Breastfeeding… It’s all fun and games until you get Mastitis.
My right tit is hard as a rock, it has red spots all over it and it’s about 2 times the size of my left tit. Fun. I’ve been doing all of the home treatments they’ve told me to do and it’s still just as bad as it was last night, which scares me because I was read what they might have to do if there is an abscess.
If an abscess is present, it must be drained. After injection of local anesthetic, the doctor may drain an abscess near the surface of the skin either by aspiration with a needle and syringe or by using a small incision. This can be done in the doctor�s office or Emergency Department.
If the abscess is deep in the breast, however, it may require surgical drainage in the operating room. This is usually done under general anesthesia in order to minimize pain and completely drain the abscess. Antibiotics and heat on the area are also used for abscesses.
I almost passed out. Seriously.
Ah, the joys of motherhood.
On a positive note, I weighed in at Weight Watchers today and I lost 3 pounds exactly. So that’s 34 since Gabby was born and 9.6 since I started WW.
Come to think of it, I wonder how much this abscess weighs?
Ow OW OW!! I was SO lucky not to ever have to deal with that.
oh. I pray to God to never hear these words again, ever, in my entire LIFE.
“if you see a puss bubble on the nipple, get a needle a pop it”
call your doctor! i had it and took medication (which you can use while feeding her) and it went away. I Hear that it helps to make her chin press down on the red spots, even if that means hanging your tatas over her while you are upside down, on one leg and smoking a cigar.
do you have a fever or feel like you have the flu?
ouchie but hey congrats on the weightloss!! way to go
damn girl, I swear I learn something new here everyday. It sounds painful, and I hope you feel better soon. And congrats on the 3!
I pray to god everyday I don’t get this. *knocks on wood*
I had two cysts aspirated in the doctor’s office. Honest to God the first time she told me she found a cyst that she wanted to stick a needle in my boob and aspirate it I thought I was going to throw up. But she did it immediately, leaving me little time to think about it. I FELT NOTHING. Seriously. It felt like this itty bitty mosquito bite.
Hopefully that’s all you’ll go through, and if you have to go through the second part, youll have general anesthetic anyway. Best of luck.
PS I know a cyst isn’t the same as an abscess – I guess Im just saying the idea of a needle there wasnt at all as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Feed her on that side AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Keep a hot compress on your boob while you feed her. Take tylenol for the pain. And call your doctor! Good luck to you!
Feed her on that side AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Keep a hot compress on your boob while you feed her. Take tylenol for the pain. And call your doctor! Good luck to you!
Feed her on that side AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Keep a hot compress on your boob while you feed her. Take tylenol for the pain. And call your doctor! Good luck to you!
Feed her on that side AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!
Keep a hot compress on your boob while you feed her. Take tylenol for the pain. And call your doctor! Good luck to you!
Yvonne,
Know what a boil looks like? Actually a boil will be so tender you can’t stand it and very hot to the touch because there is a lot of infection present in the boil. A heating pad will normally bring the infection to the top in about four days and then, I hate to be gross, it’ll burst and all the infection will come out, it should clear up in about a day or two after it drains.
The deep boils are rare. However I’m not saying they don’t happen. Most likely I think you should be alright and wouldn’t need that sort of treatment, but hang in there. Call your doctor.
ouch!
That’s gotta be awful!
I hope you get better soon and that you don’t have to go through all that crap if it gets worse.
Blessings*
It’s so cool that everyone knows so much about breastfeeding!
I have also read (and tried) standing in the shower, and massaging your breasts and just trying to get the milk to let down in that breast and get as much out as possible.
Putting her chin on the lumpy spots really does help. What else have I heard?
For cracked nipples, I used to use the hair dryer about nine inches away from my nipples, not on high either, to help seal the skin so it wouldn’t hurt when they latched on.
Hang in there!
Hello from the Queen of Mastitis, I have had it five times, we are prone to it in my family. It is also the biggest warning you body can give you that you are OVERDOING IT!!! Get more rest. Get into bed and sleep right now. You must take care of yourself.
At this moment, it sounds like you just have a clogged duct, when you get mastitis, there’s no question about it. You’ll have a raging fever, aches and pains, and find yourself begging your husband to put you out of your misery.
Only nurse on the breast that hurts, pump you other breast, nothing sucks better than a human mouth so the more Gabby nurses the better chance the clogged duct will unclog.
Also, call the ob/gyn NOW and tell her you feel mastitis coming on and that you want a prescription for it now so that your husband can go get it for you immediately. Believe me if it hits you don’t want to wait a MINUTE to start the antibiotics (which thankfully start working immediately and don’t affect whether you can nurse or not). I always keep a bottle of pills on stand by in case I get hit in the middle of the night with the raging fever.
Also, as wacko as this sounds, while he’s out have your husband pick up a head of green cabbage. Throw it in the refrigerator, once the leaves are cold place one leaf in your bra over the affected area. I don’t know what it is about the cabbage, but it REALLY helps break it down.
That’s all I can think of at the moment. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.
Owie, babe, I feel your pain. I got double mastitis with my first child (good grief, nearly 12 years ago)… I wasn’t so lucky as most women, cuz my milk dried up after they cleared it all up with meds . Nursing him, unfortunately, didn’t help me clear it up…. sucks too because I was only two weeks into nursing him. Feh.
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
OUTCH! okay that’s a real turn-off about the whole breastfeeding-thing.. man.
i’m jealous about the gazillion pounds you lost – and proud of ya – i have to go there, too. my man asked me last night if i “eat healthy”. he hasn’t seen me in over eight months but checked out new pictures on my site. isn’t that like telling me “you look fatter than the last time i saw you” ??? which – btw – isn’t true. just as fat as i was back then.. ;o)
no, seriously – you rock! i know how hard it is!! and i hope the breast gets better..
Ok, if you do the cabbage in the bra thing, we SO want pictures.
The cabbage thing really works. As does folding up some very warm freshly mashed (no butter!) potatoes in a cloth and applying them to the sore spot. Good idea to see the doctor, though, if you feel things are getting out of hand.
One more thing. Mastitis passes very quickly once the antibiotics kick in. As painful as it is, only 12% of breastfeeding mothers ever experience it. Nursing, as you clearly know, is one of the coziest, snuggly things I have every experienced. Not to mention all the benefits to the baby (neither of my boys has ever had an ear infection).
Since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends nursing until at least one, and the World Health Organization recommends until at least two I have always made it a priority. Jonas was nursed well into his second year of life and I plan on doing the same for Gabo (who is only 10 months old).
I hope you are feeling better today.
I get Mastitis when my babies are about 1 month old. Every time. Then after that everything is fine. Take your perscription and I hope you feel better. Only a few months ago I can remember crying and biting my tounge from screaming every time I nursed Nicole when I had it.
Hope you feel better soon!! WTG on the weight loss, you are doing GREAT!!!
Ow, just ow, dammit. Hope you feel better soon!
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Cabbage is awesome, but another thing that I found really soothing, and the least messy or smelly, was to take uncooked, ordinary rice, fill a sock with it, tie the sock on one end, and put it in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds, and place that on the effected area. It stays warm for a nice long time, too.
Cabbage works well because it’s a natural analgesic, and draws excess moisture out, thus bringing down swelling. Onions do the same thing, but really? Who wants to smell like an onion?
Anyway, good to know for when she’s teething, too. Give her a little cabbage or a little green onion for her gums, and she’ll drool a little more, but the pain won’t be as bad for her.
Hope that helps.
-H
The cabbage thing is the only way to go. I thought people were nuts at first…then I tried it out of desperation. How do you spell relief? Try it girlfriend you will never look at cabbage the same way again!!
Please notice that I refrained from asking for an “open dis here up >”
Thank you.