Hellobee

Wow, clogged ducts sounds so painful. I might have had minor ones when I was nursing N but I’ve learned to massage at the start of every nursing session and definitely starting with the boob that’s the most hard or had the most lumps. I think that helped me from getting clogged ducts, if that’s what I had. I remember that it was painful getting those lumps out though, sometimes squirming through the pain. Nursing directly really helps b/c, like you said, they suck the hardest at the start of every session. N was a sleepy newborn so I pumped after each session for a couple of months to make sure I was completely empty and to also try to up my supply. After that he was efficiently emptying me and you can really feel the relief when all is soft and saggy again. LOL!

I know this sounds harsh, but it works.
The best way to get rid of a clogged duct is to dip your breast in hot water (the hotter the better). You can actually see some milk being released. Follow that by using a heating pad and massaging to get rid of the hard bumps. Works like a charm every time.

omg I remember reading that same comment on your xanga as we were both going through nursing with our boys. I was SO scared of mastitis. I would stress WAY too much over my clogged ducts. I spent so many hours applying hot compresses and looking around with a sterilized needle.

thanks for the info! what i want to know is, how do you know if you’ve been totally drained of milk?

Clogged ducts were the bane of my exclusively pumping experience ….. Heat packs and warm showers didn’t help, what helped was BRUTAL massaging every pumping session to try and squeeze it all out. I had to enlist DH’s help since he has more strength. A couple of desperate times, I even had to get DH to help suck it out Yes, most defintely weird but believe me, it was sheer desperation. I have also tried a Japanese midwife who pummeled the hell out of my nipples to clear my clogged ducts, it was super duper painful, honestly worse than any contractions. I have to massage both my boobs constantly during each of my 45 mins to 1 hour pumping sessions to empty my boobs and yet I’m just so prone to clogged ducts. Even lecithin capsules did not really help me ….

@tequiero21 – when you pump you can tell that your boobs are drained because no more milk comes out! you can always pump after nursing if you’re trying to get rid of a clogged duct.

@josie267 – you pump for 45min – an hour?! how many times a day do you pump?

Ha ha, I totally hear @Erwoo about the sweet relief of soft & saggy boobs! My son is my most efficient breast pump, what worked for me was side-lying nursing with the clogged boob on top (I tend to get lumps on the side of my boobs near my arm pits). So if my right boob is feeling clogged up, I’d lie on my left side and lean over my son who is lying to my left. The combination of gravity, massage, and his sucking usually does the trick!

I’ve completely blocked out all of my previous nursing horrors. Not looking forward to doing it again in a few months. Hang in there, Bee!

Ah yes, the sweet relief!

I too am prone to clogged ducts but I’ve finally learned to not wear an underwire or too tight of a nursing top. I’ve learned to keep a sterilized needle on hand (sound horrible I know, but it’s the only way I could quickly pop the bleb).

@josie267 — at one point my breasts refused to drain and I was also pumping about 45 min/session. But nothing was coming, breast compressions didn’t help. I talked to my LC, and she told me to stop….said that the breast tissue itself was most likely swollen from all the compressions and my boobs were overstimulated from the extended pumping sessions. She recommended for the next couple of days to take Advil and to limit the pumping to 20 minutes. Immediately after pumping, she wanted me to put cool compresses on the boobs to reduce the inflammation. Amazingly, it worked. By the second day I was completely flowing again and my sessions were reduced to the shorter amount of time.

I inspect my nipples all the time. So I never had clogged milk ducts. But this is good info for sure!

@mrsbee, I was pumping 5-6x a day. My boobs just won’t drain or give much milk otherwise and that includes drinking a ton of water and taking more milk plus pills.

@sandsandmore, thanks for the tip!

I’m expecting twins this time around and my lesson learnt is to do a better job of establishing my supply in the beginning.

I had mastitis 3x… seriously not fun.

I read about clogged ducts first from your blog, and I am soooo glad that I did. I was like a lost and confused child the first time it happened, and I was in so much pain. There are times when nothing will work but simply pumping to get rid of the clog. Oddly enough my clogs are usually in my right breast. The left one is cooperative and always unclogs within a pump or two.

@J0S1E267: I was desperate enough to let my husband attempt to remedy the clog, and he was as efficient as a pump — not very. My LO would be so confused when I tried to get him to go to the breast. I used to have hour long pumping sessions too! To save my sanity, I stopped doing that and limit myself to my usual 20 minutes. I learned that stress was a huge factor. The more calm I was, the better the chances of me getting rid of the clog.

Oh man. This is something I hadn’t even heard about prior to reading baby/ pregnancy blogs. Yikes!! Sounds super painful! But this is such helpful information – I appreciate everyone’s honesty about this! Love the tips; I need to flag this post for future reference.

@Yin, I’m so glad to hear that I am not alone in my desperate moments! Thanks for sharing, i’ll take note of trying to be calm and not overdo it with pumping the next time around.

I am so with @anyone says… I mean, I’ve heard of this, but I had no idea! thanks to everyone for being so open with this, I will definitely be bookmarking it & hoping that I never need to refer back. my boobs hurt now.

I had such a bad milk blister with my second kid. It just wouldn’t go away to the point that I went to see a breast specialist because it got really sore and the nipple itself was killing me. The doctor saw it, treated it with cream for a few minutes and taped it up., then she took me into the procedure room to unclog it when the damn thing just came off with the tape leaving a gaping hole! Yuck. I ended up having a few stitches with local anesthetic. That incident happened right after I stopped nursing too! Man, what we do for our kids, huh?

Had clogged ducts a few times the first couple weeks when the underwiring in my nursing bra (that were professionally fitted) put pressure on my ducts. After that, I wore only soft, shapeless bras for almost 3 months It wasn’t worth the pain to lift the sisters, lol.

I had milk blisters too and I had never heard of them or how to treat them. Luckily, lots and lots of massage in a hot shower finally got rid of them. Sweet relief indeed.

This may sound strange but it totally works. Along with hot showers,massage, and having baby nurse first on that side, a friend of mine told me about another natural remedy. Take a leaf of red cabbage, slightly crunch it to release the ‘juice ‘ inside and then sleep with it in your bra. After a particularly bad clogged duct, I went to my OB for my 6 week check up and I asked her about it. Apparently, cabbage has similar anti-inflammatory properties as ibuprofen. When you use it in this way though, it is a much more localized and effective method than medication.

I just turned 30 and my daughter is going to be nine. I wake up every morning for a few days about the same time every month with very sore breast (both) goes away after a few hours. Most of the time I start my cycle shortly after but this time it’s worse, lasting longer and no cycle yet, why? Took a test said negative. I was told by my doctor it is clogged ducts and no treatment other than warm showers.

@spacegrl I have a similar issue with a massive white head that I cannot get rid of for months now, but not always a clog. I am having trouble finding a dctr and my own has no recommendations, how did you find a breast specialist? I’ve tried soaking, massage, heat, needle, pumping, oils, vinegar you name it… nipple is really painful hurts all the time and I get painful shooting pains often. I am trying to find a lactation nurse to meet with but wonder what wonder cream helped cure yours?! Stitches, no good Thanks!

I never knew about the blister. Just checked to see if that was my problem, sure enough I found one removed it and now I’m pumping enough for two on this side! Thanks so much!

I am on my 3rd attempt of breastfeeding with my 3rd child n all has been going well until lately when my right breast has developed a hard ball n not thinking of anything I continued n now have an the worse pain n my life n I’ve been reading ur article n responses people have posted and am not sure what I have n don’t want to just run to the ER so I’m gna try ur suggestions n see if i can do something on my own! Thanks so much for posting!

I want to share this with as many moms as possible, so that hopefully it won’t happen you. I got a clogged duct almost 8 weeks ago now. Every time I asked a health care professional or looked online at what to do they all said that unless I have a fever, just keep trying to work it out. So for weeks I applied heat pads, massaged, took as hot baths/showers as I could manage, pumped on all 4s, took lecithin, used a wide tooth comb, pumped every hour for 30+ mins ect…..
I started to feel very tired and had body aches, but still no fever. And the mass in my breast kept growing bigger and bigger, but because there was no fever no one seemed concerned. Eventually I had enough! I went to my doctor and got an ultra sound. Turns out I had a huge abscess. They said this is what happens AFTER mastitis. They think I was so exhausted from being a new mom that I didn’t even notice. And now I’ve had to have a cathedar placed in my breast to drain the abscess. I had a natural childbirth and this is just as painful as that (sometimes more)! I don’t want another mom to go through this. If you can’t work out your plugged duct in 2 days max: go to your doctor! Get on antibiotics and get yourself fixed asap. You do not want to go through this! Trust me. Please share with as many new moms as you can. You don’t need a fever to have mastitis. Plugged/clogged ducts are very serious and should not be ignore!