Still struggling with nipple crack....?

Boy, I tell you, if I wasn't so gol-darned cussedly stubborn, I'd have given
up a long time ago. This is getting very old.

I've now managed to get my scabby nipples healed. They look fine. No more
blood blisters, no more scabs. Yesterday I popped a nipple bleb on the left
side, and cleared the blockage behind it. I'm keeping the recurrent plugged
duct on the right side under reasonably good management, though I may yet go
in for an ultrasound treatment on it. BUT dangit....this crack on the right
side, which cuts a half-circle around the base of my nipple, is just not
healing.

I'm using prescription 'all-purpose nipple ointment', which contains 2
antifungals and an antibiotic in a lanolin base, so in theory if there's
yeast in the crack, it should be under control (and I know what my
nipples/aureolae look like when I have thrush, and right now they look
healthy). I've been on antibiotics for a week, so if there was a bacterial
infection, it should be under control.

I honestly don't know what to do now. Wisdom says, I should pump for 24-48
hours on that side and 'give the nipple a rest', but I know how this nipple
behaves when I use the pump (even when I use the Flexishield insert in the
pump horn), and it would not be restful for it. Also with this recurrent
plugged duct, I'd be setting myself up for worse problems if I tried pumping
exclusively on that side.

So, do *any* of you have any suggestions what I can do, besides try to be
scrupulous about a good, deep assymetric latch when I nurse her on that
side, and continuing to apply the all-purpose nipple ointment? Help, please.
I'm tired of this pain.

--angela

"Chotii" wrote in message
...
So, do *any* of you have any suggestions what I can do, besides try to be
scrupulous about a good, deep assymetric latch when I nurse her on that
side, and continuing to apply the all-purpose nipple ointment? Help,
please.
I'm tired of this pain.

Honestly, instead of slathering it in ointment that keeps it damp, I'd do my
darnedest to keep the cracked nipple as dry as possible. I'm not sure you
really *need* the ointment (no signs of thrush and oral antibiotics to keep
back any bacterial infection) and I think it might be slowing healing by
preventing the skin from knitting back together. Obviously, it's going to be
damp after you feed her, but I'd do my best to hasten drying after each
feed, maybe even going so far as to use a hair dryer to speed the process
(obviously on the low heat setting!). In my experience, the longer nipples
stay damp, the longer it takes them to heal and the longer there's pain.

Good luck and sorry it's so rough for you!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [17mo] mom)
"Nobody died when Clinton lied." -- freeway sign

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"They walk with an unsteady, shambling gate." -- Article in the San Diego
Union Tribune

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

"Chotii" wrote in message

Help, please.
I'm tired of this pain.

Stop the creams and get it as dry as possible, expose it to
the sunlight, let some breastmilk dry in it then go topless
outside.


--
Andrea

If I can't be a good example, then I'll just have to be a
horrible warning.

So, do *any* of you have any suggestions what I can do, besides try to be
scrupulous about a good, deep assymetric latch when I nurse her on that
side, and continuing to apply the all-purpose nipple ointment? Help, please.
I'm tired of this pain.

--angela

I had cracked nipples for six months. I did not have thrush and ointments and
unguents did nothing. The thing that *finally* worked to relieve the pain and
set me on the road to recovery -- although it still wasn't exactly fast -- was
Maternimates. Which are now known as Ameda ComfortGel and are available, among
other places that carry breast pumps etc., he

http://www.lactationconnection.com/breast_care.asp

Good luck!
Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs

In ,
Chotii wrote:

*So, do *any* of you have any suggestions what I can do, besides try to be
*scrupulous about a good, deep assymetric latch when I nurse her on that
*side, and continuing to apply the all-purpose nipple ointment? Help, please.
*I'm tired of this pain.

Well, when I had a severe nipple ulcer that didn't heal using my
(homemade, but using Dr Newman's recipe) APNO, I started using A&D
ointment on it (the kind without the zinc) on the advice of my OB. It
healed up in 2 days.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large