Mastitis - causes, symptoms, treatment and natural remedy to deal with it

A haldi paste is easy to make and can relieve you from breast engorgement

For some mothers, breastfeeding comes naturally without any hurdles, but for others, it could be painful as hell. Breastfeeding problems are way too common and most new mothers face the wrath of it. One common problem of breastfeeding is called mastitis. Here are four common breastfeeding problems that most mothers have to deal with.

What is mastitis?

This usually affects lactating or breastfeeding mothers and manifests as a red, swollen lump in the breast. The area becomes inflamed and painful and the symptoms usually escalate quickly. The lump turns to become hard and could also lead to some nipple discharge, which might be white or bloody. Some women who suffer from mastitis could also suffer from flu-like symptoms, such as general aches and pains, a high temperature, chills and tiredness. Also, read if a woman should breastfeed if she is suffering from mastitis.

What causes mastitis?

Mastitis is usually caused due to a blocked milk duct caused by a build-up of milk inside the breast. This happens when the breasts are not drained of the milk entirely. Inability to drain milk could be due to: poor latching of the baby during breastfeeding, infrequent feeds or long intervals in between feeds. In some cases, this build-up of milk can also become infected with bacteria. This is known as infective mastitis.

This condition is not just restricted to breastfeeding mothers, non-breastfeeding women can suffer from mastitis when the breast becomes infected as a result of damage to the nipple, such as a cracked or sore nipple, or a nipple piercing. Here are five ways to heal cracked nipples.

What can you do?

If you develop mastitis the best thing to do is to talk to your doctor or gynaecologist and often a dose of antibiotics is all that is needed to get it treated. In some extreme cases, a surgery might also be needed. However, before going for the extreme treatments, you can also try using some home remedies to soothe mastitis.

Are there any home remedies for mastitis?

One way to deal with it is by using turmeric which is a common kitchen ingredient and can be found in every household. The component curcumin present in turmeric comes to rescue for most lactating mums suffering from mastitis. A study done to learn about the effects of curcumin on lactating mothers found that when 63 breastfeeding women with lactational mastitis were randomly assigned to receive curcumin topical cream (all of the patients had moderate breast inflammation before entering the study) the results of the current study indicate that topical preparation of curcumin successfully decreases the markers of lactational mastitis such as pain, breast tension and erythema within 72 hours of administration without side effects. Thus, a topical preparation of curcumin could be safely administered for those suffering from lactational mastitis after excluding infections in breasts [1].

The study concluded that topical preparation of curcumin provides favourable effects on pain, erythema and tension of the breast on those suffering from lactational mastitis. It is implicated that curcumin could potentially serve as an anti-inflammatory agent for controlling skin and soft tissue inflammations even at low doses with topical use.

How to use it

Make a haldi-paste, with organic haldi and do a patch test before applying it over the mastitis. Next, apply it over the inflamed part and leave it for few minutes till it dries. Was with luke warm water or wipe it with a warm wash cloth. Wait for a while till the inflammation subsides.

Reference:

Afshariani, R., Farhadi, P., Ghaffarpasand, F., & Roozbeh, J. (2014). The effectiveness of topical curcumin for treatment of mastitis in breastfeeding women: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Oman medical journal, 29(5), 330.

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