Nursing Issue - Blister??

J.,

Hi, I am a chiropractor that focuses on holistic pediatric and pregnancy care and this is something we see very often in our office. Recommedations: Lanolin cream is made directly for this issue which you can find at most stores but doesnt always do the trick. Some other options are: putting your breast milk directly on the blister and all over the breast... it really does cure everything (Just a side note if you or your baby or anyone you know gets an infection in their eye breast milk is absolutely the best thing for it. Squirt it directly in the eye) After you put the milk on the breast it is very important to let the breast breathe as much as possible so try not to wear a shirt for a while at home and keep the breast latch of the bra open also. Aloe directly from the plant or organic kind is great too.. but do not use the average kind from the store because the added chemicals would not be good for the baby to intake. You may need to consult a lactition (the Le Leche League meets the 2nd Friday of every month) to aid you helping the baby get a good latch but usually if it is only one breast the baby may have something with her TMJ on that side so she is using more pressure and not latching correctly. This is a common occurance that we see in our office and easy to treat if the case. It is usually caused by the birth trauma through the canal or if she always layed on one side in the womb. The other recommendations should head you in the right way but if you have any other questions for me please do not hesitate to email me at ____@____.com

you need Lansinoh like yesterday! apply it every time you nurse, it will not affect your daughter one bit is completely safe and is a lifesaver!! I started with little mini blisters all over the nipple and was in a lot of pain. A day or so after using this stuff,no more pain and continued using it for a couple months just to be safe and never again had a problem. good luck!

I had the same exact thing, twice!! I will let you know that if you really do have the same thing...mine did "pop" and sweet relief!! Must have been some form of a blocked duct...not sure....but make sure you have your ob or lactation consultant look at it just to be safe...but it will pass...I swear!

I think it sounds like a plugged duct, which can be very very painful to touch. I would consult a lactation consultant IMMEDIATELY so that it can be helped ASAP so that not only you feel better, but so that your nursing progress and success is not hindered in any way.

The lactation department at Morton Plant is AWESOME. Lucille will take your phone message and call you back that day and will do in person consults too (call to set up a time!). It is FREE even if you didn't deliver there.

I would most definately call ASAP, in the meantime apply hot/warm compresses and try to nurse as much as you can on THAT SIDE. Nursing draws out so much more milk and will be better for it. If you have to pump instead do it as much as you would normally nurse on that side to keep supply building (this is a critical time period of supply establishment) - and to avoid mastitis! I would get to the store and buy some Lecithin capsules and start them immediately. This is safe to take daily but especially helpful when there may be a plugged duct since it thins the milk. It will help with the clog as well as preventing them in the future. Call the lactation consultant for maximum dosing but the health food store will likely know as well.

Morton Plant Lactation Dept is ###-###-####.

Best wishes for happy nursing for you and your little one!!!!

Hi J.! Congratulations on your new baby! If you nursed your first baby, maybe you were lucky enough to escape this situation. I too developed those blister-like sore spots when I first started nursing. The pain was awful. I used lanolin like crazy. I consulted a lactation nurse and my ob/gyn, who both recommended that I continue nursing both sides (or at least pumping the one side to give it a break). If you can mostly pump on that side for a day or two, it should calm down. Of course, you will want to be assured it isn't an infection, but my experience was just that it was sore from use (ha ha). Sensitive. Nursing didn't stop being painful for me until my daughter was 5 weeks old. The first week wasn't bad either. But those next four weeks felt like a lifetime. Please send updates and let us know how you are doing!

When I nursed my daughter, I had a very similar problem. I put an ointment(I think it was lanolin) for breasts on it after I would pump and bought the nursing pads to put over my breast so this ointment wouldn't mess up my bra or shirts. I wish I remembered what it is called, but I bought it at walgreens and it was in a purple tube. The doctor told me I didn't need it, but this healed my breast so I could breast feed again. I hope this helps.

It sounds like Thrush (a type of yeast infection). Check inside your daughters mouth and see if there is a whitish look to her tongue or sides of her mouth. I would advise a trip to the pediatrician. They can write a script for a liquid medication that can be rubbed inside her mouth and rubbed on you. Good luck.
G.

I had this problem. The lifesaver were thr Medella plastic nipple covers -they create a aera around your nipple that lets them heal with nothing touching them.
You can get them at Babies r us - there is also a healing cream that is good -but I forgot the name for that.
Best of luck -it will get much easier!

Hi there, J..

First of all, congrats on your new baby! And, secondly, congrats on choosing to breastfeed. Despite the inflammatory stuff that has been in print these days, the real research does prove that breastfeeding = healthy babes who grow the way they were meant to.

Ok, down from soapbox--
It sounds like you either have a milk blister or something called blanching.

Blanching is when the nipple turns completely white as blood drains out of it and it is absolutely excruciating. It can happen due to pinching of the nipple (like a newborn's poor latch) or other reasons. It can be relieved by squeezing just behind the nipple to get blood to flow back into it. Then, get your latch checked by an experienced Lactation Consultant.

If it's a milk blister, again it's likely caused by poor latch. You need to see a good L.C. ASAP before you end up in too much pain and your milk supply suffers, and/or you get tempted to give up. (don't do it!) I had one of these once, and when I "popped" it, milk came out and it resolved.

As far as fixing that latch, I highly recommend the asymmetrical latch that Dr. Jack Newman talks about. Here's his webpage.

http://www.breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml

Scroll down to the Latch section and you can read and watch some videos of proper asymmetrical latching techniques. Once I started using this latch, I never went back!

Good luck!

Congratulations on your new Baby Girl!

I am sorry that I do not have any advice for healing the blister. If it is not to painful to pump on that side after you feed your daughter, I would continue to do that. I would not keep the milk only if the Dr. says that you do have an infection or something like that. If not I would freeze the milk and save it for later. The pumping is very important. As my daughter got older she nursed less often on one side. She nursed a full ten minutes on the right side, but when I would detach her and change sides, she would almost loose interest and want to get down and play. My body adjusted to her wanting to nurse one side more than the other. My breasts bagan to look lopsided. I began to nurse her first on the left side every other feeding to solve the problem, but for 2 days I looked funny. Good Luck on healing the blister, and hopefully while you heal your sore breast will not stop producing as much milk as the side that your daughter is nursing on.