Mastitis

Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.

Get Started

Free

E-Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

  • Housecall
  • Alzheimer's caregiving
  • Living with cancer

Lifestyle and home remedies

By Mayo Clinic staff

If you have mastitis, it's safe to continue breast-feeding. Breast-feeding helps your breast clear the infection.

To relieve your discomfort:

  • Maintain your breast-feeding routine.
  • Avoid prolonged engorgement before breast-feeding.
  • Use varied positions to breast-feed.
  • Drink plenty of fluids.
  • If you have trouble emptying a portion of your breast, apply warm compresses to the breast or take a warm shower before breast-feeding or pumping milk.
  • Wear a supportive bra.
  • While waiting for the antibiotics to take effect, take a mild pain reliever, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others).

If breast-feeding on the infected breast is too painful, try pumping or hand-expressing milk.

DS00678

March 25, 2008

© 1998-2009 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "EmbodyHealth," "Reliable tools for healthier lives," "Enhance your life," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Print Share Reprints

Text Size: smaller largerlarger