Stubborn blocked milk duct

**nyigi** · August 1st, 2015, 02:01 PM

Hi,
I'm after some advice on how to help my stubbornly blocked milk duct.
Started having trouble on tuesday, wednesday breast was red and sore and I had fever, general body aches and super fatigue. I managed to kick that by feeding heaps, massaging, hot showers and compresses, and sleeping. Since then the fever, general body aches and fatigue have gone and the breast is much better, no more redness and only sometimes sore.
But there's still a blockage in there. I can feel a line from my armpit down to my nipple which is kind of like a thick cord and there are a few hard bumps along the way. It gets worse between feedings and massaging + hot compresses and a feed help reduce it a bit but really it hasn't changed much in the past 5 days just keeps going up and down a little.
So does anyone have any suggestions?

**HotI** · August 1st, 2015, 03:51 PM

dangle feeding - have bub laying down and you get on your hands and knees and 'dangle' your boob to feed. gets trickier as bub gets older though.

you could ring aba for some ideas

ice can help after a feed too. alternate warmth and heat. heat when you will feed / express get milk moving.

**wysiwyg** · August 1st, 2015, 04:51 PM

dangle feeding - have bub laying down and you get on your hands and knees and 'dangle' your boob to feed. gets trickier as bub gets older though.

you could ring aba for some ideas

ice can help after a feed too. alternate warmth and heat. heat when you will feed / express get milk moving.

I used to find 'dangle feeding' quite good - they say to position the baby's chin over in the area of the blockage - so if the blockage is around 2 o'clock area going by your description - then position yourself over the baby so their chin will be at 2 o'clock.

Also I used to massage with an electric toothbrush handle - the vibrations can help apparently.

**nyigi** · August 1st, 2015, 07:23 PM

Thanks HotI and wysiwyg!
I've been doing the massage with electric toothbrush the last couple of days.
I just tried the dangle feeding. DS did pretty well at it for a few minutes then wasn't into it anymore. I'll keep at it. I think it could really help. I was struggling to find a way to get his chin on the spot (yep 2 o'clock wysiwyg) and finding football holds difficult now he's so big and also not really hitting the right spot. He normally has his chin around 4 o'clock so this is right at the opposite side, probably why it's having trouble.
If it's not better soon I'll contact a lactation consultant.
Really don't want it to get infected again, that really sucked.

I'll have to give ice a go too. Though I must admit I'm struggling a bit to be so coordinated with the right temperature compresses at the right times. I'll just have to make it more of a priority and try to get it set up for the next feed.

**BotchedTabby** · August 1st, 2015, 08:52 PM

I've read very recently that blocked ducts can turn into absesses if not cleared quickly. I have a similar story...but I woke with a fever and aches and a very swollen/hard sore boob. I fed, massaged, hot compresses and expressed as much as i could. After 2 days I had no more fever but still had a rather large blockage (in a similar position to you). I kept expressing massaging etc and after a couple more days it was almost gone. But I still haven't been able to get rid of it all! I think I may have to head to a gp to get it checked out...I had never heard of breast absesses before I read about them on the ABA website yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if that's what mine has become.

**nyigi** · August 1st, 2015, 09:23 PM

Oh that sounds kind of scary BotchedTabby and soo similiar to my situation.
I hope you clear it soon! And me too
Let me know how you go

**BotchedTabby** · August 1st, 2015, 09:26 PM

Yeah apparently they have to put a drain in to get rid of it. I'll let you know how I go. Hopefully yours cleans up very soon!

**trishalishous** · August 7th, 2015, 10:49 PM

ouch! I hope it clears soon for you both!

**BotchedTabby** · August 8th, 2015, 01:44 PM

How are you going nyigi?

I finally went to a gp and she prescibed antibiotics. I thought this was strange without an ultrasound and seeing that I have no fever etc but a quick google suggests abs are the first line of treatment for it so I'll see how I go.

**nyigi** · August 8th, 2015, 02:28 PM

I hope it helps!
I went to a gp too but he said as I didn't have a fever there wasn't anything to do and even if there was still a lump it wasn't a problem, just keep trying to shift it and even if it doesn't go away it's really no problem.
I was really frustrated and annoyed.
My lump is pretty small now but hasn't changed in the last few days. I'm not really sure what to do. If I wasn't checking for it I don't think I'd notice it which makes me tempted to just leave it. But then I also worry about it getting worse. I guess I should just get my act together and contact a lactation consultant.

**BotchedTabby** · August 8th, 2015, 02:42 PM

That's what I originally thought...that if there is no fever what's the point of abs? But if its an absess it could contain the infection and not cause too many problems until it gets worse? So abs might actually be useful. I'm not too concerned about a blocked duct but my worry is what if it's something else?

Maybe a female gp might be more helpful? The one I booked with seemed to get it straight away which was great. She even complimented me on breastfeeding which was nice.

**BotchedTabby** · August 8th, 2015, 02:44 PM

Btw my lump is exactly the same. Barely noticable and not causing any problems (aside from reduced supply on that side).

**nyigi** · August 8th, 2015, 03:17 PM

Yeah the something else has me a bit worried too... I figure it's unlikely but....
Yep I was really annoyed with the whole gp experience. I called and made an appointment with my normal gp (a lovely lady) but when I got there it was a guy I'd never seen before. I guess my doc was away and the receptionist hadn't mentioned someone else was filling in. I had a double appointment for me and for my 9 month old who has been sick for the last month and the doc was really dismissive of everything. He didn't check my boob at all (and while I'm happy to skip that too I figure it's kind of part of their job to check what's gong and make sure it actually feels like a blocked duct rather than something else) just said it's not a problem no fever=no antibiotics and nothing else to be done. Really a lump isn't a problem when breastfeeding, oh but yes do try everything you can to shift it... Then he listened to my son's lungs and went "yep lots of slime but no sign of infection, he'll be fine, no problem that this has been going on for the last month and triggered 2 out of hours doctor visits for virus induced asthma and suspicious recurring fever" I totally get that sometimes you just have to wait these things out but I objected to the dismissive attitude and it doesn't really inspire much faith in his conclusions.

I'll contact the lactation consultant and see if I can get into my normal gp on monday.
Really I would have contacted the lactation consultant earlier but I've been putting it off cause she's the daughter of a friend of mine who died a couple of years ago and the last interactions I had with her were regarding her mother's death so it just feels a bit awkward.

While I'm sorry you're also in this situation, it's really nice sharing it with someone! Fingers crossed the antibiotics do the trick for you

**BotchedTabby** · August 8th, 2015, 03:29 PM

That gp sounds useless! Unfortunately I don't have much faith in a lot of gps, I've seen many terrible ones.

Definitely try and get an appt with your usual gp. I would be very worried about a chronic respiratory infection in a child. Lots of phlegm would likely equal an infection right? A gp I went to last week for my son because he had croup gave us a steroid script "just in case" despite his chest sounding clear...he was getting very bad at night though.

An lc should have some good advice about the appropriate steps to take. It will be interesting what she says.

It's a sucky situation to be in...any lumps in that area are extra worrying too. It's good to have someone to talk to about it. I'll let you know how the abs go.

**nyigi** · August 8th, 2015, 03:37 PM

Yeah gps are really hit and miss. And they are pretty notorious here in the Netherlands for their wait and see approach and reluctance to prescribe anything. My normal one is great though. I'll check if she's back before I make my next appt!

I'll let you know what the lc says

Good luck!

**nyigi** · August 9th, 2015, 04:50 AM

Well that got a very different reaction. I sent an email to the lc I knew and got an auto reply saying she was on holiday and I giving the contact details of another lc.
So I sent her a message and she just called me back and wants to come over and see me at home to see what she can do. Sounds like she's taking it pretty serious.
Unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover lc costs

**BotchedTabby** · August 9th, 2015, 08:19 AM

That's good she's taking it seriously. Sounds expensive though.

**nyigi** · August 10th, 2015, 10:22 PM

Well the lc I'd initially contacted replied to my email even though she's on holiday and she said it really sounded like an abscess and I should go back to the doctor and ask for an ultrasound. So I decided to cancel my appt with the other lc and try the ultrasound first to save some money.
I saw the gp this morning. Got an awesome guy who did his training at the practice a while ago so I'd seen him before and he's just fantastic, especially great with the kids. He took everything seriously. He doesn't think it's an abscess but booked in for an ultrasound to check. He also gave ds2 a good checking over and while the advice is the same I'm now confident it's coming from a well-informed and considered position.

So I wait for my ultrasound on wednesday and take it from there.

How are you going with the ab's botchedtabby?