Friend Needs Help - Painful Hard Nipples During Pregnancy

It sounds like she may indeed have Reynauds Syndrome or vasospasms - she needs to push her Drs...You can have vasospasms without having Reynauds, but it you have reynauds you will be having vasospasms.

Reynauds and vasospasms function like this:

Blood rushes away from the affected area - nipples, fingers, toes - causing that area to blanch - turn white. The blood stays gone for several seconds - amount of time varies from person to person. Then the blood ruses back - FAST. The area (we'll use the nipples) turns various shades of red, and purple - we call this a tri-phasic color change - and they HURT LIKE HELL! Warmth does soothe tremendously. COld will trigger the vasospasms...

You friend needs to be tested - tell her to watch her nipples when they start to hurt like this. If she is indeed having vaspspasms as described above then she needs to bring this to her Dr.s attention ASAP. It isn't, as far as I know, a dangerous condition - just absolutely NO FUN. There IS treatment. It is a medication called Nifedipine. Safe with breastfeeding but not necessarily with pregnancy. She may have to make due by keeping warmers with her at all times until the baby is born - then she can start the nifedipine.

OK - easy things to use to keep warm: Yeah all the breastfeeding stuff and water bottles are fine - but - the breastfeeding warmers don't stay warm all night and the water bottle can be a pain (been there used it). A client of mine used those wrap things (cannot for the life of me remember what they are called) that you actually stick on to your body to keep areas warm - like for your back or neck. When you take them out of the package the contact with the air triggers these little discs to heat up. They truly are wonderful and last for up to 8 hours (the ones I've used last longer...). So, my client taped them to the outside of her bra - no direct skin contact, but they kept her nipples warm. :)

If your friend wants to talk to someone who knows about Reynauds/vasospasms she is welcome to call me. I am a Lactation Consultant and have worked with many moms who have dealt with this issue. It truly is very painful...I wish her much luck! Do encourage her to push her Dr's tho - they shouldn't be throwing their hands up - they should be pulling out the books and doing research for her...

Warmly,
J. Simpson, IBCLC, CIIM
www.breastfeedingnetwork.net
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2 moms found this helpful

Tell her to try flannel breast pads (medella makes some that are thick and soft). They should help insulate her nips from temperature changes

My breasts were so painful all thru my first and halfway into my second trimester that they woke me at night, as well. I had to sleep with a cotton sleep bra. Fortunately, that pain did eventually go away. I am due in 2.5 wks now, so we'll see what happens post-partum.

I agree that it sounds like vasospasms or Raynaud's syndrome. A lot of doctors aren't aware of the nipple form (it's normally in the fingers/toes), but I had it breastfeeding and it's PAINFUL. Heat helps a lot - she should avoid getting chilled at all. Do the nipples change color at all with the pain? It's common in Raynaud's for them to turn white and then bluish or red afterwards. It is a contraction of the veins in the nipple, which forces the blood out (white) and then it all floods back in (bluish or red).

I took a blood thinner for a bit which stopped the cycling, but I don't think that's safe during pregnancy.

She should push her doctors and do some research on her own to help educate them about the disorder.

I had this problem as well. With my first pregnancy, it lasted until my son was four months old. With my second, it stopped right after the baby was born. I know this is extremely painful. My husband and I used to call it nipple freeze! I was fine only when the heat was on, either in the car or at home. When we went shopping my husband would drop me off in front of the store and I would run in and he would park the car, and the pain would still come. UNTIL... I bought a down jacket and wore it EVERYWHERE - even in the house. It was the first thing I put on when I woke up in the morning! This helped so much! It cut down the pain, 90%. THis was not a maternity jacket... I just bought an extra extra large jacket and suprisingly it lasted until I had the baby. She may be able to find a maternity jacket, but just have her make sure it is really good quality (extra warm, for really low temperatures). I was so sick of this jacket by the time I had the baby and my husband thought I was crazy to wear a down jacket even when the sun was out, but it was worth it to not have this pain. If she does not have a down comforter, have her get one and have her sleep in warm clothes. At night I would get it when I got up to go pee, because the air outside of the bed was so cold. The key is not to get cold!! Or else the blood leaves the nipple and the pain starts.

Good luck!

I have seen similar, but not quite so severe symptoms with a disease called Reynauds, it causes nipple vaso spasms, It will also cause the finger tips and toes to go white and painful with cold.

I have seen it postpartum during nursing and I know thatthere is a medication that can help but it may not be safe for pregnancy. she might try using the flannel nipple pads for nursing to keep her nipple warm.

T. Mclean
Birth and Postaprtum Doula Student MIdwife

I have never heard of this, but the hot packs that Jaye S is refering to are "Thermacare". They come in lots of different sizes, but the large which have stickum on either end will probably be the right size for what you need.

I did have this problem with my recent pregnancy, baby is 3 weeks old but, not to the extent your friend seems to be having it. I had to sleep with a bra and i would layer my shirts because if my son leaned against one of my nipples it would hurt. If i was cold it was very painful! I have no remedies but the fact she is using heating pads made me think of those Therma care heat wraps that stay warm for several hours. Maybe they could be and alternative, when she is out, to the heating pad she uses at home. Hopefully this will stop once her baby is here. I'm no longer having this problem and i am successfully breastfeeding for the second time with no problems.

How about those disposable hot packs? They are like the portable, small ice pack but they get hot when you 'break' them. I'd put them in my bra/

First, try sleeping with a hot water bottle. Wear a t-shirt, and put the hot water bottle under the t-shirt to hold it in place.

Second, protect the nipples from any type of fabric (bra, shirt, etc.) by using Thera Shields by Medela (in their breast care section). You wear them inside your bra. http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/breast-care...

Third, make sure there is no infection going on in the nipples. Take a warm shower, then soak a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide and make sure you wet all the nipple crevaces. Pat dry and do not rinse peroxide off.

Fourth, use lanolin ointment to keep the skin on the nipples soft and protect them from irritants getting in.

I manage a medical spa in Redding, CA and my husband and I are organic farmers. As an extension of our farm I make a line of therapeutic essential oil products and I have one that she might like to try. I call in "Nerve Balm". Let me know if she'd like a sample or more information.

V. T

im sorry i have never hurd anything like this or to this extent has she tried water keeping a worm damp cloth on them at all and if she can still sleep on her tummy o would try the heating pad and just sleeping on it that way or butting it over her and sleeping on her back just make sure the heating pad stays on the chest you dont want to cook the baby and if what the doc gave her isnt working she should call them and tell them so maybe they can try something else till they fined what works tell her good luck and i feel her pain im 36.5 weeks and having pain problems that keep me from sleeping too