I don't know any modern mommy that wasn't petrified of getting mastitis while they were breast feeding. To gloss over- mastitis is a breast infection that is usually caused by a plugged milk duct which is usually caused from baby not feeding enough or from an over production of milk. Clogged ducts are EXTREMELY common during baby's first 8 weeks because your body is regulating itself to baby's feeding demand and basically feels like a lump in the breast with some soreness. With Halo, I got my first plugged duct shortly after my milk came in (and yes I went all WebMD on it and thought I had breast cancer and made Halo's doctor feel my boob and reassure me when we went to Halo's two week appointment). Usually if I take a hot bath where I submerge the twins (and massage them in the tub). pop an ibuprofen and then feed Halo and pump vigorously, I can work out a plugged duct on my own. For a really stubborn one, I have had Kiel massage the lump. This isn't a sexual thing folks, and to be honest- Kiel really doesn't like doing it because he has to massage very, very hard and he is afraid that he is hurting me. BUT- this has worked for me numerous times.
Now, the reason why mastitis is so scary is because it makes a super sucky situation for both mom and baby. It presents itself as flu symptoms! The flu sucks, so that alone is just awful. OH but it gets worse. Many times the only solution a doctor has for mastitis is to use antibiotics. What is a common side effect of antibiotics with women? YEAST INFECTIONS. That's right. A good ol' batch of crotch rot to go with your tit infection- therefore turning this into a full on suck fest for your lady parts. BUT I'm not done yet.....How about we take that yeast infection and we give it to your baby and infect your baby's mouth making it a breast to mouth yeast infection also known as thrush. Oh yeah. Let's not just infect you but let's poison the well and infect your baby. Then the baby has to go through treatments to combat thrush, but there is the possibility that baby and mom will just pass the infection back and forth to each other. This scenario leads to many women feeling as though they have to stop breast feeding which denies baby the best food there is and makes many women feel sad that they had to stop. Not to mention the whole other situation about how we are so quick to take antibiotics as opposed to letting our bodies heal themselves which leads to an immunity to antibiotics and how rough they can be on little one's tummies. The first time Loki had antibiotics, he was a year old and it was so rough on his digestive system, it made him throw up. Lord knows what it would do to my newborn.
See why this is such a terrifying situation?
So one morning, a couple weeks before Christmas, I wake up feeling achy. Did I sleep wrong? I'm walking to the bathroom and as I pass the mirror I stop and take a look at myself. Across my breast there is a large, red, splotchy patch (I sleep with a nursing tank which is low cut so it was easy to see this). I touched the patch and it was warm. These were signs of mastitis. Then it made sense. The body aches. The run down feeling that I had attributed to having a new baby and not sleeping. I had even thrown up the day before, but I thought it was simply because I had taken a pain killer (for mentioned body aches and residual C-section pain) and perhaps I didn't have enough food in my stomach. I lifted my arm and felt my breast with the opposite arm. I couldn't feel any lumps but this was text book mastitis. Suddenly thoughts of my waiting in a military clinic waiting room, antibiotics, crotch rot, thrush and my dreams of exclusively breastfeeding (or EBF) my daughter for at least the first six months of her life being squashed flashed in my head. I had to beat this, and I had to do it without antibiotics.
Now here are some disclaimers- I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not even an EMT anymore and please do not take my situation and what I did as the holy grail. I urge you to do your research and if mastitis doesn't start to improve 24 hours after trying natural remedies then get your ass to the doctor. That being said- this is exactly what I did-
1: DO NOT STOP FEEDING THE BABY!!! Baby needs to eat and you need that duct to get unclogged. So feed feed feed. DO NOT STOP FEEDING FROM THE INFECTED SIDE! It is going to hurt. And increased feedings are not going to make your nipples feel better. But dammit you are a woman. You dealt with pregnancy, labor and that hell we call the first few weeks of baby's life (you know- BEFORE you and baby got into your groove). So pop an ibuprofen to help with inflammation and pain, put on your big girl panties and feed and pump like there is no tomorrow.
2: GARLIC. Garlic is the freaking king of natural remedies! It's basically a natural antibiotic and boosts your immune system. And you are going to eat it raw. That's right: RAW. I love garlic so this wasn't a huge thing for me. So this is how I ate it: chopped garlic on a piece of buttered toast. I ate it like this about three times a day and then I also put chopped garlic on every meal.
3: EGGS. Eggs are a natural source of lecithin. Lecithin supplements are used to unclog ducts. So guess what you are eating? For an even bigger boost- put some raw chopped garlic on those over easy eggs! I thought it was yummy. PLUS- lecithin supplements have been linked to depression, but since you are getting your source from an egg and not from a pill- no depressed side effects :)
4: CRANBERRY JUICE- We all know how awesome cranberry juice is for infections (how many of us have chugged it at the first sign of a UTI?). I read that cranberry juice is good for preventing just about any bacterial infection, so I figured why not? And chugged it along with my water. BTW if you are breastfeeding, you should already be drinking a ton of water so keep that up.
5:HOT BATHS- Warmth is good for getting rid of plugged ducts. So I filled up the tub and submerged my boobs in the water. I tried to massage my breasts but they hurt so fucking much that I just let them hang there. Plus it is super relaxing and one of the other reasons a clogged duct can turn into mastitis is because new moms are tired and stressed. As hard as it sounds- taking it easy can do wonders to help your body heal itself.
6:SLEEP. I stayed in bed just about all day. I plopped Halo in the bed with me and we snuggled. I had my breast out right next to her so whenever she was hungry all she had to do was turn her head and start to feed. Catching up on your zzzzzzz's gives the body energy to heal.
7: CABBAGE LEAVES- I thought that this was a bit hokey when I first read this- putting cold cabbage leaves on the breast. Basically, stuff your bra with cabbage leaves. Sounds crazy but it works! The coldness of the cabbage feels great on achy breasts and apparently cabbage leaves are able to pull moisture or something to that effect so they are able to dry out the plugged duct. BUT do not leave the leaves on you for a long time because they can, in effect, dry up your supply. The rule of thumb that I found while scouring the internet is to leave them on until they start to wilt then toss them (this was about 30 minutes for me) and to only put them on about 3 times a day. Also- I had tried to put the leaves in the freezer but it was too cold for me and basically as soon as the leaves thawed (about 10-15 minutes) they were wilted and gross. So just stick the head of cabbage in the produce bin in the fridge. In fact- make sure to have one on hand in the fridge from here on out.
I did all of this on day 1 and when I woke up on day 2, the patch was still there but much less noticeable, I didn't have flu symptoms anymore and while my breast still hurt- I would attribute that more to the torturous regimen I had just subjected it to as opposed to the mastitis itself. By day 3 the patch was completely gone and the pain in my breast went away a few days later.
So that's what I did. And it worked for me. I certainly hope it could help someone else but I must stress again- if your symptoms do not improve after 1 day of vigorously trying every natural remedy you can find- then get your ass to a doctor! Many women that have dealt with mastitis and thrush have still continued to breastfeed and its not guaranteed that thrush or anything bad will happen from using antibiotics. I just know my body and know that I will get a yeast infection if you even mention antibiotics to me. And I'm not trying to bash the use of antibiotics either. I think they are great. But they are not to be used every time you feel ill or you will develop an immunity to the antibiotics and they wont work as well when you REALLY need them. So if you are like me (or if you just would like to avoid antibiotics) please try the steps I have listed above and see if you can use the power of natural remedies to cure the evil breast infection known as mastitis.
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