Home Remedies for Mastitis?

Hi M.,

What a horrible way to start Christmas. :( I wish you had a breast pump! I have gotten this a few times and the best thing was to:
1. Take motrin (2-3)
2. Take a hot shower, soak a washcloth with very warm water and hold it against the breast with mastitis.
3. Pump until you feel like there is nothing left.
4. Sleep and rest.

Seriously...this helped me a few times where I didn't even need to go to the doctor for meds. And I had the fever, chills and aches..the whole works. After the first bout with it where I ended up with a yeast infection from the multiple antibiotic rounds..I am afraid to take antibiotics. If you do, definitely take probiotics with them.

Where are you located? I have an extra pump that a friend gave me that I could try to get to you.

Merry Christmas. :)
K.

Hi M.,
Hopefully you are better by now, but here's my say just in case it helps. I'm not going to tell you what I think you should do because I'm not a doctor, but I'll share my experiences with you regarding this issue. I breastfed my daughter for the first 13 months, and I think I had mastitis MULTIPLE times because I overproduced milk... I got body aches from clogged ducts at least five times during those 13 months, one time was particularly bad. I never went on any medicine for it and I never called the doctor for it simply because within a few days my body always cleared it up on its own, I just felt like I had the flu, and I always knew when it was starting because I got aches, especially in my legs. After a while I discovered that hot baths really helped with the body aches. I nursed and pumped as much as possible and also tried to rub out the knot in my breast with my hands (yes, this is VERY painful). Also, some funny but useful advice I found online was to get on your hands and knees and pump (or nurse, but that might be difficult), for some reason this different angle on the breast might help ease out the backed up milk. Best of Luck!

take 1 tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar 3x a day. you should feel results within 24 hours. God Bless.

Well is it a clogged duct or Mastitis? If it is Mastitis with a fever etc then you have no choice but to get antibiotics, so maybe go to the ER. If it is still at the clogged duct stage then you can work it out. I have had a clogged duct twice that I worked out so I never got Mastitis. What I did was message the area, put a warm hot cloth on the duct (hard spot), then breastfed my son using the football hold. I got rid of it in about a day. They say to make sure that the baby's chin is facing the area of the clogged duct which will help clear it. I really think the heat worked. I had been messaging mine all day with no good results and then I finally put a warm/hot washcloth on it and right away nursed my son and after that feeding it was totally gone. Now I am being more preventative of that area and using the football hold as soon as I feel heaviness in that area. Good luck and if you exhibit fever you really should go to the ER.

M. - I hope you were able to get well quickly. For future reference, I just want to chime in that the home remedies repeated by others are what took care of my mastitis the MANY times I got it with my first baby (with second I've only gotten it once).: treat yourself like you have fle, lots of nursing, lots of warm compresses. I used a thin wet washcloth covered by an electric heating pad for 10 min. before nursing. I never took antibiotics.

Soy Lecithin is good for prevention. It is supposed to help unclog things or thin things somehow. I have used it quite a bit. You can buy it at Walgreen's, etc. and it is fine to take while nursing, of course.

With the hand expression, maybe you are pressing on and blocking a duct that needs emptied somehow, that is my only thought in that direction.

Drink lots of water, really really rest (go to bed with baby if you can), nurse as much as possible- all the baby will nurse!) and ibuprofen.

3 months is big growth spurt time, so you don't want to do anything that is going to decrease your supply.. you are still in the "regulating your supply to meet baby's needs" phase. Don't worry, it DOES get better and you won't be leaking and squirting forever!!

Hope some of this helps. Message me if you have any questions. Oh, one more thought- if you are on WIC or eligible, I think they supply breastpumps if that would help. Just a thought.

M.
(currently nursing a 13 mo old and successfully nursed first daughter for 3.5 yrs, as well as pumped and donated for preemie of a friend.) :)

Treat it kind of like the flu- lots of fluids, lots of rest. You can take ibuprofen for pain and inflamation. Lots and lots of nursing and warm compresses or a warm shower may be helpful for comfort. If you don't start feeling better within 24-48 hours call your doc's office back. They should have an answering service that can reach him/her.

M.:

I would like to respectfully disagree with the other response.... you do not always have to go on antibiotics.... rest plenty of fluids and keep the milk flowing in the breast.. either by nursing or with a pump. If the fever continues for more than 24-38 hours then you may need antibiotics/ Your md's office should have someone on call

I would be more concerned that you are getting mastitis repeatedly...

hand expression is fine and is used all over the world... it maybe from what you are saying that you need to express when your sons feeding changes.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions