Mastitis usually only affects 1 breast, and symptoms often come on quickly. They include: a swollen area on your breast that may feel hot and painful to touch – the area may become red but this can be harder to see if you have black or brown skin. a wedge-shaped breast lump or a hard area on your breast.
Symptoms of mastitis
Usually, mastitis affects one of your breasts, but can sometimes affect both. Signs and symptoms of mastitis often develop quickly and can include: sore breasts that feel swollen, hot and painful to touch – you may also have red patches, but redness can be harder to see on brown and black skin.
Thickening of breast tissue, or a breast lump. Pain or a burning sensation continuously or while breast-feeding. Skin redness, often in a wedge-shaped pattern. Generally feeling ill.
Mastitis causes 'flu like' symptoms, as well as breast redness, pain and swelling. It's important to see a doctor as early as possible if you feel you may have mastitis. Keep breastfeeding or expressing if you are diagnosed with mastitis. Your milk will be safe for your baby.
Usually occurs within the first six weeks of breastfeeding, but can occur anytime. Often starts with engorgement. May occur the first time your baby sleeps through the night and/or goes an unusually long time between feedings. Onset is sudden with intense pain in one breast, rarely in both breasts.
Body aches, chills, or a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher. If you have any of these symptoms, call your doctor right away. If you have mastitis: Do not stop breastfeeding or pumping your milk.
It can happen when the breast is engorged or an area isn't draining properly, allowing bacteria to grow and cause an infection. While mastitis can occur as a result of a clogged milk duct that isn't unclogged, it can also come on very suddenly without much warning.
Breastfeeding Medicine of Northeast Ohio is nationally known for their use of Therapeutic Breast Massage in Lactation (TBML). Breast massage can be beneficial for mothers experiencing breast engorgement, plugged ducts, mastitis and even chronic breast pain.
One study of 946 lactating women, followed prospectively, found an incidence of 9.5 percent. Although mastitis can occur anytime during lactation, it is most common during the second and third weeks postpartum, with 75 to 95 percent of cases occurring before the infant is three months of age.
Mastitis causes a woman's breast tissue to become painful and inflamed. It's most common in breastfeeding women, usually within the first six weeks after giving birth.
Bacteriologic culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are the primary methods currently in-use to diagnose IMI. Most PCR assays use real-time multiplex PCR to identify an array of common mastitis pathogens. Regardless of diagnostic method used, there is no true gold standard available to diagnose an IMI.
Alternatively, massaging the nipple and feeding the baby can help to burst the blister. “Sometimes a toothpaste-like substance can be squeezed out from the affected nipple. The duct will be unblocked once this substance is completely squeezed out,” says Ms Pang. For mastitis, a doctor may need to prescribe antibiotics.
Previous studies have suggested that the use of a breast pump increases a mother's risk for developing mastitis, however, incidence rates of mastitis over the stages of lactation do not match breast pump usage rates.
To prevent mastitis that develops from clogged ducts, avoid wearing tight-fitting bras or tops. There are a lot of cute nursing bras out there, but it's a good idea to go without a bra whenever possible, like when you're lounging at home or sleeping.
Some mothers chose to wear a specially designed nursing bra. Others chose to wear the styles they have used before pregnancy. Bras with under-wiring, or other firm structure, can contribute to blocked ducts and even mastitis so are best avoided in the early months.
Plugged duct symptoms progress gradually, and can include pain, a hard lump, a warm and painful localized spot or a wedge-shaped area of engorgement on the breast. Mastitis symptoms appear rapidly and include flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, fatigue and body aches.
Engorged breasts will normally feel tight or hard, while mastitis is more often characterized by redness and inflammation (engorgement does not normally cause redness).
It is not always easy to tell the difference between a breast infection and a plugged duct. They have similar symptoms, and both can get better within a day or two. But the mastitis may also include other signs, like these: Flu-like symptoms like fever, chills, body aches, nausea, vomiting, or fatigue.
You may need to be evaluated in a hospital's emergency department if the breast pain is associated with other signs of an infection (such as a fever, swelling, or redness to the breast) and if your health care provider cannot see you promptly.
Your milk supply in the affected breast may be reduced for several weeks after mastitis, but will return to normal with stimulation from your baby. Breast pain and redness often peak on the 2nd or the 3rd day and return to normal by the 5th day.
The infected part of the breast may become swollen, painful, red, and warm to the touch. Mastitis can also cause fever and a headache, or general flu-like symptoms.