Clogged Milk Ducts
Contents:
- Symptoms and Treatment Clogged Milk Ducts
- Treatment how to Clear a Clogged Milk Duct
- Preventing Clogging of Milk Ducts
Symptoms and Treatment Clogged Milk Ducts
Galactostasis leads to painful indurations around the peripapillary area. Clogged milk ducts are different from mastitis in a way that pain is not constant – it arises and fades periodically. If the ducts are not infected, then the overall health of nursing women will not be affected. If you do not treat clogged milk ducts, it can lead to mastitis or even abscess.
Treatment how to Clear a Clogged Milk Duct
- When feeding, put your baby in such a position, so that his/her chin is directed towards the painful area.
- Try to take a warm shower before feeding, massaging painful areas with running water.
- Before feeding, apply warm wet compress to the painful area.
- Do not deny your breast to your child. Let the baby to literally hang on your chest. Feed on demand during the day time, at night better take your child in your bed.
- Make sure the child is correctly applied to your breast because the effectiveness of the exhaustion of breast milk depends on it. Before applying the baby, massage the affected area along the breast, rub your clogged duct from the base to the nipple.
- When feeding, give your child the clogged breast first, as at the very beginning of feeding children normally suck more intensively. Hence, it is likely that your child will help you remove this clog.
Preventing Clogging of Milk Ducts
- Do not let strong breast engorgement. If you feel that milk is coming, and your child is unable to cope with its amount, it is better to drain it off, but not until your breast is completely empty – it is enough to feel relief in your chest.
- Some feeding women notice that dairy products and other animal fats contribute to stagnation of milk.
- Try changing the position of your child when feeding, draining all milk ducts alternately.
- Preventive measures are especially important for women who have been already exposed to this problem because they are more at risk of blocking milk duct.
You should also try to exclude the cause of clogged ducts. It often happens if a woman is too busy, and she skips one of the feedings. Another reason is a high level of stress, as well as physical exercise, during which the upper part of the body tenses up. Do not wear small, compressive breast bras.