will they ever heal

My nipples have copped a pretty bad time with DD2, shes a month today & they are both still sporting cracks despite all my hard work. Ive seen a few mchn's and a lc to check our attachment, bubs tongue etc they all said its all petfect. But they wont seem to heal. One side is worse so the lc got me to rest the bad side for 24hrs & pump instead. Even the pump irritates it, seemingly opening any repair that has occured. I sun them whenever possible & am using lansinoh but nothings working. After the 24hrs it is still no better & the other side is so sore now from feeding every feed off it. Theres no cmfort despite different positioning, good attachment every feed is painful.
Im at the end of my tether ive had thrush & mastitis, now they are cleared still no relief, can anyone help?

Have you tried the nipple shields at all?
It sucks that it can be so painful, and hard to control.

Not for a while they seemed to upset her or something she turns into a milk monster when i wear them feeding for hrs at a time, maybe its what i need to do though

It might be worth giving them a shot, i'm not sure if you can use them and express with them on maybe - never used them myself, maybe that way you can express a little with less contact IYKWIM.

My nipples were annihilated by both my girls and I had a really rough start to BF with both of them so I feel your pain, literally.

With DD2, I had to pump exclusively for 5 weeks due to all the damage her tongue tie caused and the issues that came along with the damage - a staph infection that took three lots of antibiotics to fix, vasospasm (which I had with DD1 as well) which required medication as well and dermatitis on both nipples which needed steroid cream :o DD2 also had her posterior tongue tie snipped and we gradually reintroduced the breast at 7 weeks and she's been BF ever since. She's only had breast milk since birth despite all the obstacles we encountered :D

I had a brilliant LC and a doctor who used to be an ABA counsellor looking after me so not only did I have the support, I had two amazing people looking into every possibility for me to get to the bottom of our issues and find solutions. And we got there.

I hired a Medela Symphony for all the pumping and have since bought a Medela Freestyle double pump. I still use QV Intensive Body Moisturiser on my areolas when I pump, kind of like lube I guess :lol: and that helps SO much. The dermatitis causes a lot of cracking on my nipples and my areolas were very dry and the pumping only agitated them. The steroid cream clearedd up the dermatitis and the QV cream ensures they don't get dry and damaged again from pumping.

I hope some of that helps and you're able to get on top of your boob issues. Big hugs, you're doing a great job. It can be so very tough when you have a lot of pain :hug:

Mine took every bit of five weeks.

Taurean that sounds horrible!
I didnt know there was such a condition as vasospasm i just assumed my nipples turned white cos of feedng & that it was normal, so thank u, that at least explains 1thing.

I just fed wth a shield on, it didnt make much difference but ill persist a day or so & hope for the best.
A day of resting & they were healed with DD1 so this is unexpected, thanks girls

If you have tried everything and they are still like this I would suggest that there is some pathogen that is stopping them healing. Many mothers find that an all purpose creme such as kennacomb is really helpful. You need a Dr's prescription, and apply after a feed and wipe off with a soft warm cloth before a feed. Give it a try

Kenacomb cream would be worth trying. Thrush and other infections make cracks slow to heal and spark vasospasm. I've had it all too, and I really feel your pain.

Good luck

Hugs hun. Breastfeeding pain is one of the worst possible pains. You've been given some great advice here. Also wanted to tell you to pick up some Rite Aid hydrogel breast discs from Coles (WW don't have them). They are amazing for healing. Get some first thing tomo! They are what got me through the first couple of months of bfing. xo

I think there *must* be something else going on for them to take this long with no improvement. I'd try Barb's suggestion. Could you also get a swab to check for staph..?

I was recommended multi-mum compressed by my lc, and they helped sooth my nipples. I have some leftover if you'd like to try some.

Sent from HTC wildfire using TAPATALK, so forgive any spelling errors its a small keyboard.

My gp did a swab nothing showed up. The lc i saw said it woulde likely show nothing. Will the gp still prescribe the kenacomb since nothing showed?

I'd also try exclusive pumping for at least a few days, if not a week, to give your nipples a chance to heal properly and look at the QV cream (it's a clear cream, not a white moisturising cream) to help your nipples glide in the breast shields easier. Also, are you sure you're using the right size shields? The standard breast shields with Medela pumps, for example, are too small for a lot of women. I think they are a size 24. I need a size 30 shield and when my nipples were really bad, I even used a size 36 for a week as they were so swollen and damaged. The right size breast shield makes a huge difference.

Should do. As the LC says - things often don't show on a swab. Also, the steroid in kennacomb will help calm the inflammation - give it a go, sooner rather than later - it's about the lease in the list of interventions being suggested.

I second expressing for several days- it was easier for me as I only had one sore nipple so I could feed off one side and express off the sore side and the nipple was perfect after that.

And just letting you know that it can take a few weeks for them to start feeling better, did here. Couldn't even touch them with a towel. All good now.

Sent from HTC wildfire using TAPATALK, so forgive any spelling errors its a small keyboard.