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When you’ve just given birth and are busy trying to keep a baby — let alone yourself — alive, it can already feel like a lot. Throw breastfeeding into the mix, and it can get even more overwhelming! For many breastfeeding mothers, the experience is easy and without issue.
But for many others, breastfeeding can be difficult and painful. If you’re breastfeeding and experiencing excruciating pain among other ailments, you may have mastitis. Read on for all you want to know about mastitis symptoms and how to treat it.
What is mastitis?
Mastitis literally means an inflammation of the breasts — and while it is generally associated with breastfeeding, you don’t have to be nursing to get it. Mastitis can also occur with or without an accompanying infection. If you get mastitis without an infection, it’s usually caused by milk stasis — or when breastmilk builds up in your breast tissue — usually because of a clogged milk duct. Regardless, your breasts will be red, swollen, and sore.
Oh, and it hurts. A lot.
“I had mastitis when my son was about 11 months old,” Brandi Riley told Mom.com. “I thought I was going to die.” The entrepreneur was at a movie premiere for work and suddenly felt as if she was going to pass out. “I was sweating and freezing and had to leave and rush back to the hotel in a cab. I was so scared because I was away from home and thought I would die by myself.”
Latina influencer Jeannette Kaplun concurred. “I had chills and felt as if I had knives piercing my breast every time my son would start nursing,” she said to Mom.com. “I then realized how red and inflamed my boobs looked and that I had a fever,” she added.
Mastitis generally occurs when bacteria from your skin or your baby’s mouth enters the breast tissue from cracks in your nipple or small cuts on the breast. Mastitis often occurs, too, when breast milk stagnates due to a clogged duct and turns into a perfect environment for bacteria to multiply, causing an infection. In fact, any breastfeeding person can be affected — but certain factors may predispose you to mastitis.
Here are some reasons you might be more prone to mastitis:
- Taking too long between feeding or pumping sessions, which can lead to breast engorgement and then a clogged duct
- Poor positioning or latching, which can lead to poor draining and clogs
- Cracked nipples, cracks or sores on breast skin, or open skin
- Wearing tight bras
- Having mastitis before
Signs of mastitis
While painfully swollen breasts are the most common signs of mastitis, it is not the only one. Below are some common symptoms of mastitis:
- Swollen or enlarged breasts
- Red, hot, and tender breasts
- Underarm tenderness
- Hard or thick lump in breast
- Flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, or nausea
- Exhaustion
- Pain or burning sensation when nursing
For Riley, she first felt as if she had a really horrible flu. “I went to sleep and woke up with my shirt soaked and my breasts completely engorged. I could barely walk because I didn’t have energy,” she said. “When I called the doctor, they encouraged me to nurse even though it hurt.”
Treatments for mastitis
While there are many home remedies for clearing plugged ducts and treating mastitis, definitely contact your medical provider for a professional diagnosis. When caught early, mastitis is easy to treat. But if you wait too long, pus can form around your infection and may need to be surgically drained.
Oral antibiotics can help clear the infection and acetaminophen or mild pain relievers will help with the pain. If you don’t feel better within the first two days after antibiotics, call your provider again.
In addition, nurse as much as possible — starting with the infected breast — even if it hurts. You can help your baby drain your breast by gently massaging your breast as they nurse. If it hurts too much to breastfeed, try pumping or hand expressing so that you can drain your breast. Consider switching to loose-fitting bras, bras with no underwire, or going braless to keep pressure off your breasts.
“After calling my doctor, I started antibiotics, bought a nursing pillow to improve positioning, and applied warm compresses before each feeding,” said Kaplun. “I also used cabbage leaves, but I am unsure whether that helped. In the end, warm compresses before each feeding and lots of rest helped.”
When you have mastitis, you may worry you aren’t producing enough milk or that your baby isn’t getting enough breast milk. “Many people think that babies need to be exclusively breastfed to see any benefits,” Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Jennifer Ritchie told Mom.com. “The truth is each drop of breast milk contains one million white blood cells. The baby will receive these antibodies even if the baby gets 5 cubic centimeters of breast milk a day,” she continued.
Don’t let your fear of not exclusively breastfeeding prevent you from feeding your baby with perfectly good formula. Likewise, don’t feel bad if a rough bout of mastitis causes you to quit breastfeeding altogether. Remember that, ultimately, we want to feed our baby nutritious food — whether from breast milk or formula.
