Hard breast

Breastfeeding should definitely help as it’s emptying your breast. Just remember the more times you feed from that one side the more your body will produce which won’t help your issue. Applying heat or soaking your breasts will help with milk let down and can really easily soften your breasts. Whereas if you’re in pain applying something cold will help with engorgement pain. You can buy gel pads from Lansinoh which you can heat and cool x Hand expressing or gentle massage is the best way to gently relieve some pressure (as well as your little one feeding) without telling your body it needs to produce more milk. I’m not sure how far along you are postpartum but it usually takes around 6 weeks for your body to sort of regulate how much milk it needs to produce for your baby. I had massive issues with engorgement but now Ive figured it out😅x

Keep an eye on how you're feeling in yourself. If you start to feel fluy and have a temperature, seek some medical help. I got mastitis once and became very ill, very quickly xx

If it’s just an area of boob then it might be a blocked duct that needs to be dealt with

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBLpZMngbYg/?igsh=MW55bDRoeHEzMXUxZw== I read this yesterday… some helpful tips included x

Try and give them a massage and express some down the sink or In the using your finger and thumb from the back of your breast to your nipple it should start to relieve it! If you can feel lumps that’s a blocked duct so again massage it out x

You should not apply heat except if you need help stimulating a letdown. Heat increases circulation to the breasts which causes them to produce more milk. You should be applying a cool towel so that it causes your breasts to slow down milk production

@Annabel I actually saw that last night on Insta as well and stopped following her! Some of that rhetoric can be really dangerous. When a clogged duct turns into mastitis it happens Quick and at that point yes you absolutely do need to seek medical attention/ get a prescription for antibiotics. I’ve had it twice and it was the same as Ella said both times. But yeah some of the info on there is correct and as others are saying, keep trying baby on the boob, hand massage, & cool compress

@Allie I personally found it quite a balanced post. I think she’s just trying to dispel old advice around aggressive massage to “unclog”, dangle feeding and heat which can make things worse, and explains the physiology. Rather than deterring seeking medical advice I think she’s trying to show how repeated antibiotic use can perpetuate the problem and why, then give methods to try first. I’ve had blocked ducts a couple of times in both feeding journeys and managed to clear it within 24-48hrs using her tips with no antibiotics. Ultimately everyone knows their bodies best and need to make a judgment call on what’s best for them 🫶🏻🤍

Agree to an extent but because of messaging like that, the first time I got mastitis I got very Very sick before seeking medical help which was definitely needed. Everyone knows their body best but first time mums don’t know what’s ‘normal’ vs not with this kind of thing. You obviously don’t want to be on antibiotics constantly as a BF mother, but there’s a difference between a clogged duct & mastitis, and mastitis needs treatment 90% of the time. Too many people out there saying like ‘it’s normal, happens all the time, just do a cold compress, keep feeding baby you’re fine’ and no one saying like hey, this is a really bad thing that can happen suddenly and here’s when you need to get meds for it

Personally for me heat and massaging does not work!!! ICE ALL THE WAY!!!!!! Also surprisingly cold cabbage on the breast actually works