I need to heal a cut on my nipple.

[iwasagirlinavillage]

I'm breastfeeding and have a cut/split at the base of my nipple. Not sure of the cause - thought it was thrush but now the GP isn't sure so he's sent off a swab. But what can I do to help it heal?

• I'm trying to feed from the other side more but the good side has the lowest supply due to a previous surgery. I'm offering that side first and really trying not to feed on the other side that much - trying to give one big feed from that side rather than cluster feeding.
• I'm using a saline solution after every feed.
• Getting air to it as much as possible.

She is 7 1/2 months but she was premature so she's still small and still feeds VERY often. As her weight gain has been slow I've always allowed her to feed as much as she wants and that is a lot. The longest stretch I get without a feed is 4 or 5 hours in the evening. Is there anything I can do in this time to help it to heal quicker? The cut is right where her tongue is when feeding so every feed opens it back up again and it is agony!

OP have they also treated your baby for thrush? If you've got it she will likely have it too and unless you're both treated youll kee reinfecting each other

Yes, we both had the treatment and last week when the GP checked he couldn't see any white patches in her mouth and I still can't now. I don't know if it is thrush. It feels like it but the swab was negative and DD doesn't seem to have any signs. It's bloody painful whatever it is!

I know I was told by anlactstiom consultant that trush is deeper than Nipple and daktarin js pretty much ineffective if you had ductal trush

I had a similar cut around that stage and was so sore the jack Newman APNO helped and so did reducing the feeds that side for a while it meant a few days too of resting and eating v carefully (no sugar and plenty of fresh nutritious food to increase supply in other side , washing bras and tops at 60 deg to kill any spores
After it healed I was able to go back to feeding both sides

My supply has taken a massive nose dive. Normally DD goes to sleep around 7pm then wakes around 11pm, 3am and is up at 6. Last night she woke up at 8.30 and then at 11 but she was awake for 3 hours feeding continuously which was agonising and frustrating. I made up a bottle of formula but by the time it had cooled down enough to give to her she'd settled down. Then she woke up again at 5am. I can feel I've not got as much milk as normal. I'm hoping it's just a temporary dip caused by the infection.

I just put some Daktarin on and it was absolute agony. I just want to cry.

Jelonet. It's a burns dressing - cut out little squares to make it last longer.

In other news I just took some Nurofen suspension (we're still housebound with DD1 with chicken pox and we've run out of tablets) and that stuff is vile! No wonder we have such a protest when she has to have it!

I'm concerned that the cut is getting deeper and deeper. I just need the bastard thing to heal.

For those who have had nipple thrush, I've had it before but I can only remember this recent pain so I can't remember what it was like before. Is the actual nipple complete agony? The cut is at the base of my nipple and that's a stinging pain, but the nipple itself feels like it's massively bruised. It's so painful. Also, on both nipples I have a red area where her mouth has been - you can perfectly make out where she latches on - but she has no signs of thrush in her mouth. I'm still unsure if this is thrush or not. The swab came back negative but the GP said that as I had used the Daktarin the night before it's possible that no thrush was present when the swab was taken but stopping the Daktarin there after let it come back. I know none of you can know if it is or isn't thrush, the GP has seen my nipple and even he isn't sure, but does it sound like it? I bought some Daktarin cream today (rather than the oral gel) so I'm going to see how that goes. I'm wondering, would Canestan Oral do anything to help? I don't see why it wouldn't but I've not seen this suggested anywhere, maybe it's not suitable when breastfeeding.

Diflucan tablet? ?

The GP wants to treat the infection first because he's not convinced about thrush.

Do you think it sounds like thrush?

When you say you have red patches on your nipple where she latches on- it sounds like her latch is too shallow. You should have your whole nipple well past her gums with her latching on past it, towards the edge or even past the areola. Of her latch is too shallow then she'll just be reopening the wound each time and it won't get time to heal.

With my son (who had a tongue tie) I had to kind of pinch the areole and nipple together, shove them past his gums when he opened his mouth and then keep a close eye he didn't slip back onto them again.

Sorry, I meant the whole of the nipple and most of the areola are red. I am going to get her latch looked at though. We've never had a problem with it before but maybe she's got lazy.

Sorry to keep bombarding with questions - I've bought some Daktarin cream to use on my nipples rather than the Daktarin gel. Obviously the gel could be left on as it prescribed for my daughter to use orally, but do I need to remove the cream before feeding? I'm finding every time I have to wash my nipples it dries them out which doesn't help so I'd rather leave it on, but only if it's safe. Any ideas?

This leaflet from St George's suggests you don't need to wash it off - just make sure there isn't an excess on the skin https://www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/48Community+services+WandsworthBreastfeeding+with+thrush.pdf

Well the cut is still there. The pain had reduced a lot from what it was. I'm almost 100% convinced it is thrush as I was using the Daktarin but then misplaced it so didn't use it for a few days and the pain has come back as bad as it was before. I'm back using the Daktarin and it's not started helping yet. It does seem to help the discomfort but it's not clearing it. I had a sudden thought that Canestan Oral can be bought over the counter and although it's for vaginal thrush, I've looked it up and it contains 150mg of flunconazole which is the same as is contained in Diflucan. But I haven't found anything from a quick google to say that Canestan can be used for nipple thrush. I think I'm going to have to go back to the GP, I seem to live there at the moment.