Guest Post by Laura of The Merry Mennonite
This post is part of the Breast-Kept Secrets: Breastfeeding Advice from One Mom to Another series. Go back and read all posts here.
Note: This post will be fairly subjective. It reflects my experiences with a breastfeeding issue on which I could find little to no information.
When my daughter Maggie was born we went through some of the more common nursing problems, such as difficulty latching. But together we persevered and by the time she was one or two months old, we had a pretty good thing going. I thought breastfeeding would be more or less smooth sailing from there on out. As it turns out, I was wrong.
Maggie was around four months old when we were in a car accident. She and I were both riding in the backseat, and at the time my primary concern was to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, she came out unscathed. I thought I was fine too, other than having had the wind knocked out of me.
Then over the course of the next day or two, one of my breasts began to bruise. It became very hard and painful, and three quarters of it turned black and blue! Maggie fussed when she had to nurse on that side and began latching improperly again.
I figured that since the internet is the source of all knowledge, I’d see if there was any information available online about nursing through a breast injury. I couldn’t turn up anything relevant to my specific situation! There were tips for dealing with nipple injuries or nursing after breast reduction, but nothing to help out a mama who’d had one of her breasts crushed by a seat belt.
Not knowing what else to do, I ensured that the injured breast was still producing milk and that the milk did not contain blood or any other undesirable substance. Once I’d ensured the milk was fine, I began taking steps to ensure that Maggie nursed well from the injured breast.
I came to this decision by reasoning that if she nursed less than usual from my injured side, I’d end up with engorgement on top of the bruising and dead tissue I was already dealing with.
So at every feeding, I put Maggie to the injured breast first. If she grew fussy after a short while, I’d coax her to stay on as long as possible. If she became frustrated, I’d switch her to the other side but put her back to my damaged breast at the end of the feeding.
Gradually, we adjusted. The bruising subsided, probably a half to two thirds of my breast tissue returned to normal, and Maggie began to nurse on both sides without complaint. I was, however, left with several large lumps in my breast.
Just to be on the safe side, I went to my obstetrician who suggested they were most likely galactoceles. She sent me for a breast ultrasound where that diagnosis was confirmed. I was unsurprised as a galactocele is essentially a cyst filled with milk, caused by blocked milk ducts. I would imagine I have more than a few blocked ducts!
While galactoceles can resolve spontaneously, mine have not. However, Maggie is only a year old and hasn’t been weaned yet. I’ve found a few sources which suggest galactoceles may be reabsorbed by the body when nursing stops. I’ve also read that they may reoccur during any other periods of lactation. Whatever the case may be in my situation, I’m very thankful I was able to continue nursing through my breast injury and was able to keep my supply up.
In retrospect, there are a few things I might have done additionally to make things more comfortable for myself and Maggie. For those of you who may be dealing with a similar situation, I will lay things out as clearly as possible.
My Experiences Nursing Through Breast Injury
What I Did
- Ensured milk quality
- Monitored supply to ensure baby was receiving adequate nutrition
- Encouraged nursing on the injured breast
- Received diagnosis for ensuing breast lumps
What I Might Have Done Additionally
- Applied ice packs and/or cabbage leaves to breast to reduce initial swelling
- Tried warm compresses and massage to treat scar tissue
- Adapted my diet to facilitate milk production if my supply had been low
- Supplemented if necessary
- Visited a lactation consultant
As you can see, my primary focus in nursing through a breast injury was on maintaining milk supply rather than treating the actual injury itself. I certainly have no regrets as to the decisions I made, but do occasionally wonder if I might have seen a reduction in the number of lumps that formed had I chosen to treat the injury at the time.
While it can be painful and frustrating to continue nursing through injury, it can be done.
Once milk quality has been ensured, I strongly recommend nursing after injury in order to avoid additional engorgement and to maintain production. Remember too, that while it’s important to look after baby, you must take care of yourself as well. Any troubling side effects, especially the formation of breast lumps, should be examined by a doctor.
Have you ever nursed a baby through breast injury? What advice do you have for mothers in a similar situation?
Laura Weymouth is a stay at home mom living in upstate New York with her hilarious husband and adorable daughter. When not puttering in the kitchen with her sleeves rolled up, you can find her at the local library looking for her next favorite book or working on a novel of her own. She blogs about a little bit of everything at The Merry Mennonite.
Tracy @ The UnCoordinated Mommy
Yikes! That is so great that you stuck with it!! When my second was 6 weeks old I got a breat abscess. It was horrible and over a week before it was correctly diagnosed (they just assumed it was a clogged duct and kept telling me to work on it). Finally they placed a drain in it and I had to wear it for a week while continuing to breastfeed. Luckily my breast doctor was a mom who had recently breastfed and made sure the incision site would not interfere with breastfeeding and was even far enough away that I was able to pump if necessary. It was a very very long week with lots of crying but we made it through and he is 11 mths and still nursing!!
Laura Weymouth
Great job, Tracy! It’s so worth it in the long run, isn’t it?
Dora
I would also suggest massage and good manual breast pump to use after nursing on that side to drain it.
Lori
What a lovely mother and baby! When I have plugged ducts I take 30c of the homeopathic remedy phytolacca. This was recommended to me by my homeopath. Maybe this would help you also. It has never failed me, but I haven’t had an injury.
Heather
Thank you! I was in a car accident yesterday and tonight noticed the bruise. I am nursing and needed reassurance! Thanks!!
Erin
Oh wow! I’m glad you are ok!
Susan
This is very helpful! My 11 month old slammed head first into my breast yesterday and this morning I woke up with a huge knot and extreme sensitivity to touch. When I breastfeed my son likes to hold on with his hand and just that touch made me almost vomit today in pain! I am going to try the suggestions here! Thank you all so much and best to all of you!!!
Melissa
Toddler hurt mine a few days ago climbing on me. left a side knot and a long bottom lump. When the milk came in the knot would come back but was relieved after nursing. Just massage and nurse or pump helped as it healed its been 3 days now and the knot is almost gone and not painful. The next day the long lump on the bottom was almost gone. I think it was bad because it was almost time to nurse the baby when he basically put his weight on it. Healing faster then i thought.
Aarthi
This was very helpful! Was looking all over the internet and this is the only article on breastfeeding with an injury. My son bumped with his elbow on my left breast while playing and it became extremely painful and sensitive. It hurts bad when I breastfeed my 5 month old on that side. Will try these tips and see if it gets any better. Thanks again.
D
Thank you for this article, I have had this happen 2 times to me however instead of a car accident it was an accidental injury by my 2 year old. It is very difficult to find any articles pertaining to this, only mastitis due to bacteria not injury. I have been using ice and continuing to breast feed. Praying mastitis does not form as it did the first time with an injured milk duct. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Cecile
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your experience!! There is so little information on breast trauma and nursing, this was very helpful. Just like other moms in the comment, my soon-to-be one-year-old son accidentally whacked me across my right breast yesterday. It is incredibly sensitive, to touch and to nurse. I am waiting fearfully to see if this turns into a clogged milk ducks or mastitis. I am thankful for yours and all the tips in the comments.
Michelle
I also appreciate your post, thank you! I was using garden loppers on a big evergreen branch and unfortunately used my chest to leverage, yeah, shouldn’t have done that. I’m not sure but I think I injured the duct, it’s very sore to the touch but doesn’t have any hard spots. I pump so I know my supply has dropped a bit on that side. I’ve been trying to figure out if an external injury like this can cause mastitis. I’ve had chills without a fever and a little bit of a headache to go along with this. Trying to decide how long I can get by without going to the doctor.
Erin
I’m so sorry to hear you’re struggling. 🙁
Savannah
So little in the internet about this!
When my son was a month old, my brother hugged me and squeezed really hard amd picked me half way up like brothers do. I was somewhat engorged as my supply was still regulating. It hurt pretty bad then, but went away with no trouble nursing. My son is now 4 months. Ever since, I will periodically get sharp pain in the same spot on my right breast near my sternum. At first I thought it was a clogged duct, but I can’t quite pinpoint an enlarged/full duct and the typical warm compress, pumping, and draining does not fix it. Usually lasts a couple days and then goes away. And comes on even when baby is nursing well on that side.
Wondering if you had residual pain after injury? I’m not one that typically goes to the doctor and don’t have an OB as baby was born at home… but might find a doctor just for this!
Sarah
Hi. Thank you for writing this! Did you have mastitis like symptoms too? Fever, chills, aches at any point?
I have a hematoma after a breast biopsy. I also have mastitis symptoms. I’m taking antibiotics just in case. But I’m wondering if maybe the course of treatment is different for hematomas after reading your post!