Breastfeeding - tissue pain

[Koli]

Hello I’ve been breastfeeding 11 months and the past 2 days I’ve been experiencing pain on my left breast. The pain is on the underside and it feels like it’s the tissue thats sore.

I thought it was because the breast was full and I needed to express, but that hasn’t relieved it. Could it be a blocked duct? I thought a blocked duct would hurt around the nipple?

Could well be a blocked duct. I only had one once, but it didn’t hurt where the duct was, what hurt was where the pressure built up, so in the tissue.

Very warm flannels and lots of firm massage did the trick, although it was rather uncomfortable to do. Tiny bit of something that looked like dairy lee cheese eventually came out , followed by gushing torrents of milk that sprayed embarrassingly well over a metre.... make sure you have a towel ready for when you shift it! I was so relieved to shift the pressure, but was astonished by how much was behind the blockage.

I never had mastitis, but if this isn’t something that you can shift I’d recommend seeing your GP - it sounds like it can get quite nasty quite quickly if it doesn’t clear, so best to be avoided.

I had this exactly, and developed mastisis a few days later. Try taking some ibruprofen, that helped me with the pain and keep an eye on it

Could be. Have a look at your nipple for signs of a milk bleb. Take some ibuprofen. Use cold compresses for 20 mins at a time to relieve the pressure. Before you feed apply a hot compress and while feeding massage the area. Try and encourage your little on to feed as much a possible.

Thanks so much for the replies. I’ve been massaging lots today. The lump feel enormous! I hope it doesn’t develop into mastitis

I wanted to share my experience with regards to mastisis, perhaps it’ll help another new mum.

If you’ve already got fever and extreme pain, you may need to go to GP to get antibiotics but this is a short term fix and it’ll also upset the baby’s tommy.. having to take care of a newborn whilst mum is in pain is the worst thing ever! So alternatively,

1. Get up to feed baby or pump regularly. You have to get the milk out otherwise you’ll end up with mastisis.
2. In the morning, before you know it’s time to feed baby, take a warm shower and in the shower try to squeeze the milk out with your hands. Then feed baby.
3. Any other time, grab a size 3 or bigger nappy, pour hot water on it, let it cool down a bit (1 min or so) and get someone else to massage the area, they have to press quite hard to open the knots..it’s painful that’s why I think somebody else should do it for u. Then feed the baby or pump to get the milk out.
4. The cold cabbage thing didn’t work so well for me. I actually felt better when I kept my breast warm.
5. After feeds, keep your breast warm, perhaps put a robe on, or a cardigan.
6. Don’t pump too often. Don’t buy any fancy products you don’t need it!
7. If the pain persists after a week go to GP and ask for a scan of your breast to ensure it’s not something more serious.

My experience: first baby I didn’t even know I had mastisis for two weeks. I woke up one day (baby was 4 weeks old) having fever and feeling extreme pain on my breast. I finally went to GP crying and I kept taking antibiotics and didn’t help much. It also made the babys tommy so upset.
Finally it went away after 6 weeks after doing above steps. I used to set myself a 4am alarm to ensure I pump as my baby loved to sleep during the night.
My second baby, I had pain breastfeeding for 3 weeks but I did the above and kept feeding her. I also stick to breastfeeding and finally the pain went away.
I breastfed both baby’s for 1 year. So don’t give up, there is a solution to this problem!