We have talked about some of the causes for which breastfeeding can be painful to the mothers However, as explained above, the vast majority of the problems that cause these pains in breastfeeding, have a solution. Let's talk now about the way heal the painful cracks.
Heal the cracks
Although we may wish to stop breastfeeding for a few days, in principle we must continue breastfeeding, because the cracks have a solution, especially if we act soon and receive proper advice to avoid what has caused them.
It is advisable to go to a breastfeeding specialist, to assess the position of the baby in a full teat and check his mouth to rule out frenulum or an incorrect suction, which can be motivated by the initial use of bottles or pacifiers, for non-visible lesions that the birth could have caused in the baby.
It would be necessary to start the shots with the less affected chest, so that the initial suction does not increase the lesion, and pass, when we notice the rise of the milk, to the most damaged.
In some cases it may be convenient to suspend the direct breastfeeding of the breast affected by the crack for 24 hours, manually withdrawing the milk in each dose and offering it to the baby with appropriate supplementation techniques, not with a bottle. The pain of the cracks can be unbearable and in those cases it may be necessary to use deferred breastfeeding for a short time and always with advice.
Do not wash your chest. It is best to let it air dry, applying a few drops of the milk itself and then 100% pure lanolin.
If there is no improvement in two or three days it would be convenient to see a lactation specialist. Sometimes the cracks can become infected and in those cases, better if there is a previous culture that indicates the appropriate compatible treatment for the causative bacteria, it may be necessary to go to an antibiotic cream and even an oral antibiotic.
In addition, and we will see in detail below what they are, there are milk pearls, a cause of pain less known but easily recognizable.
Milk pearls
Milk pearls appear as a white spot on the nipple, hard to the touch, like a pore filled with some pearly matter. It usually grows in size while the baby is breastfeeding quite clearly at the end of the teat.
It hurts, as if we felt a burning pin that sticks in the nipple, through the entire duct that has been clogged by the pearl of milk. Normally it would dry out and end up falling, like dry skin, but this does not always happen.
It usually disappears for a week or a month, but it can be resolved without waiting, especially if it causes pain. It is the visible manifestation of a duct that has become obstructed.
The milk pearl can have a traumatic cause, a pull of the breast by the baby, and in that case it appears as superficial. You can carefully lift the outermost layer of skin with a disinfected pin and make the clogged milk handle, gently pressing the chest to drain.
However, sometimes the pearls we see are only the visible part of a more internal problem, caused by bacterial causes. In those cases, pricking the pearl is of no use and it is convenient to go to a specialist or to the health center so that samples are taken and to be able to apply the appropriate treatment to the causative infection.
Other problems that cause pain
exist other problems that may occur with pain in breastfeeding: engorgement, obstruction and mastitis. Although they are often confused they are different problems and the treatment would be too.
We will see these problems that cause breastfeeding pain in the following topics. If while one of our readers is in this situation, once you have consulted our blog, I recommend you go to the nearest breastfeeding group, then you can guide it.
