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Olive oil on a nursing pad on your nipple, and keep that heat on all the time, and when it's time for baby to drink make baby use the clogged side first. And be patient. I always find it doesn't work right away, but does within 24 hours. I don't do massage, I find that just hurts. And I do the dangle-boob-feed. I've had clogged ducts 3 times and each time it didn't go away until I did the magic olive oil thing. Might just be a coincidence but it's worth a try!

I just wrote an email to a friend about this! Here are my tips:

Heat, Massage, Nurse/Pump. At least once every two hours. Repeat repeat repeat until the clog is cleared!

Before you do anything, examine the nipple itself and see if you can find a milk blister (like a whitehead) and pop it with a sterile needle, or a small spot of dried milk you can flick away. If either of these happen, the milk will come spurting out and you will get the BEST cooling feeling of relief. It feels like your boob is chewing spearmint gum.

HEAT: Try to take hot hot showers and massage where the plug is. Also, hot compress... the best way is to use a disposable diaper. Run hot hot water all over the inside of the diaper and apply that side to the breast. A diaper stays hot a lot longer than a towel.

MASSAGE: Massage in a downward motion toward the nipple while applying heat either with compress or in the shower. Do this for at least 10 minutes before nursing or pumping.

NURSE/PUMP: Empty your breasts at least once every two hours. If you're nursing, have Maddie start on the side with the clog every time. The hungrier she is, the harder she will suck. Massage as you're nursing or pumping. Try dangle feeding (put Maddie on a Boppy or pillow and dangle your breast over her mouth while standing over her to let gravity help).

Keep at this routine until you're sure the clog is gone. Sometimes you can't feel a clog (usually mine are deep inside the breast so there's no red spot or bulge, but it's definitely painful) and you might have residual pain / achiness in the area of the clog for about 24-48 hours after it's cleared.

If you start feeling chills and body aches and you have a fever, call your OB immediately! If you get mastitis you need to start on antibiotics ASAP.

Also, if you're on antibiotics and you're nursing, you gotta watch out for thrush. You can avoid this by taking probiotics.

Lots of info on kellymom.com. Most of my info is from there. I had a LOT of clogged ducts with WJ. Not as many this time around so I wasn't as vigilant about the clogged ducts, and therefore got mastitis this time around!

Also, do you massage while you pump? I apply pressure to the clogged duct while pumping. But even when I don't have clogged ducts, I always massage, which I think has helped prevent mastitis (fingers crossed).

Just wanted to add about the poking with a needle. Only do this if you know for sure where to poke, like if you see a white head. If you don't see it, it may take some time for it to come to the surface. And when poking, poike and pull outwoard, not inward to avoid contamination by bacteria. You can also do an epsom salt soak or olive oil on the nipple to soften up any surface blockages.