Sore nipples - is it more than ds chewing?

[Prufrock]

For the past 6 weeks or so I have had really sore nipples. This coincided with the appearnce of 6 teeth in ds's mouth, so I put it down to him using my niples as a teething aid. But now I'm not so sure.
He doesn't really sem to be chewing - and they don't hurt when he's feeding (down to morning and night feeds, which only last 10 minutes on one breast) apart from when he first latches on. But despite copiuos application of Kamilosan, the area just around the nipple is still cracked - to the point of bleeding sometimes, and shiny red, with patches of papery skin peeling off.
What makes me think this is some sort of infection is that I wierdly have a patch of skin on my top lip (also for about 6 weeks) which looks exactly the same as my nipple. This also isn't clearing up. At first I thought it was a coldsore, but now I'm not so sure.

Any ideas?

Hi Prufrock

It could be thrush - see here for more info. It's pretty straightforward to treat (you need to treat yourself and your baby (you can get orange-flavoured Daktarin gel to do this orally for your DS)).

Here's a link for more info: Kellymom thrush info

I would guess thrush. Can you see a b/f counsellor or you GP if they are any cop?

Oh my goodness - that looks just like my nipple! I feel a bit stupid for not realising, but ds doesn't have any symptoms and I just assumed thrush was something you only got at the begining. Doh- will call doctor now, and search previous threads to see how to tell him to treat me.

Don't feel stupid, Prufrock - it's very often the way that you can't see what's happening to yourself when it would be something you'd pick up on if it was someone else. I had a few days of really sore nipples then I realised that DS had got really lazy about latching on and was feeding with his chin almost on his chest - ow! Positioning change and voila! It didn't hurt any more. But before that all sorts of things were going through my mind (thrush was one of the things i thought it could be, which is how I knew what you were describing!).

Hope it's soon sorted hun. xxx