Pain While Breastfeeding

[FutureHKmom]

Hi! Need some advice from other breastfeeding mummies about pain while breastfeeding. My son is just about 8 months old and a day ago, I started to feel pain on one of my breasts close to the nipple while breastfeeding. It is painful when I breastfeed, but not really afterwards (though sometimes there is a second or two of pain usually a short while after the feed). The area that hurts is also a bit sore when I press down on it. Yesterday when it started, I did feel a small lump on the breast that hurt close to the nipple. However, though that lump is gone now it is still painful to breastfeed. So I don't think it is a blocked duct, which I've had before. I'm not really sure why there is pain all of a sudden. Anybody got any ideas why and how I can get rid of the pain? Thanks so much!

 

[yonge]

Does the pain set in after a relatively long session(s) of breastfeeding? I let my 18-month nurse on demand and boy, does he abuse that privilege! He can spend a long time and I'm convinced he's doing it for "fun" more than comfort or nourishment at times. I've occasionally felt sharp pain for a few days and I suspect that my son's relatively rough sucking may have thinned the skin around my nipple enough to maybe allow some bacteria for a mild infection. Fortunately, breastmilk does have some antiseptic qualities, so I haven't applied anything to the area it usually heals by itself within a few days. When it's more sore/uncomfortable than I can bear, I would just take some ibuprofen, which has the additional benefit of bringing down any unseen inflammation. If the pain is more than 3-5 days or is accompanied by a fever, you may have a more serious infection than your immune system can fight off and may need to get some antibiotics. Good luck!

 

[FutureHKmom]

Thanks yonge! Actually, the pain is worse when my son first latches on. And then the pain decreases as the feed continues, though there continues to be some pain throughout the feed. The pain has been getting worse. Not sure what I should do now - see a doctor? See a lactation consultant? I haven't had pain like this since the very beginning when my son was still trying to latch on properly. Once he latched on correcly, I haven't had any problems until now.

 

[nicolejoy]

I would call LLL - they were really helpful with me when I was having problems a couple of months ago. Turned out that I had thrush but my doc didn't think it was since she'd already treated me (the thrush came back afterward) - if it wasn't for the help that LLL gave me, I probably would have had to wean because I couldn't take the pain any more. But my pain was much different to yours. It didn't start until a few min after the feed, it was only on one side, and it was extremely intense, stabbing pain.

I'd probably call LLL first, and then see your doc - particularly if you need medication, because LLL can't prescribe medication or anything, they mainly offer advice/support. But they are very knowledgeable about all kinds of breastfeeding issues, even probably more so than the doctors since the docs don't really specialise in that area...