[EastonsMom]

I have had this same duct clog almost everyother day and I don't know why. DS nurses almost every other hour during the day and every 30 min at night so I am not getting to full. It is real tender and is about the size of three rolls of quarters. Any ideas? What could be the deal? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mrstattedup]

Could you be wearing a bra that's too tight?
I recently got a plugged duct on my upper part of my left breast..I looked it up online and did some research and finally unplugged it..w/warm compresses and really just pushed it out w/enough pressure (yea..it hurt I was in tears)..you can even see the dry milk come out!!
not even a week later I got another one on my other breast underneath my rigth one..
definitely recall wearing a snug bra! noe we go braless as often as possible! & I'm loving it!
have you tried repositioning too? HTH!

 

[LLLHeather]

Try nursing in different positions to relieve the plug. Also, use heat (heating pad, dry or moist), before nursing to loosen clog, as well as before massaging the duct. REST!!! Hot showers or baths help. Look for the culprits in your diet like sugar, artificial sweeteners, and dairy (except yogurt). Also, high doses of vitamin C are thought to help, as well as a supplement called Lecithin (I think). Also, nurse on the affected side frequently. Try going braless as much as you can, and wear loose fitting clothing, too. You may need to switch bras or go to one without an underwire.

 

[wombat]

What the others said plus for a fast, temporary fix you could try taking some Motrin for a few days. Continue the Motrin for a few days after the duct clears to keep the inflammation down in the surrounding tissue. Otherwise the inflammation can make it easy for another clog to happen. This worked well for me when I had lumps reoccurring in the same place. But make sure you figure out what's causing them in the first place.

 

[MaryJaneLouise]

Once it's resolved, be sure to take some lecithin to prevent recurrence:

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi.../lecithin.html

 

[ewink]

I had the samething happening for more than 2 months! It had started with a bad bout of mastitis for which I needed antibiotics, and things got worse from there. Do you have a sore, red, cracked and/or itchy nipple? I had all of that, ended up needing Diflucan which helped (also for the plugs/mastitis), but as soon as the 10-day course was over it all came back.

I went the natural route after that. These are thingsthat helped me get over an acute plugged duct/ mastitis attack: take the following homeopathic remedies, all in 30C (you csn take them all together in your mouth) every hour until the plug is gone, then continue several times a day, phytolacca decandra, belladonna, chamomilla and pulsatilla. I take 2 pellets at once of each when it's bad, then only 1. Also taking colloidal silver helps if it is (turning into) mastitis. If the plug doesn't come out with heat, frequent nursing/pumping, massaging and hand expressing and you're in a lot of pain, try putting raw grated potato on the lump, put some tissue or paper towel on it and leave it on for 3-5 minutes, follow with powdered fenugreek with a hot wet compress on top for a minute or so, wash your breast and go nurse right away! Never failed for me. But it onl worked when it was really bad. A warning though, it was a painful treatment, but it did make it come out.

To finally get rid of the underlying ductile yeast infection, I am still taking lots of probitics and oil of oregano. At first I also put olive oil with a little bit of oil of oregano on my nipples, rincing them off before nursing if any was left.
HTH. Good luck. You can email me at [email protected] if you have more questions.

Edith