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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you have mastitis, it's safe to continue breast-feeding. Continuing breast-feeding offers the added benefit of helping clear the infection in your breast.
To relieve your discomfort:
- Maintain your breast-feeding routine.
- Get as much rest as possible.
- 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 or your infant refuses to nurse on that breast, try pumping or hand-expressing milk.
- Non-cancerous breast conditions. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6X_Non_Cancerous_Breast_Conditions_59.asp. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
- Dixon MJ. Lactational mastitis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
- Spencer JP. Management of mastitis in breastfeeding women. American Family Physician. 2008;78:727.
- Walker M. Conquering common breast-feeding problems. Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing. 2008;22:267.
- Breastfeeding: Common concerns. National Women's Health Information Center. http://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfeeding/concerns/. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
- FAQ on mastitis. La Leche League International. http://www.llli.org/FAQ/mastitis.html. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
- Dixon MJ. Inflammatory disorders of the breast. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
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