Hellobee Boards

I used to get them all the time. I would take lecithin and dangle my boobs in a bowl of hot water. Then pump on a very high setting. (I'd nurse if I could get him to latch!)
Also warm heating pad and massage if it was really bad!

I only know how to clear it with the help of my baby. But next time you nurse do it right after having had a heating pad on it, or after a hot shower. Lay baby on the bed and lean or crouch over with your breast dangling into babies mouth. The extra help from gravity seemed to do the trick.

I fill an old sock with rice and heat in the microwave. Hold it on the spot for 10 minutes and then try to hold it there (easier said than done) or massage while nursing. If you can pump after nursing it might be easier to massage that way if you have a hands free bra?

Try putting a cottonball soaked in olive oil in your nipple for 15 minutes and then try, with your nails, to scrap lightly at the surface. I get those a lot and most of the time it's a dried flake of milk stuck at the surface clogging a duct. If that does work try massaging the clogged section. If it is a surface clog, the offending duct will protrude when you massage and just keep scraping at that one duct. Sometime I have to use a sterilized needle to scrape away some surface skin before the clog is removed. Sorry I know it sounds painful but the relief is worth it. Hope you get it out!

If you have a Sonicare, try "brushing" it!

@regberadaisy: did milk come out?? I massaged the lump towards the nipple and tons of milk came out.

@regberadaisy: did it work?

@twodoghouse: i think milk blisters are different. My blebs were always white and very small. I never really had to pick deeply with the needle and it didn't really hurt to pick at it either. I wouldn't go crazy picking at it if it isnt working. I noticed if i was pumping or manually expressing, there was an area where milk wasnt flowing that it normally would. That was a sign to me that there was a bleb and not just a clogged duct.

Eta: keep us posted!

@SleepyMonkey: @regberadaisy: Ok, so upon closer inspection, it was whitish. So I poked it with the needle! I just sort of poked a little hole and a tiny bit of milk oozed out and it sort of deflated. The. I pumped, but I didn't get much. I have low supply though, so maybe that's all it was. It's hard to tell if the boob feels better because I've been assaulting it all day, massaging while nursing, etc. Hopefully this does the trick! Thanks ladies!

I agree with others that massage, heat and taking licithin with help. Also make sure you aren't wearing underwire bras and avoid sleeping in positions that will put pressure on your breasts

Ahh this is so scary!

I was gonna say knead it like dough lol... It hurts so much but doing it over a few pumping or nursing sessions helped.

Hooray!!

@regberadaisy: I'm struggling with another one too. Last week I had one as well. I guess the combination of my LOs sleeping better, plus teething (weird latch) is just too much for my boobs! I don't really know what Lethicin does, but I started taking it last week in the hope that it will somehow help!

@regberadaisy: Yep. I got them off Amazon. They are huge gel capsules. Unfortunately I haven't noticed any difference after a week, but hopefully it starts helping!

@twodoghouse: @regberadaisy: I took lecithin with both of my girls as it is a fat emulsifier and makes your milk a bit thinner, thereby making it easier to flow through the ducts. I took it as granules where I just added a teaspoon to my cereal every morning. It won't clear up an existing clog, and you won't notice a difference in your milk, you will just notice that you no longer get plugged ducts.

I started taking it when I was 4 months PP with DD1 and had just had almost a month of nonstop plugs, and with DD2, I started taking it from the day she was born. The only time I ever got a plugged duct after starting lecithin was when we went on holiday for three weeks and I forgot to take it with me. Other than that it worked brilliantly! Good luck!