now!!! Good luck

Hi guys,
It has healed after 6 weeks! The doctor gave me some steriod cream which very slowly healed the gash.
I tried to breastfeed off to at least as possible and walked around the house with my top off and slept with my top off so i had loads of leakages. At one stage I was so sick of leaking every where i put a sanitary pad with wings under my nipple to try to catch drips. It didn't work.
Very very pleased it healed, as I love breastfeeding but the pain was terrible.
Thanks for all the suggestions.