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Seal in the mammary glands and armpit during breastfeeding. How to Defecate Stagnant Milk: The Correct Technique and Helpful Measures

I had terrible lactostasis in 2003. my chest hurt terribly, I wanted to go to the doctor. searched the entire internet. helped.
here are the pomace: The main cause of lactostasis is poor drainage of the entire breast or part of it. Poor drainage is most often associated with the baby feeding in the same position. For example, with a standard sitting position, the axillary lobe, the largest and with convoluted ducts, is emptied the worst of all (the areas closest to the child's lower jaw are best emptied - in this case, the lower-central, and the upper-lateral ones are the worst).

The simplest action to prevent stagnation of milk in the axillary lobes is sometimes to apply the child “from under the arm” - the mother, for example, sits (you can also lie down), the child lies on the pillow with the head at the chest, and the ass and legs are behind the mother’s back , the baby lies on its side, under the arm. Very often, when stagnation occurs under the arm, it is enough to attach the child several times in a row in this position and it dissolves everything perfectly.

The location of lactostasis from above “in the center” is typical for those cases when the mother holds the breast with “scissors” during feeding - the nipple is between the index and middle fingers, the index finger is pressed into the chest. (The breast should not be supported or delivered in this way - but in most maternity hospitals this is how breastfeeding is advised. In some birth preparation courses, the advice is literally the following: "Hold the breast like a cigarette."). The chest must be supported with the whole hand - the thumb on top, the rest under the chest. In the vast majority of cases, the breast does not need to support the entire feeding at all.

In more severe cases, not only is the baby often applied, but additional pumping must also be introduced. They, depending on the complexity, should be from 1 to 4 per day, but there is no need to express after each feeding, because. this can cause a successive series of lactostasis: when one passes and another immediately begins. There is also such a point of view that it is impossible to express to the “last drop”. You need to try to express milk from problem areas.

Before expressing, make some kind of compress on the chest, because. this contributes to a better outflow of milk:

attach a cloth soaked in warm water with soda and salt to the mammary gland (a teaspoon per glass of water). When the fabric has cooled, remove the compress, massage the breast with light circular movements in the direction from the base to the nipple. And then start pumping. In addition, this procedure can be carried out under a warm shower, in a warm bath, because. it promotes relaxation, which makes pumping easier;
attach a diaper soaked by the baby;
compress from steamed flax seed;
compress from cottage cheese or cottage cheese with honey;
a compress of grated vegetables;
compress with camphor oil;
cover the chest with a cabbage leaf. Pre-beat off the sheet, scald with boiling water and dry with a napkin.
After emptying the breast, be sure to attach the baby to the breast so that he sucks out the remaining milk and, possibly, the cork, which is very difficult to manually express. Sometimes one pumping and frequent attachment of the baby to the affected breast is enough to get rid of the breast. In difficult cases, soreness and some swelling do not immediately go away. Everything happens gradually, approximately on the 3rd day, then you can completely abandon pumping

1. Very often, nursing mothers call lactostasis mastitis. What does lactostasis look like?

Painful tuberosity and often - redness of the skin over the tubercle. The occurrence of such tuberosity or compaction is associated with blockage of one of the ducts, presumably by a fat droplet and a violation of the outflow of milk from the lobe of the gland. Sometimes lactostasis is accompanied by fever, chills.

The main cause of lactostasis is poor drainage of the entire breast or part of it. Poor drainage is most often associated with the baby feeding in the same position. For example, with a standard sitting position, the axillary lobe, the largest and with convoluted ducts, is emptied the worst of all (the areas closest to the child's lower jaw are best emptied - in this case, the lower central, and the upper lateral ones are the worst).

The simplest action to prevent stagnation of milk in the axillary lobes is sometimes to apply the child “from under the arm” - the mother, for example, sits (you can also lie down), the child lies on the pillow with the head at the chest, and the ass and legs are behind the mother’s back, the baby lies on its side, under the arm. Very often, when stagnation occurs under the arm, it is enough to attach the child several times in a row in this position and it dissolves everything perfectly.

The location of lactostasis from above “in the center” is typical for those cases when the mother holds the breast with “scissors” during feeding - the nipple is between the index and middle fingers, the index finger is pressed into the chest. (The breast should not be supported or delivered in this way - but in most maternity hospitals this is how breastfeeding is advised. In some courses in preparation for childbirth, they advise literally the following: "Hold the breast like a cigarette."). The chest should be supported with the whole hand - the thumb on top, the rest under the chest. In the vast majority of cases, the breast does not need to support the entire feeding at all.

Very often there are recommendations to constantly wear a bra so that it supports the chest higher and then it would be filled evenly from above and below, even they suggest sleeping in a bra. All this is called the prevention of lactostasis. But by nature, the female breast is designed in such a way that it accumulates more milk in the lower lobes, and from any position it is the lower lobes of the gland that are best emptied. So why do we need to achieve a uniform accumulation of milk in all lobes of the gland? Probably, so that it would be more convenient for lactostasis to form up there ... If a bra is worn, it should be loose, it is convenient when the boobs are “leaky”, milk leaks and you need to use pads ...

Lactostasis practically does not occur with properly organized breastfeeding, when there is no accumulation of large portions of milk for feeding, and the mother knows how to feed the baby from various positions.

Lactostasis is a mysterious thing, sometimes it occurs from scratch and, with the active sucking of the child of the affected breast, passes within 1-2 days without special measures. (And the mother begins to say that it was the cabbage leaf that helped her. If a mother comes across who does not understand at all what is happening to her, and when lactostasis begins to develop in her, she stops putting the baby to her sore breast and generally stops touching her, she no cabbage leaf helps, then disaster usually ensues.)

If lactostasis began to ripen in the chest, it is necessary to apply a child to it as often as possible. Sometimes it is necessary to express the breast BEFORE feeding and attach a child who actively wants to suck to the sisa, in which one lactostasis remains ... Sometimes it is necessary to massage the segment with lactostasis and express it (contact specialists at the place of residence ...) The severity of the situation does not depend on the degree of pain breasts, but on the ability of a woman to express herself with such soreness. It is the pain that prevents the mother from effective pumping. Therefore, it is better to resort to the help of a specialist who can cope with this complication in 30 minutes. Most mothers are afraid to pump and massage this area because it seems to them that something might burst there. Something can burst if massage and pumping are carried out as follows: put the boobs on a stone and hit with a hammer on top.

2. Women often call mastitis a physiological phenomenon - the arrival of milk. The arrival of transitional milk most often occurs 3-4 days after childbirth and may be accompanied by swelling of the mammary gland, soreness and fever. (In this case, the so-called chest temperature rises: when measuring temperature at three points (for example, under the arm, mouth and groin), the highest temperature will be under the arm, the difference with other points may be a degree or more.) The arrival of mature milk usually happens 10-18 days after childbirth and may also be accompanied by swelling of the mammary gland, soreness, fever. In this situation, it is necessary to continue to feed the child on demand, as well as to apply at the request of the mother. If the mother has painful sensations, “stone breasts”, then she can strain her breasts to a feeling of relief about a day after the milk has begun to come. You have to wait about a day due to the fact that the substance that curtails excessive lactation appears in the filled breast in about a day. If you express your breast before this time, the same amount of milk will come, and hyperlactation can “start” with all the troubles that accompany it, the main of which is the need for regular pumping.

It should be noted that with the joint stay of the mother and child, feeding on demand and proper application of big problems with the arrival of milk, there are no observed.

In the case of a separate stay of the mother and child, engorgement is quite common with severe swelling, redness of the entire mammary gland, and difficulty in the outflow of milk. If there are abrasions or cracks on the nipples, such engorgement can result in mastitis.

To cope with engorgement, it is necessary to establish pumping for 2-3 days, as well as frequent and prolonged breast sucking by the baby. This is the case when feeding on demand of the mother is extremely important. But sometimes the baby cannot latch onto the breast well and suck milk because the areola becomes hard. In this case, it is necessary to express the breast before feeding so that the baby can successfully grab it and start suckling.

3. Real mastitis is an infected inflammation of the breast tissue. Most often it develops against the background of engorgement or lactostasis. If milk is not removed in a timely manner during lactostasis, inflammatory changes in the breast tissue begin, which occur against the background of swelling and changes in blood circulation in the lobe of the gland with lactostasis. This condition is often referred to as uninfected or serous mastitis. If a woman has abrasions or cracks in the nipples, a rapid infection of the inflammatory focus occurs. It should be noted that the infection can get there not only from cracks, but also from any other focus of chronic infection in a woman's body (for example: a carious tooth, chronic tonsillitis, pyelonephritis, etc.)

With mastitis, the state of health worsens, the general body temperature rises, part of the chest becomes red and hot, painful when touched.

Treatment of mastitis is carried out according to the same principles as the treatment of lactostasis. It is necessary to release a share of milk by pumping, massage and attaching the baby. With mastitis, feeding a child is not prohibited, but necessary, since no one can empty the lobes of the mammary gland better than a child. Mastitis requires antibiotic therapy. There are a large number of modern antibiotics that are compatible with breastfeeding. If the doctor prescribes antibiotics, it is necessary to inform him about this, because. very often, doctors do not consider it necessary to continue breastfeeding on the background of antibiotic therapy and do not bother to select a treatment compatible with breastfeeding.

4. Breast abscess - a condition that develops against the background of mastitis in the absence of treatment. With an abscess, at the site of the once lactostasis, a cavity is formed filled with purulent contents. An abscess, as a rule, opens into the milk duct and its treatment consists in regular decantation of the diseased breast and a course of antibiotic therapy. With an abscess, while pus is released from the lactiferous duct, it is recommended to continue feeding the baby only from healthy breasts.

In preparing the material, the book “Breastfeeding Counseling”, author Zh.V. Tsaregradskaya.

Breastfeeding is a wonderful time in a woman's life. This is the period when she feels a special closeness with her newborn child. And in order to avoid the problems that may arise during breastfeeding, it is necessary to carefully monitor the condition of the mammary glands and follow certain rules.

Causes of lactostasis

Milk stasis is a common problem that occurs in women after childbirth, especially those who breastfeed for a long time. Lactostasis manifests itself in the form of swelling in the mammary glands and difficulty with the release of milk.

Most often, pathology occurs if:

  1. Clogged ducts in the chest (due to cracks on the surface of the nipples).
  2. The woman is wearing underwear that is not suitable for breastfeeding mothers.
  3. Breast damage has occurred.
  4. The woman takes too long breaks between feedings.
  5. She uses the same position or expresses milk in only one way (this does not empty all areas of the mammary glands).
  6. The woman sleeps on her side for a long time.
  7. The baby has been introduced to complementary foods and consumes much less breast milk.
  8. A woman is overtired and lacks sleep, which negatively affects the condition of the mammary glands.

If a young mother is faced with lactostasis, she, of course, would like, if possible, to fix the problem herself. After all, a nursing woman has little time for herself, and sometimes she has no time to go to the clinic and undergo examination and treatment. The article will discuss how to drain the stagnation of milk at home, and what methods and means are available for this.

Signs of lactostasis

How does this pathology manifest itself? Lactostasis can be detected if a nursing mother has the following symptoms:

  1. Pain in the mammary glands.
  2. Thickening and redness of some areas of the chest.
  3. Head and muscle pain.
  4. Cessation of milk production.
  5. Elevated temperature.
  6. When pressing in the chest, you can notice swelling in the form of lobules.

All of the above signs indicate the glands and the formation of a milk clot, which is not secreted, but remains inside the tissue, causing pain.

In no case should you start the disease, because this can lead to the appearance of mastitis. This inflammatory process cannot be eliminated at home. You can get rid of mastitis only with the help of physiotherapy. Sometimes it is so neglected that surgery is required to eliminate it.

Preventive measures

The article will talk about how to drain the stagnation of milk at home. But preventing diseases is much better and easier than curing them.

To avoid such a problem, you must first establish a clear regimen for feeding the child and normalize the nutrition of the woman. Spicy, fatty, sweet foods, pickles and pastries should be excluded from the diet, as all these foods contribute to blockage of the breast ducts and stagnation of milk. It is necessary to properly care for the nipples and skin of the mammary glands, wear a comfortable bra.

Many women are very frightened when they discover the symptoms of lactostasis. “I can’t drain milk stagnation, what should I do?” they ask. Often older relatives (mothers, grandmothers) give the wrong advice. They recommend breastfeeding women to constantly express milk.

It used to be thought that if this was not done, mastitis would occur. But this is an erroneous opinion. Women who try to solve the problem of lactostasis themselves or with the help of dubious advice only exacerbate the situation.

Compliance with hygiene rules

If a nursing mother is faced with such a pathology as milk stasis, she needs, first of all, to calm down and determine what measures need to be taken. One of the most important aspects is the observance of the rules of hygiene of the mammary glands. First of all, before and after the feeding procedure, be sure to wash your hands with soap and water. It is necessary to wash the mammary glands at least 2 times a day. It is better to use liquid soap without fragrances for this. You need to wipe your chest with a napkin, not a towel, as a rough cloth can increase pain. If there are cracks in the nipples, they must be treated with medicated oil or ointment.

In addition, the bra worn by a nursing woman should be as comfortable as possible, made from natural materials. Such underwear will not squeeze the tissues, provoking lactostasis.

So, the first condition for a successful fight against pathology is cleanliness. How to strain the stagnation of milk with your hands will be discussed a little later.

What measures need to be taken?

Lactostasis occurs due to various reasons. But there are ways by which you can drain the stagnation of milk at home. And it does not matter for what reason this pathology appeared. First, the baby needs to be fed as often as possible.

It will be better if the area of ​​​​edema that occurs during the stagnation of milk is under the jaw of the baby. It is necessary to ensure that the child wraps his mouth around both the nipple and the areola. During the feeding procedure, a woman should massage the mammary glands with her knuckles. This will improve the outflow of milk. During the GV period, you need to include more oily fish, vegetable oil in the diet. If it is not possible to drain the stagnation of milk, certain compresses help. This procedure will be discussed a little later. But the main way to get rid of lactostasis is pumping. This process requires care and observance of some important rules.

Preparing for pumping

If you feed the child not according to the established schedule, but at his request, then additional emptying of the mammary glands is not required. But if a lactostasis is already observed in a nursing woman, it is necessary to remove milk from the breast where it has accumulated as soon as possible.

How to properly drain milk stasis? First of all, you need to prepare the chest. Before pumping, it is important to warm up the tissues with a hot shower, as the heat helps to eliminate the blockage of the gland ducts. Then you need to do a massage. It must be remembered that with lactostasis, you can empty the mammary glands only with your hands, in no case with a breast pump. Before pumping, many doctors advise using cabbage leaf lotions with a thin layer of honey. These compresses eliminate pain and relieve swelling, but they should be applied for no more than fifteen minutes.

Stagnation of breast milk: how to drain with compresses

When used correctly, this method is useful, as lotions warm up and relax the tissues. As a result, the ducts of the mammary glands are better emptied during pumping. A compress can be made from a napkin or diaper soaked in warm water, or a heating pad. If a woman has at least a slight increase in temperature, lotions should not be done. It is better to wait until the fever subsides, and only then begin to prepare for pumping.

As a folk remedy that alleviates the symptoms of lactostasis, you can also use a cake made from flour and honey or lotion from low-fat cottage cheese. This will soften the skin, especially chapped skin, and it will be easier for the woman to express milk.

Breast massage

Before straining the stagnation of milk with your hands, you must carefully stretch your chest.

First of all, you should take the most comfortable position, preferably horizontal, relax the whole body. 4 fingers of one hand should be placed under the mammary gland, while the thumb and forefinger should connect on the skin area next to the areola. The other palm should lie on the surface of the chest. It is necessary to slightly press on the mammary gland, it is better to make movements in the direction from the side to the central part. You don't need to press too hard. After a while, it is recommended to change the nature of the movements to stroking and tapping. Massage the chest should be for no more than twenty minutes. If a woman did not know before how to properly decant milk stagnation with her hands, and lactostasis has acquired a neglected course, she will feel an improvement no sooner than after three days.

Finding the right position for breastfeeding

A common cause of lactostasis is an incorrect or monotonous posture with GV.

The question of how to drain the stagnation of milk at home can be solved by choosing the right position for feeding. Then the child will contribute to the outflow of milk and the elimination of edema and blockage of the duct of the gland.

First of all, it is necessary to understand in which areas of the tissue swelling has occurred. If it has formed in the armpit, you need to feed the baby in a position from under the arm.

If the middle of the chest is swollen, you should carry out the GV procedure, lying on your side. The swelling from below will quickly subside if you feed the baby, sitting him on his knees. If swelling occurs in the upper region of the mammary gland, you need to give the baby a breast, laying him on the bed and bending over him.

If the stagnation of milk is not accompanied by an increase in temperature, before the HB procedure, you can apply a warm lotion or take a hot shower, massage and pump. Cold compresses can also help with pain and severe swelling.

Physiotherapy

If a woman complies with all the necessary rules and at the same time she is unable to clear the stagnation of milk, what should be done in this situation? You need to seek medical attention. Physiotherapy, which the doctor prescribes, helps to eliminate the signs of lactostasis. Most often, therapy for this pathology is carried out using ultrasound and exposure to electromagnetic fields. In some cases, to relieve pain and fever during stagnation of milk, the specialist recommends medications ("Drotaverine", "Panadol"), as well as an ointment, cream or infusion, which can be purchased at any pharmacy. Of course, in each specific situation, the doctor can choose the right treatment and tell you how to drain milk stagnation at home, to those women who do not know about this procedure.

What is absolutely impossible to do?

So, the list of actions that are strictly prohibited for lactostasis includes:

  1. This is highly undesirable, since it is the baby that empties the mammary glands most effectively.
  2. Warming up of breast tissues (if the woman does not plan to decipher lactostasis).
  3. Treatment of the mammary glands with Vishnevsky ointment, camphor or ethyl alcohol.
  4. Tightening the chest with bandages, bandages.
  5. Ignoring pronounced symptoms and refusing to go to the gynecologist in the presence of a very high temperature or severe pain.
  6. The use of drugs on their own, without the supervision of a specialist. This can make the situation much worse.

It must be remembered that if the symptoms of milk stagnation do not disappear within two to three days, you should contact the clinic to avoid complications such as purulent mastitis, which is treated only with surgery or antibiotics.

Fortunately, in our time there are drugs that fight inflammation and are not a contraindication for breastfeeding. So if a woman is diagnosed with mastitis and given antibiotics, she doesn't need to stop breastfeeding.

Heaviness and pain in the chest- the first signs of milk stagnation. If the nursing mother does not hurry to take action, then the temperature may rise further, and compacted and painful areas appear in the chest. Lactostasis, or stagnation of milk, is a misfortune that few nursing mothers bypass. However, this happens to someone often, sometimes literally every month, and some mothers are surprised to encounter the phenomenon of stagnation only in the second year of feeding, or not even with the first child. In any case, if you know what to do with it, then you can literally deal with it within a day and without any consequences.

What is it?..

The very word "lactostasis", which is translated as "stagnation of milk" - fully explains the essence of the phenomenon. Congestion occurs when there is no milk flow in some part of the breast. A milk plug is formed, blocking the exit of the newly formed milk, under the influence of stress from which swelling of the breast tissue occurs. This is followed by induration, soreness, redness and fever.

The causes of lactostasis can be different. Of course, the most common is too long breaks between feedings, when milk literally stagnates in the chest without any movement. Sometimes a problem arises if a mother feeds her baby in the same position, or sleeps all the time on one side, because it is on this side that her baby sleeps - and this leads to the fact that in some areas of the chest (usually , armpits) the movement of milk is suspended. Or it can press underwear that is not suitable for feeding; or cleaning with repetitive hand movements (especially chores like hanging curtains or vacuuming) can do the trick. Of the other causes of lactostasis, it is worth noting general fatigue and lack of sleep; the use of a dummy, thanks to which the baby begins to take her mother's breast worse and prefers not to work hard on emptying it; mom can overeat fatty, the same nuts - and this affects the viscosity of milk and can contribute to stagnation ... Quite often, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the breast reacts to a change in weather - when pressure changes sharply, the temperature outside "jumps", then any acting consultant will confirm , which sharply increases the number of patients with lactostasis. And in the summer, congestion especially often occurs in hot weather, when women forget to drink enough and the body lacks moisture.

Another reason, not so rare, is pumping after each feeding, which "experienced grandmothers" insist on. The mothers of current mothers remember very well how they themselves were frightened with mastitis if they did not constantly express themselves, and they - of course, wishing their daughters only the best! - convey to them "time-tested" information. The recommendation to express both breasts after each feed goes back to the same time when mothers were strictly told to feed their baby once every three hours, no more often, and even with a night break, and at the same time give the baby only one breast at a time. In fact, it turned out that with such a rhythm of feedings, each breast was emptied once every six hours! And if you do not express milk additionally, then indeed milk stagnation and mastitis became a very real threat. However, the mother feeds the child on demand, then there is no need for such measures! In the first weeks of a baby’s life, it sometimes happens that after feeding there are still seals or heaviness in the breast, then the mother can give a massage and a little - only until relief! - Express the remaining milk. If the breast is soft after feeding, then this is not necessary. After all, milk is produced in response to breast stimulation, and if the baby sucks, and then the mother expresses additionally, then the body “understands” this as the need to increase milk production. Mom gets into a “vicious circle”: the more she expresses, the more milk comes again, and it’s quite difficult to bring the situation back to normal when the milk is produced exactly as much as the baby needs - without a single lactostasis ...

What not to do with lactostasis

- stop feeding the baby. Stagnant milk by itself cannot harm the baby in any way, while no other way empties the breast as effectively as the baby does.

- warm breasts between feedings, unless you are going to immediately feed or pump - any exposure to heat will provoke a rush of milk, and if there is stagnation, this will further increase the discomfort in the chest.

- restrict liquid- total milk production still depends on breast stimulation, and not on the volume of fluid consumed. On the contrary, if a nursing mother tries to drink less, she may develop dehydration, which in itself leads to an increase in temperature and a deterioration in the outflow of milk. Therefore, it is imperative to drink, and as much as you want - but a cool drink is desirable, because hot liquid, like other exposure to heat, can provoke a rush of milk.

- smear the chest with alcohol, Vishnevsky ointment, camphor. All these funds not only make the outflow of milk even more difficult, but also penetrate into breast milk and can lead to the baby's refusal to suckle, and if he nevertheless agrees to feed with such a sharp change in taste and smell, this can negatively affect his health. In addition, Vishnevsky's ointment in practice often leads to the fact that the problem area is encapsulated and an abscess is formed - a cavity filled with pus, which requires surgical intervention. And camphor is able to completely stop the production of milk in those proportions to which it was applied.

- endure, hoping that everything will pass "somehow by itself". The sooner you start taking action, the better. If you notice that the problem has been around for about a day, and there is no relief, it is best to invite an experienced breastfeeding consultant to help with breast pumping. And if your temperature rises and lasts longer than two days, a visit to the doctor is mandatory, since such a long-lasting temperature indicates the development of mastitis, which antibiotics will help to cope with. Antibiotics in this case are prescribed compatible with breastfeeding, cessation of breastfeeding is not required! If you delay it too much, you may need hospitalization up to breast surgery. So don't wait, get started!

How to deal with lactostasis?

The first thing to do if it seems to you that stagnation has formed in the breast is to start offering this breast to the baby more often, and change the position of the baby when feeding. When suckling, the baby works most actively with the lower jaw, and therefore it is best to suck milk from the part of the chest where the chin points when feeding. This is what you need to focus on if you need to cope with stagnation.

If compaction and heaviness in the chest is felt in the armpit area (this is the most common variant of stagnation), then it is best for the baby to dissolve it in the underarm position.

Feeding lying on your side will help with stagnation in the middle of the chest, but not traditionally - with the lower breast - but with the upper one. With overflow in the lower part of the chest, the baby will quickly figure it out if you put him on top of his mother's knees for feeding, facing you.

But in order for the child to resolve the relatively rare seals in the uppermost part of the chest, you will have to give the breast in a non-standard position, which is used specifically for this case: putting the baby with its legs away from you on the bed or changing table, bend over it in an inverted position relative to the usual position .

The restoration of the normal movement of milk in the breast is facilitated by more frequent feedings, especially from the affected breast (it is better to feed in small portions, but often, every 1-2 hours). It is best to sleep with the baby in order to be able to feed more often - at least every three hours, even at night.

Sometimes these measures are quite enough to get rid of lactostasis, but more often additional breast expressions are still required. If there is no temperature or it appeared quite recently (no more than a day ago), pumping is carried out in the following sequence:

First, apply a warm compress - you can, for example, soak a towel in moderately hot water and apply for 5-10 minutes to the stagnation site - or take a moderately hot bath or shower, this will promote a good outflow of milk. (Attention, it is impossible to warm the chest at a temperature, this can contribute to an even more rapid development of inflammation!);
- the next step - gently and very gently massage the congestion towards the nipple, helping the movement of milk. Lubrication of the skin, such as baby oil, helps not to damage it by rubbing;
- express milk, focusing on the clogged lobe;
- for 5-10 minutes, apply a cold compress (for example, a towel soaked in pleasantly cold water) to reduce tissue swelling. The sequence should be exactly like this!
It will be ideal if you give the breast to the child immediately after pumping, babies usually suck out the remnants of stagnation very well. Sometimes it is necessary to repeat pumping, but in any case, this is done no more than 3-4 times a day. If it is not very possible to express manually, you can use a breast pump.

Between feedings, you can make compresses that relieve pain and help resolve stagnation. The simplest - the same ordinary cold compresses. The following options also help:
- , a little beaten off so that the juice goes (it is cabbage juice that has a healing effect, just make sure that it does not fall on the nipple area - this is not useful for the baby's digestion);
- honey cake - honey with flour, preferably rye, mixed to the consistency of a stiff dough and applied to the painful area.

Also, according to mothers, homeopathic Arnica ointment or Traumeel C cream (sold in pharmacies, they simply lubricate the affected area between feedings) help to relieve swelling and reduce seals.

Finally, try to get plenty of rest. Lack of sleep itself sometimes provokes congestion. Household chores can wait a bit, health is more important!

While stagnation makes itself felt only with soreness in the chest, you should not worry at all, just follow the above scheme. When the temperature rises, follow the recommendations especially exactly, if you have the opportunity to call a breastfeeding consultant - do it. If the temperature lasts for a long time, longer than two days (and in the first month of a baby's life - more than a day) - be sure to contact a doctor, gynecologist or mammologist. The same thing - if there is no temperature, but the seal in the chest does not decrease for several days, or it decreases, but does not completely disappear for more than a week. Usually in such cases, physiotherapy is prescribed; if it comes to mastitis, they can prescribe antibiotics, and you can almost always choose those that are compatible with breastfeeding. So everything is not as scary as it seems, the main thing is not to start the process!