Treatment Of Lactostasis At Home, Folk Remedies

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

Treatment of lactostasis at home

Lactostasis is milk stagnation in the breast of a nursing woman. This condition is manifested by painful seals in the mammary gland and is characterized by the rapid addition of complications. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of stagnant phenomena immediately after the first signs of lactostasis are detected, otherwise the pathological process will spread to the entire mammary gland. A nursing mother may not immediately notice that something is wrong with her breast. As a result, the mammary gland will become more and more tense with every hour, the skin on it will acquire a pale color, the nipple may be drawn in. This will become a direct obstacle to feeding the baby, the breast will not be emptied qualitatively, which means that lactostasis will only increase.

If milk stagnation has formed recently, then you can try to express milk in the shower. Heat will dilate the milk ducts and make it easier for milk to escape. The hardened lumps in the chest should be easily massaged; you should not press hard on the chest. Movements should be directed from the chest to the nipple. Rough pressure is unacceptable, since they can provoke an increase in lactostasis and can lead to the development of complications.

Content:

• Self-massage breast at home
• How to breastfeed correctly to prevent the development of lactostasis and mastitis?
• Rules for expressing breast milk
• Traditional medicine methods for the treatment of lactostasis

After leaving the shower, you need to attach the baby to the breast so that he can drink the rest of the milk. Expressing in the shower is an effective method of preventing the development of mastitis and getting rid of lactostasis. The procedure should be carried out at least 3 times a day. The rest of the time, before starting feeding, it is enough just to apply a warm diaper to the breast.

Sometimes milk stagnation is formed against the background of insufficient lactation. It can be provoked by factors such as too narrow milk passages, constant stress in which a young mother is, fear of losing milk, overwork, etc. Warming up the breast before each latching on the baby can help to cope with the problem. For this, a warm napkin should be applied to the mammary gland.

If, after the baby has eaten, tension remains in the chest, then this symptom cannot be ignored. You need to get under a warm shower and express the unfinished milk. By the next feeding it will come again, and the baby will not remain hungry.

When expressing under the shower does not give a positive result and the swelling does not go away, you can use wet, cool (but not ice-cold!) Napkins that are applied to the chest.

You can also make a compress with saline. A teaspoon of salt is diluted in a glass of water, a napkin is moistened in it and applied to the chest, removing only after it is completely dry. This procedure will get rid of the swelling. You can also soak a napkin with 25% magnesium sulfate solution, which is sold in pharmacies. Before feeding, the breast should be rinsed with boiled water.

Self-massage breast at home

Self-massage allows you to prevent the transition of lactostasis to mastitis, but only with the timely and correct application of this effective method of treatment. Movements should be careful and gentle, you should touch the mammary gland very carefully so as not to injure it.

The chest should be lightly stroked, rubbed and kneaded. Force cannot be applied. Direction of movement: from the chest to the areola.

Before the massage, be sure to wash your hands with soap and water. Massage oil can be used for the procedure.

Technique for breast massage with lactostasis:

• With stroking movements, warm up the mammary gland, moving your palm from top to bottom.
• Pressing lightly on the chest, you need to gradually move from its wide part to the nipple in a circular motion.
• Lean forward and shake your chest with your hands.
• Without unbending, squeeze the nipples with your fingers, twist them slightly. This action can only be performed when there are no cracks on them.
• Stroke your breasts with your hands from the chest to the nipples.
• After the massage, it is good to take a warm shower, pressing on the chest with light movements. If desired, the entire massage procedure can be performed under running water.

How to breastfeed correctly to prevent the development of lactostasis and mastitis?

To prevent the development of lactostasis, during the first 6 weeks after the birth of a child, he must be fed on demand. When your baby learns to drink more milk at a time, the intervals between feedings can be increased. After the child reaches the age of 3 months, you need to apply it to the breast no more than 8 times during the day, and take a break at 6 hours at night.

During feeding, the woman should ensure that the baby completely captures the areola of the nipple with the mouth. This will allow him to empty the breast more efficiently and get to the so-called "back" milk, which is the most effective prevention of lactostasis.

If there is a tendency to lactostasis, then you need to change the position several times during the feeding process. Milk is best sucked from the part of the breast where the baby's chin is directed.

What positions should be chosen during feeding:

• The baby's head rests on the mother's elbow. In this position, the lower and lateral lobes of the mammary gland are best emptied, but lactostasis can also form in the upper chest.
• The baby is located under the armpit of the mother, lying on a pillow. Its head is directed towards the woman's knees. In this position, milk comes out well from the outer sections of the upper chest.
• The woman lies with her head on the pillow, her shoulders are lower. The child lies on the elbow of the mother, as in a cradle. This position facilitates the emptying of the lateral lobes of the breast.
• The woman hangs over the baby. In this position, milk comes out of all lobes of the breast evenly.

If there is a tendency to stagnant processes, then the posture should be changed as often as possible.

Rules for expressing breast milk

Before you start expressing, wash your hands with soap and water and rinse your breasts thoroughly. This is done in order to prevent infection from entering the breast through microtrauma on the skin.

The right breast is grasped with the right hand, and the left mammary gland with the left hand. The thumb should be on top, and the palm and fingers should be placed under the chest. The other hand should not remain idle - it is used for massage. It is imperative to work out the areas of compaction, moving from the chest to the nipple.

If a woman develops mastitis, then you should not hesitate to see a doctor. You cannot try to cure this disease on your own, since it requires the appointment of antibacterial drugs, and often surgical intervention.

In order to prevent the development of mastitis, you need to carefully monitor the condition of the breast and promptly treat cracks in the nipples. It is through them that pathogenic microorganisms penetrate into the mammary gland and begin to multiply there.

Traditional medicine methods for the treatment of lactostasis

Any method of traditional medicine must be treated with extreme caution. Before deciding to try one or another method of treatment, you should consult a doctor. Otherwise, you can seriously harm your own health and provoke the development of mastitis.

The most common methods of treatment and prevention of lactostasis used by the people are:

• The imposition of a cabbage leaf on the sore chest. Before using it, you need to knead it well. The sheet is fixed with a bandage or bra and left on the chest for 2 hours. After this time, the sheet must be replaced with a new one.
• Dressings soaked in chamomile infusion. To prepare it, you need to brew 2 tbsp. spoons of flowers 250 ml of boiling water, wait until it cools, moisten a cloth in a warm solution and apply to the mammary gland. Leave the bandage on the skin until it is completely dry. When chest pain is high, it can be cooled before applying the bandage. This procedure quickly relieves swelling and soothes pain.
• Onion and honey flatbread. To prepare it, you need to chop the onion, mix the resulting gruel with liquid honey in equal proportions and add flour to form a pancake. It is applied to the chest for 60 minutes. Additionally, the compress should not be insulated. To avoid staining your underwear, you can put a plastic bag in your bra.
• Curd cake. You need to take cottage cheese, put it on a napkin and apply it to your sore chest. The cake is kept for 1-2 hours. During this time, it will be possible to remove the swelling. The procedure can be carried out several times a day.
• Compress with baked onions. You need to finely chop the baked onion, put the gruel on a cloth and apply it to your chest for a couple of hours.
• Flaxseed flour compress. To prepare it, you need to grind flaxseed in a coffee grinder, add water to it to get gruel. It is laid out on a napkin, which is placed on the chest. The compress should not be insulated. The dressing time is 1-2 hours.
• Compress with grated raw potatoes. The tuber needs to be grated, the resulting gruel is applied to the chest and left for 2 hours. You can replace potatoes with raw beets, but then stains will remain on the skin.
• There is also a recipe for the infusion that can be ingested and bandaged with it. Method of preparation: chop tangerine peel (2 tbsp. L), add grated licorice root to it (2 tsp.), Pour 750 ml of boiling water. Wait until the infusion has cooled down, divide it into 2 equal parts. Drink half of the infusion during the day, and make wet compresses with the other half.
• For lotions, you can use a mixture of herbs: eucalyptus leaves, sweet clover herb, Japanese sophora. All components are taken in equal parts to get a total of 4 tbsp. collection spoons. This volume is poured with boiling water (250 ml), insisted and filtered. Then add 100 g of butter to the infusion, heat the mixture on the stove, stir, cool and apply it to the breast in the form of lotions in a warm form.

Treatment should be started immediately, as soon as the first signs of milk stagnation appear. In order to prevent the development of lactostasis, you need to properly attach the baby to the breast, avoid stress, and not overcool the breast.

The author of the article: Lapikova Valentina Vladimirovna | Gynecologist, reproductologist

Education: Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynecology received at the Russian State Medical University of the Federal Agency for Healthcare and Social Development (2010). In 2013 completed postgraduate studies at N. N. N. I. Pirogova.