Breastfeeding “mom” alert to the dangers of acute mastitis
It is well known that breastfeeding has many health benefits for newborns. However, nowadays, many young mothers who choose to breastfeed do not do enough “homework” and lack of scientific guidance, often encounter some common diseases during breastfeeding and helpless.
When mastitis occurs during breastfeeding, many “mothers” insist on breastfeeding despite the pain. When a minor breast condition is found, some women go to beauty salons to find a massage therapist to perform non-professional breast massage leading to a major outbreak of disease, or each time it costs hundreds of dollars to hire a lactation therapist to promote breastfeeding practices are not economical, is there a scientific and reliable, yet gentle and effective treatment? In this issue, Dr. Yang Lihua, a breast surgeon from Xiamen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, was invited to teach breastfeeding mothers how to prevent and treat acute mastitis scientifically, and to explain how to treat acute mastitis with Chinese medicine prescriptions.
Q: When acute mastitis occurs, what are the circumstances that do not require stopping breastfeeding?
A: If the fever is less than 38.5 degrees and there are no obvious symptoms of discomfort, you can continue breastfeeding in the early stage, i.e., if the acute mastitis has not formed an abscess. If the nipple is broken or ruptured, breastfeeding should be stopped to prevent bacteria from invading the breast and causing septic inflammation.
Chinese medicine for acute mastitis during breastfeeding
Acute mastitis is an acute purulent infection of the mammary gland. It is an inflammation of the connective tissue in and around the ducts of the mammary gland and is characterized by localized redness, swelling, and pain in the mammary gland. The abscess can be uni- or multi-room in nature. The abscess can break outward, and the deep abscess can penetrate into the loose tissue between the breast and the pectoral muscle, forming a post-breast abscess.
The characteristic principle of Chinese medicine treatment for acute mastitis during lactation is to eliminate the infection and empty the milk.
1, early manifestations of cellulitis should not be operated, and acute mastitis that has not become an abscess can be reduced or avoided by internal Chinese medicine, external application, infrared physiotherapy and breast massage, etc.
2. Those who have formed abscesses should be hospitalized, mainly by puncture and pus extraction and drip, together with internal and external application of traditional Chinese medicine, which can enhance the efficacy and shorten the course of treatment, and if necessary, incision and drainage.
According to Dr. Yang, for acute mastitis that has not become an abscess, the Chinese hospital uses homemade Jinhuang cream as a topical medicine with the treatment. In addition, the massage of the breast through the manipulation can not only unblock the cheese, but also reduce the swelling, disperse the knots, promote the flow of qi and blood, smooth the ducts of the breast, can effectively relieve milk stagnation. For patients suffering from acute mastitis with a high temperature of 39 to 40 degrees, and unwilling to accept medication and other methods of treatment, they can also be treated with plum blossom acupuncture cupping, which has a significant effect on reducing fever.
Q: How to differentiate the hard lump of mastitis from the lump of milk caused by milk rise?
A: The hard lump of mastitis may be caused by the accumulation of milk, which needs to be identified after emptying the milk.
How to prevent acute mastitis in mothers
Dr. Yang emphasized that the key to preventing acute mastitis is to prevent milk stagnation, avoid nipple damage and keep the area clean (warm water can be washed). The best way to prevent acute mastitis is to prevent stagnation and avoid nipple damage, and to keep the area clean (just wash with warm water). In addition, the prevention of acute mastitis also requires attention to the following points.
1. good breastfeeding habits such as regular breastfeeding and babies sleeping without nipples should be practiced.
The actual fact is that you will be able to get a lot more than just a few of these.
3.After breastfeeding, use warm water to gently wipe and clean the nipples.
4.If the nipple is found to be broken or ruptured, it should be treated promptly.
5, pay attention to the baby’s oral hygiene, use clean gauze dipped in a little warm water to help clean the baby’s mouth, if the baby’s mouth is found to have inflammation, should be treated in a timely manner.
6, postpartum diet should be light and nutritious, avoid eating greasy, to avoid too thick milk leads to blockage of the milk ducts.
Dr. Yang reminded that many mothers eat less or no nutrients in order to get back in shape as soon as possible, which can easily cause hidden dangers to breast health.
Q: What should I do if my baby is full but my mother’s milk is still full and swollen, and it is too wasteful to dump the artificially expressed breast milk?
A: You can collect the extra milk to make breast milk soap, and use the gentle, moisturizing and loving breast milk soap for babies or adults to use when bathing.
Chinese medicine prescription: flour and water into a paste external treatment
Acute mastitis often causes fever, breast lumps and pain due to milk stagnation during breastfeeding. It not only increases the mother’s pain, but also affects breastfeeding. Topical treatment with potato chips and flour is effective.
Dr. Yang introduced several external treatments for acute mastitis for breastfeeding “mothers”: 1.
1, white onion external smoke: buy half a catty onion, remove the head and green onion, chop the white onion, decoction, external smoke breast.
2, breast massage: first gently pull the nipple several times, and then gently massage from around the breast in the direction of the nipple, the pent-up milk will gradually discharge. (Note: first apply a little lubricant on the affected breast, the patient or the operator with five fingers from the breast around gently massage in the direction of the nipple, do not squeeze or rotate squeeze, should apply downward pressure along the direction of the milk ducts, in the massage at the same time with the hand gently pull the nipple several times to expand the nipple ducts.)
3, external potato slices: potato slices cut into 0.3-0.5mm thickness, external breast, replaced once every half hour, 2-3 times a day. (If the winter is cold, before dressing the breast can be soaked in warm water potato slices applied externally.)
4, cactus external: take fresh cactus 60-90g, remove the thorns and skin, chopped, mashed paste, add the right amount of egg white, mix well, spread on cloth or gauze on the affected area, fixed with adhesive tape, 1-2 times a day. Can be applied to the breast at night before going to bed, the next morning to remove.
5, flour external compress: cold water and flour to a sticky paste, take the appropriate amount of external compress on the breast lumps, 10-20 minutes each time, can be used to promote breast milk, relieve milk stagnation.