Feeling Discomfort

Can you get to a hot tub or spa? A hot shower just didn't do it for me, but the strong jets for massage effect and the higher heat of the water really gave me a lot of relief.
Good luck!

I had more of these with my last daughter than I had with all my other kids combined. What I did was to use hot clothes, shower, and then I would press the white area with my fingers like you would a zit. Like one other poster said I got a really hard white piece out and my milk sprayed all over the mirror and bathroom from the built up pressure, as soon as it was gone then I felt fine.

Good luck

Hi There,

I haven't nursed for some time now but it sure
sounds to me like you have a small blister at the
end of you nipple. Yes you can keep nursing and it
will go away in time. They will tuffen up too. It's
just from him sucking.
Good luck, give it time, yes it is painful and I
believe that is what it is. The best thing I did was
put very nice warm to hot compresses on them when not
nursing.

I had the same thing prior to giving birth to my daughter. I asked my OBGYN and he told me it was a sebaceous cyst, they are benign. But he did tell me not to nurse my baby with that breast because the cyst might break open and they baby might ingest the fluid of it. After a few weeks after giving birth the cyst popped by itself and I went to my doctor he squeezed all the fat from it and took cultures just to be on the safe side. Everything came back ok, I will not worry about it, but I would go and have the doctor check it out. Try nursing the baby with one breast, and try pumping milk and give it to the baby in a bottle. Good luck, and God bless, don't worry.

Not sure about a clogged duct, I think they happen under the skin, but it could be the beginning of thrush. That was the first thing I noticed. I looked in my dd's mouth and saw the white coating and knew that's what it was. Look up thrush on nipples on google pictures and see if it looks the same, it is quite distinct. Best of luck to you.

I had the same thing.. its a clogged duct. The best thing you can do is continually nurse on it to unclog. You can also go into the shower and try to manually let down. I have also go to extremes and stuck a needle in my breast due to the pain.. I do not recommend that- I am just impatient! You will automatically feel relief when it is unclogged- nurse, pump, do whatever you have to do to get it unclogged.

Hi,

I want to spare you the gory details but in a nut shell, i experienced the same thing with my son after i had a bout of mastitis and it was finally beginning to clear up. it too was uncomfortable for me and being the pimple popper that i am, I wanted to get rid of it. remember i'm no dr. but after a hot shower one night, i thoroughly cleansed a brand new needle and the area with alcohol and then just gently opened the thin skin covering the "head". I kept a hot to warm washcloth handy to keep the area soft and gently, more like popped it out. It was, you'll never believe, a hard piece of milk or what i thought was calcium build up? (if that can happen) about the size of a small grain of rice! yup! yikes! I was pretty surprised but then with baby nursing as usual the next day, it healed up easy and i was comfortable again. Some say it will pass on it's own...maybe it will but it looked to big to be able to come out of one of the milk holes.

Oh well...hope this helps. good luck, akth

Does your whole breast hurt or just the little bump? You'll want to get it before it turns into an infection. So the best thing for a clogged duct is to nurse, pump, nurse, pump, nurse, pump, nurse - you get the picture just milk it, lol. Also in the shower massage and squeeze and use a hot washcloth compress to try and get rid of the white thing. I never had a pimple bump but more like a white crusty thing or leftover milk (sorry that's gross). I'm 6mo pregnant again and so not looking forward to that again. I know it's painful. You can also take Tylenol to help with the tenderness. Hope that helps

It is called a nipple bleb. It is uncomfortable but can be fixed at home. Here is a link to a description and treatment. Your son nursing will actually help clear it up. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/nipplebleb.html

I had the exact same thing. My friend who is a lactation consultant tole me about a website : drjacknewman.com; it is great!!!! basically I took hot showers or epsom salt baths and tried to manually express it. If it is bad you can poke it with a sterile needle. But on this site it told me to take sliced, soaked potatoes and put one on my nipple. Go to the site...
OHh and yes have your baby nurse.

AC,
Sounds like a bleb (white pimple on the nipple), my lactation specialist suggested I soak a cotton ball in olive oil and apply to the bleb to soften and continue to nurse, it will clear up. I also had a clogged duct at the same time (hard knot under the skin) and for that I used moist heat or hot showers and more nursing. Good luck

Hi A C,
I agree with Michelle and Emily C. I would start with the treatment for a clogged duct and call your doctor for an appt. He/she may be able to help you over the phone, if not make an appt as you can always cancel it if your breast heals. Also, is your breast warm/hot to the touch or do you notice a pink/red area or streaking on your breast? Do you have a fever? These will require treatment by a physician, because this could be signs of an infection. Also, a clogged duct can become infected if it is not unplugged. Use heat as suggested. Moist heat (hot water)is better than dry heat (heating pad). You can achieve moist heat be placing a wet wash rag between the heating pad and your breast if you need to. Use heat just prior to nursing your son. Start on the breast with the plug or infection (yes, you can still nurse with an infected breast in most instances) and place your son so that his nose or chin points toward the plug/firm area of breast. Also, remember that your son depends on your health regardless as to whether you BF or formula feed, so make the time to see a doctor if you need to. Keep up the BF, it can be a challenge/painful/etc, but the benefits truly do out weigh the annoiances. (I hurt for 8 weeks--plugs, yeast infection, but treated for mastitis; engorgement).
Good luck,
T.
k

Sounds like a clogged duct. I had this a couple of times with my first. I just made sure I had her on that nipple at the beginning of a session and turned her mouth so that part would get the most suction. Another time I used a pump. Both times I was able to get it on the first try.

Yes! It is safe to nurse. You want him to nurse right now.

Hope you feel better soon,
M.

You've gotten a lot of good advise so far. The only thing I can add is clay. Clay has drawing properties and will help draw out infection or any other foreign substance. Kaolin is the fine white clay used in fine china and you can purchase it at a ceramic supply store. It's great for spider/insect bites, deep slivers, etc. It is the major ingredient in Kaopectate as well as facial products. The easiest thing to do is go to the drug store and look for Queen Helena's Mud Mask. You will find it in the facial secion. It is in a brown and white tube. Slop it on and let it dry out. It will help move whatever is clogging you up. It's a great emergency first aid item to have on hand.

It does sound like a plugged duct, of which I had numerous times.At times it was so painful I'd cringe. Try warming cabbage leaves in the microwave and apply to the affected area. Also hot compresses. And nurse nurse nurse. The sucking may unplug the duct on it's own. one time I actually had to lie dd on my bed, get on my hands and kness above her abd nurse. It sounds hysterical, but this really worked. I was advised to do that by a LC named Cynthia epps. She's the best in town. Her name's been mentioned on this site and she's amazing. Sometimes it's due to the latch or just nursing in the same position all the time, perhaps changing your angle or way you're sitting will help.Keep up the good work. You are doing a wonder thing for your baby AND yourself! Best, H.

yes, it's probably a clogged duct, and yes it's ok and even helpful to keep nursing your baby. It may be sore, but he'll help the dried up milk that's clogging the duct come out. The dried/thick milk will be perfectly fine for your baby if he ingests it. Also try hot showers, the steam will help soften that milk and it may come out. Try hand expressing that breast while in a steamy shower. You can also try pumping to get it out. It may come out like a long white thread if it has been clogged for a while, it's ok, you'll feel better once it's unclogged, and again, don't worry about your baby drinking it, it's still good milk. You can also try a heating pad or hot wet wash cloth for comfort. The sooner you get the dried milk out the better you'll feel.

I really think you need to make time to go to the doctor, diagnosing yourself is nice and all, but if it is thrush, or something else, you need to get medical assistance.

Don't mess around with this, you're talking about your baby's nutrition.

I had that too at one point of nursing.
The lactation consultant I was seeing suggested taking Lecithin. Also soaking the affected nipple in very warm salt water 3-4 times per day.(rinse off after)
After a week mine went away.
I had also called my ob and they said if it continued to hurt after a couple days I should probably go in. Mine never hurt.

Sounds like you definitely have a plugged milk duct. I've had them several times while nursing my now 7 month old son. I agree with the other posts you've gotten so far. You definitely need your guy to nurse, his sucking will help dislodge the plug. Hot showers helped but I actually found a heating pad put at the top of my breast helped the most. I read something that the heat helps thin out the thickened milk. Also, check and make sure your bra is not too tight/constricting. This was definitely a factor for me at least one of the times I had the plugged ducts. A tight bra can pinch the ducts and constrict the flow causing a plug. Another thing you can try-- massage the breast from the top down toward the nipple. There was one time I did this and I was manually able to unplug the duct. The white dot on my nipple actually popped out and milk was draining out for about 20 minutes after. Pretty crazy to watch but then again, there's lots of new stuff you experience breastfeeding :) Good luck, I know it's really uncomfortable.

I think what you're experiencing is called a nipple bleb. I have had them before too and they really hurt. A clogged duct (which I suffered from continuously) is excruciatingly painful and is usually deeper in the breast -not right on the nipple. You could try and poke the bleb with a sterile needle. Your son can still nurse if you don't do anything, but it does hurt. Or just google other ways to treat the nipple bleb - I don't remember other methods of treatment. Good luck.

You should be fine continuing to nurse. Actually, if you are only feeling mild discomfort, you are VERY lucky. Mine were actually bleeding and sis not get better for 5-6 weeks, so needless to say, breastfeeding was VERY painful at first. If the white dot gets worse, you should have it checked out. It's probably just a blister.

Hi- I had this repeatedly- and yes- it is a clogged duct. Supposedly getting your child to nurse (start on that side so he is really hungry and pulling hard) will get this to clear up. Mine didn't no matter what I did and it eventually turned into Mastitis which I will pray you can avoid. The only treatment I didn't try at the time, which I will if I encounter this again is taking lechitin (sp?) supplements. It was mentioned to me too late, but evidently it helps clear these up and keep them from returning.
Best of luck to you!
S.

Im going to disagree with the clogged duct diagnosis. Your ducts are inside, in your breast, not your nipple. I have had a clogged duct, it feels like a knot within your breast. Think-- marble or gumball or bouncy ball size/feel. They can be just annoying and easily relieved by massage while pumping or nursing to utterly painful and lead to mastitis. The discomfort is not on the nipple with a clogged duct, it is within the breast tissue.

A small pimple like thing would seem to me more like thrush/yeast, infection, herpes, HPV etc. But, it could be nothing, especially if you are like me... and especially if you are new to nursing. My nipples are actually kind of nubby/textured and when I begin nursing it seems like the nubs kind of get pulled out or off. Hard to explain but it could be normal tissue for your breast/nipple that is just simply irritated for one reason or another. I'd check with the doc on this one. Good luck.

put a warm wash cloth or heating pad on it

Make sure to get it checked out quickly! That's how my thrush started and it just gets worse if you don't get it treated right away!

Nurse, nurse, nurse! I had that little blister for the first three months of breastfeeding. It will go away.

This happened to me also. My homeopath gave me two things to use, one was something called Pleonote and the other was a silver gel. The silver you can get from a health food store, but I'm not sure about the Pleonote. My regular doctor had given antibiotics and something for thrush, but they didn't help me.
I hope you can find these items to get some relief.
S. G.