Mastitis
Symptoms
- fever, chills or sweats
- hard painful area in part of the breast
- may start with just a sore feeling in the breast
- may have redness over the skin
Causes
- Milk left in the breast for a longer time than the breast wants it to be.(skipping a feeding, sleeping longer at night, high milk production that the baby cannot remove, baby with a cold so doesn’t feed well)
- Open wound on the nipple.
- Pressure on the breast by tight bra, seatbelt, sleeping on stomach, baby carrier
Treatment
- Antibiotics are needed. speak with your doctor about the correct antibiotic choice for you.
Recommended antibiotic therapies:
Dicloxacillin 500mg every six hours if you don’t have a penicillin allergy.If you are allergic to penicillin, take clindamycin 300mg every six hours for 10 days.
If you are allergic to penicillin but can take cephalosposins, take cephalexin 500mg every 6 hours for 10 days. - Decrease inflammation: ice between feeds, warm for 3 minutes before feed and massage during feed. See treatment for blocked duct (link)
- Use ibuprofen to decrease fever and inflammation. 600mg every 6 to 8 hours as needed. Speak with your doctor before taking ibuprofen. Do not mask the fever by taking ibuprofen too often.
Fever should decrease in the first 24 hours and should be back to normal by 48 hours.
The hard area, soreness and redness should all decrease in size every day and should be back to normal by the end of the antibiotic treatment.