Nursing mom - clogged duct, lots of pain. Help!?

I got stuck in a meeting Friday and was one hour - just ONE HOUR - late pumping and now I have a clogged duct that won't get better. I've tried pressure massage, hot and cold compresses, nursing on that side exclusively, everything I've read about. Nothing is helping. I spent one full hour pumping and pressing yesterday to no avail. (Now my nipple hurts too, but that's another story.)





I work from about 9 to 4:30, and I pump three times a day for 15 minutes each time. The affected breast is only producing about 1.5 ounces each time, where it used to be good for at least 2.5 to 3. It feels marginally better after I pump, but then it only takes about 30 minutes to get really painful again.





It's hard to concentrate on work with this never-ending pain in my breast. Has anyone else been through this? What else can I do?

Nursing mom - clogged duct, lots of pain. Help!?
Ouch. Yes, I have been there. Keep at it, you need to make sure it doesn't develop into an infection. Just keep pumping and massaging. I would say don't pump for longer each time (1 hour is definitely too long) but try pumping on that side more frequently.





You can make a great compress by putting raw rice in a tube sock, and tying the end shut. Then you stick it in the microwave for a few minutes, and it feels great when you wrap it around your breast.





Good luck!
Reply:Thanks to everyone for the great answers.. Report It

Reply:you might have an infected duct that was got that way because of the clog. you have tried everything that ever worked for me so the next option you have would maybe be go to your doctor and see if it is more serious than a clogged duct. if it is infected you may need antibiotics to get rid of it. sorry i can't be more help than that
Reply:Sorry about the pain. It might be helpful to visit the doctors or midwife. Nipple cream can help to soothe the pain as well as pain killers. I think it is commendable that you are in work and still making the effort to breastfeed. Good on you!
Reply:Keep nursing and go to the doctor to make sure that it hasn't gotten an infection. It sounds like everything you are doing is what the doctor would tell you to do already. Take some tylenol for the pain since it is safe for baby.
Reply:Are you sure it's just a clogged duct and not mastitis?


See a doctor if it really is that bad.
Reply:Make sure you dont have Thrush, I had it and it was HELL.


pump before necessary.
Reply:You've already gotten some good advice (calling the doctor, hot shower with a manual pump, ibuprofen), but I just wanted to add one thing. Nurse your baby so that his or her chin is pointed toward the clogged duct. If doing so puts you in weird position, try laying baby down on your bed and position yourself on your hands and knees over him.
Reply:you have to call your Dr because if it is very painful you may have an infection..the Dr may prescribe some antibiotics for you and if it is too bad they will have to drain. It's call mastitis
Reply:Yes, and it is painful. What I use to do is take a warm shower. Let the water run over your breast and massage it at the same time. This will allow the excess milk to come out and it will be less painful. Then pump the rest out. If this doesn't work you need to pump longer to get that milk out. You may want to get checked out as well to be sure you haven't developed a breast infection.
Reply:I breastfeed to but thankfully this has never happened!!! I would call your dr. you may have an infection. I know this is probably painful, hope it gets better soon!!!
Reply:I have had many clogged ducts and boy do they hurt. If you are massaging that area while nursing and pumping and you are not getting any relief, I say call your Dr. Is the area around the clogged duct red and hot? If so, you could be getting an infection. Once the milk sets in there and is not expressed you can develop an infection and that can make you feel really bad, flu like symptoms and fever. If you catch it early they can give you antibiotics and you'll be feeling relief soon. If you wait to long you could develop an abscess. (I did and that was my worst nightmare, extremely hard to continue to nurse) Best of Luck,
Reply:You may need an antibiotic to clear it up- I did with my second breast infection- but not the first.





Use only hot water- and massage your breast from the top down to the nipple- and express milk that way. I did this in the bathtub and it helped with the first breast infection. Cold water will make your milk dry up as well as not help the infection.





Let your baby nurse on that side- but use warm compresses first to help your let down occur faster.





Call your doctor to see if you can have an antiobiotic to clear it up. Are you running a fever?





Good luck and use Motrin to help the pain. It's very, very painful and I feel for you!





Take care!
Reply:I have experienced the same thing. You could try soaking your breast in hot water and start from the top and squeeze down. It could also help to hand pump instead of using an electric one. If the pian lasts more than three to four days you may want to call your doctor. If its on one side try squeezing just on that side. I hope this helps, it worked for me.
Reply:I went through this when I had my son. Try pumping more often, but not for a full hour, just the same amount of time that you usually do. That helped me when all the other things failed. Also try taking Tylenol for the pain.
Reply:It seems like you are doing everything right but have you tried the electric pump? Maybe you should pump more than 3 times a day on that breast.
Reply:Wow, it sounds like you are doing everything you're supposed to. I had the same experience once. When it happened to me, my son and I took a day off and he nursed exclusively on that side every hour. Babies are much more efficent than pumps. Of course, this will only work if your baby cooperates and wants to nurse that much.





After about 6 hours of warm compresses and marathon nursing, the plugged duct cleared. I had a little redness and a slight fever so I was pretty close to full-blown mastitis. Since I caught it just in time, I was fine by the next morning.





If it is not red and you don't have a fever, don't take antibiotics. Then you'll get thrush and you'll be right back where you started with another nursing catastrophe.
Reply:I've had this exact thing happen to me a couple of times. I noticed it happened because I wore an underwire bra one night to go out (instead of my nursing bra). It seemed to take about 48 hours for the duct to unclog. Taking a warm shower definitely helps, but not practical if you are at work. Try keeping a warm compress on your breast. Wal-Mart sells one that is relatively thin and can be warmed in the microwave. I imagine you could "hide" it under your shirt while at work. Also, if possible, try pumping every hour to get as much milk out as possible. Chances are you do NOT have an infection. I'm not a doctor, but my doctor told me when I had the clogged duct that if it was infected I "would know" by chills, fever, major fatigue, etc. Good luck!
Reply:I had a clogged duct too - I know how painful it can be. However, mine actually ended up developing into mastitis - one of the causes is "milk stasis" or milk from a clogged duct backing up into the surrounding tissue. I knew it was infected because the pain was so bad that I could not sleep. Also, the next morning, I had red splotches on the breast. If you suspect an infection, contact your doctor immediately. You do not want it to turn into an abcess. (This can put you in the hospital for surgical drainage of the tissue.) I was able to pump and nurse through my course of antibiotics. My production in that breast did decrease, but I am still nursing successfully on both sides.





Good luck!



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