Mastitis breastfeeding: symptoms, causes, treatment

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disease in which there is inflammation in the mammary glands, called mastitis.Most of the mothers whose children were breastfed, are familiar with this disease firsthand.Characteristic features of the disease are severe pain in the chest, her dramatic change in size and redness, discomfort when feeding, fever, and others.

Proceeds mastitis in several stages.When the first symptoms of the disease did not apply an effective treatment, it can turn into a dangerous purulent stage, with the threat of complications.

causes of mastitis

Can missteps women cause mastitis breastfeeding?Reasons for the development and progression of the disease are very different.

main culprits causing the disease are Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus and other bacteria that enter into the female body.

Pathogens can get into breast:

  • through ducts, cracks, wounds on the chest, which are suitable for this environment;
  • through the circulatory system, if a woman is sick in other chronic infectious diseases.

Normally a woman's body is able to cope with a small number of bacteria, but after birth the immune system is weakened and unable to resist pathogens.

In addition, the appearance of the disease may be involved in ignoring the female hygiene during feeding.Another reason why there is mastitis breastfeeding is lactostasis.

Signs lactostasis

disease may develop because of the stagnation in the ducts at the wrong express milk from the breast or large intervals between feedings.The dairy environment is a beneficial environment for the growth of germs.
lactostasis Characteristic features are:

  • nodules in the breast, which resolve after a massage;
  • chest pain;
  • irregular, intermittent leakage of milk from the ducts, where the disease develops.

necessary to eliminate the problem at an early stage, since untreated lactostasis a few days turns into a suit.

The indirect causes that may contribute to the development of the disease include:

  • various defects nipple (it can be retracted or divided into shares), the child can not properly capture him during feeding, thereby injure;
  • breast;
  • pathology of pregnancy, birth trauma, and others.

Species

mastitis Mastitis is divided into two main types:

  1. Nelaktatsionny - a disease that develops independently of breastfeeding.Its causes are different traumas of the mammary gland, hormonal problems.
  2. lactation - occurring during the postnatal period.

What stages passes mastitis in nursing?Signs of its characteristic of each stage.There are the following stages of the disease:

  • serous - the original.It is characterized by raising the temperature to 38 degrees, chills, weakness, headache, increase in breast volume and its redness, flushing, aching pain that is worse when touching and feeding baby.
  • Infiltrative - the second stage in which develops serous mastitis, if left untreated or treated improperly.It is characterized by the formation of seals in the chest and fever.
  • Contaminated.For this phase characterized by the critical temperature of 39-40 degrees in the body, insomnia, severe headache, inflammation of the lymph nodes in the armpits, burning pain in the chest on the weakest touch.

Diagnostics

When the above symptoms should immediately seek medical help.Specialist examination at the chest, probing her, diagnose the problem.Confirm whether developed mastitis breastfeeding, and the presence of inflammation in the body will be able to analyze the blood.Bacteriological sowings milk determine what microbes cause disease, and their resistance to antibiotics.Also, for the diagnosis of the disease can conduct ultrasound.It will help to define more precisely, at what stage of mastitis breastfeeding, ultrasound photos.

Mastitis and breastfeeding

If the mother began stage mastitis superficial, yet the inflammatory process, and there is only redness, mild pain, and does not apply medication, feed your baby can be a second, healthy breast.From decant milk gland problem, but in no case do not give the child to not infect it.

In the later stages of the disease is an urgent need to stop breastfeeding, because the pus that may form in the chest, and is able to spread a healthy mammary gland, as well as the bacteria caused the disease.

Throughout the treatment the milk must necessarily express.This is, firstly, to help maintain lactation, and secondly, the healing process will go much faster.

Principles of treatment of mastitis

Depending on the form of the disease, and how long ago developed mastitis during breastfeeding, use different ways of dealing with the illness.
principles of treatment are as follows:

  • Removing pain.
  • Termination of the inflammatory process.
  • stop the growth of bacteria that caused the disease.

Therapies

At the first stage (serous and infiltrative mastitis in lactating) conservative treatment is carried out by conventional methods.In introducing step can not do without surgery.

  1. Coming need to express milk about once every three hours or as necessary to prevent its stagnation and, accordingly, the growth of bacteria.
  2. for pain relief apply a local anesthetic such as Novocain blockade, you can also apply ice.
  3. Prolonged treatment to no avail, serious condition of women, the development of all sorts of complications and other causes need to reduce the amount of milk or temporarily stop the process of using special drugs that should be used only on prescription.
  4. After the final recovery will be possible to adjust the feeding again.
  5. To cleanse the body of toxic substances from the mother applied drip of saline, glucose.Also added to preparations for lifting the immunity of a woman.

Antibiotics

If mastitis progresses through breastfeeding, the treatment is not without receiving a course of antibiotics.After seeding of milk will be held to identify the sensitivity of the bacteria that caused the disease to antibiotics, it will be assigned to the appropriate drug.The most commonly used medications in the treatment of the following groups:

  • penicillin;
  • aminoglycoside;
  • cephalosporin.

Treatment may be in the form of intravenous or intramuscular injection, also possible to use tablets.The average rate of a week to ten days.

the treatment of purulent mastitis can not do without the operation for opening the abscess in the chest and antibiotic therapy.

After recovery, discontinuation of medication, a second bacterial seeding of milk.If the tests do not show the presence of infection in it, we can renew lactation.

traditional treatments

Very often from relatives and friends to hear recommendations on the use of traditional methods of treating such diseases, such as mastitis in nursing.There are many recipes that use them, the assurances of healers, a panacea in this illness.It is impossible to state categorically that the use of packs of bran, applying to the site of inflammation mugs, leaves a mother-and-stepmother, cabbage, onion cakes of honey, ointments of psyllium and many other resources inefficiently.All of these methods can and should be used, but only in conjunction with medication and always under medical supervision.

Given that mastitis often occurs due to bacteria, herbs and other natural ingredients are not able to kill the infection that got into the body, it is the strength to make antibiotics.However, to facilitate the mother's condition, reduce pain and other unpleasant symptoms, reduce lactation, improve the discharge of milk they can.

Also, any self-medication, if there is mastitis breastfeeding unacceptable.In order to avoid a more severe form of purulent or its complications such as sepsis should immediately seek the help of professionals.

disease prevention

There is no doubt that it is easier to prevent the occurrence of the disease than to treat it.Preventing mastitis breastfeeding in most cases, will save his mother from the development of the disease.It is enough to follow some very simple rules, and feeding your baby breast milk is unproblematic and will bring only pleasure.

  1. In the first weeks is necessary to properly and regularly decant after feeding, as milk is coming much more than is necessary still very small eater, and its residues can cause congestion and inflammation.During
  2. of breastfeeding is necessary to ensure that, as a child grabs the nipple, and change its position when feeding, the milk is sucked out of the most distant channels.
  3. watch for wounds, mikrotreschinok nipples, timely treat them with various ointments.This is where the people are good methods, such as carrot juice has wonderful healing properties.
  4. Clean - a major factor in the prevention of disease.Clean body, clothes, wash and ironed bra - the minimum necessary measures for protection against diseases from the outside.In this matter, the main thing is not to overdo it.Wash your breast with soap and water after applying each also is not necessary, so as not to dry up the skin around the nipple and does not cause irritation.It will be quite an ordinary daily shower and periodic rinsing glands before feeding.

Summing up, I want to once again draw attention to the fact that can not be taken lightly for such diseases as mastitis breastfeeding.Its treatment should begin immediately after the first signs of which only at first glance can not be held for a something serious.

inadmissible without reference to the self-medical care, because only after the analysis of blood and bacterial inoculation test milk can be assigned a correct and effective treatment, which will soon be able to get you back into operation lactating mothers.