Breastfeeding has led me to do many things with my breasts that I never thought I would do. Whipping them out in the middle of crowded public places; sticking them in a screaming child’s mouth; and painting my nipples purple with gentian violet to relieve thrush are some of them. Last week saw me do something else that I never once thought of doing-it involved my breast and an electric toothbrush!
Let me explain…
Since baby number two, I’ve been plagued by blocked ducts – a breastfeeding problem I never once encountered with my firstborn. Most of the time, I’ve known what has caused them: a long walk in the park with a sling that cut across my too full breast too tightly; a day of wearing an underwire bra that was too small; going too long without feeding baby. I think my latest one was caused by wearing a sports bra that became too tight after several hours of not nursing baby. Whatever the cause, it’s always feels like a very sore, painful area in my breast and sometimes I’ve even been able to feel a hard spot when I push in.
I’ve usually been able to relieve the blocked duct through gentle massage of the sore area, varying the nursing position, hot baths and showers, and nursing frequently on the one side. I’ve learned to be careful with that last technique though, as once I nursed so much on the affected side I ended up with another plugged duct on the other side!
This one last week, though, was stubborn. I tried all my usual techniques. I faithfully massaged the area as I nursed, I pressed in as hard as I could bear… the pain was bad. I nursed in so many different positions. The staff at Cygnus Gymnastics would have been proud of me: on my hands and knees, football hold, lying down, etc. I even dusted off my old faithful manual pump and tried pumping in different positions between feedings. Nothing worked!
After three days of trying all the usual things and loading up on ibuprofen for pain, I was getting scared that I might end up with mastitis. In a desperate state, I logged on to Jack Newman’s website and found his resource on blocked ducts.
I had already tried most of the things he suggested, but one jumped out to me… going to see a physiotherapist for ultrasound treatment or using the flat end of an electric toothbrush to massage the area and break apart the plug.
Getting into see a physio wasn’t an option right away, but conveniently enough just a few days before I had purchased my first ever electric toothbrush. I’d always wanted one and they were half price. Lucky thing! I grabbed my brush and massaged my sore breast with the flat end for about five minutes and felt immediate relief. Then I took a nice hot bath and it was completely gone! Seriously. It will be my first
choice next time a blocked duct appears.
Here’s a pic of my new breast friend and superb blocked duct remover. (-:
There are a lot of techniques to get rid of blocked ducts. A friend of mine swears by the football hold, another by taking a hot bath. Anyone else have any unique techniques for relieving blocked ducts? What works best for you?
Felicie is a teacher turned work at home mama to two busy little angels, aged 22 months and 4 and a half years. She is a proud member of La Leche League Canada and has helped to organize three World B[..]
Love it!! I wish I would have known about that when Isabel was little!! I had a lot of blocked ducts with her, too! Especially when she was a toddler and squirmed around a lot when nursing!!
I would get them occasionally, however I only breastfed exclusively until 6 months and weaned completely by 12.
When I would get them, they were so incredibly painful. I would massage and get hot baths/showers, alter and increase nursing, practically nothing worked EXCEPT sleep. Rest turned out to be the cure for me. Could have been in combination with everything else that I had tried, but rest is very important for nursing mothers. Next time/baby, I will add this to my list of resources! Thanks
Massage, a hot compress fashioned from a disposable diaper, and nursing on all fours usually works for me. A lot of women swear by using a wide-toothed comb to “comb” over the blocked duct in the direction of the nipple.
Excellent tips! Althought the comb sounds awfully painful and rest is hard to come by when you have an older one who won’t slow down! (-:
Sarah’s right though-it’s probably more effective to use any technique in combination with getting extra rest.
Cynthia- what worked best for you?
Lisa- How do you make the hot compress from a disposable diaper? Sounds like a good idea.
Just add hot water (not so hot that it burns the skin but hot enough that you’ll get the deep-tissue goodness) to the diaper and apply to the breast! Great when you’re at the cabin, you have one of the worst blocked ducts of your nursing life, and you don’t have access to a Magic Bag and microwave.
A hot towel would likely work as well, but the disposable diaper isn’t as messy.
Lisa- Thank you! I’ll definitely try this with the electric toothbrush next time!