Mastitis is the swelling of the mammary gland in the mammals that can make motherhood blues more severe. It can affect women during other times but the instances of its occurrences are more common during the breastfeeding period.

In some very rare cases, it has occurred to men as well. When the lactating mothers contract this disease it is termed puerperal mastitis and when the other women get it, the variant is called non-puerperal.

There is a misconception that this ailment is contagious but this is far from the truth. The doctors have found that infections play a trivial role behind the spread of the disease.

Causes of Mastitis

The principal causes of Mastitis are blocked ducts, engorgement and infection. As a matter of fact, the infections are nearly always bacterial by nature. A cracked nipple can also lead to an infection.

Mastitis Symptoms

The instances of the ailment that are triggered by infection can have the worst signs. In these cases, the breasts of the affected person can turn swollen, hot and red. The other significant symptoms include muscle pains, vomiting, nausea and high fevers.

When the disease is caused by engorgement, the breasts are not totally emptied after feeding the child every time. As a consequence, they tend to become lumpy, leaky, inflamed, tense and sore.

Outward ducts imbued with milk can appear on the breast surface resembling hard cords. A woman can develop the symptoms in both of her breasts. Even though the breasts can give pain, the signs are less severe than those caused by infection. A woman suffering from this disorder can feel thirsty, uncomfortable and hot.

The variant of the ailment triggered by clogged ducts create zonal problems. The result is a zone with hard lump like development. In the severe instances, the woman can also feel symptoms resembling those of flu. For such a woman feeding the baby can prove to be daunting tasks as the accumulated milk behind the clogged ducts try to gush out.

Mastitis Treatment

Even though the disease can cause pain breastfeeding the child remains the best option to cure the cases of Mastitis. This is because feeding the baby helps the breast of the mother to empty the stored milk. The doctors advise to continue feeding the child because stopping breast feeding will send a wrong signal to the body and the production of milk will be diminished.

The women affected with engorgement have a risk of getting infected if their affected region of the breast is not drained properly. Therefore the doctors advise such a woman to feed the baby in varying postures. The affected breast should be offered first to the baby for good drainage.

As an alternative, a woman can also massage the affected part of her breast before or during feeding, so that the place gets warmth. The milk cannot carry the infection to the baby, so there is no reason that the affected mothers should discontinue breast feeding for.

The afflicted women can also try cooling treatments with gels or natural therapies and apply breast massage. Generally, the medicines do not bring much relief to the women suffering from this disorder; nevertheless drugs like ibuprofen and paracetamol can be tried by them. If a woman develops serious complications then preventing lactation and employing milk supply prohibiting drugs can be used under medical supervision.

Advice

A woman needs to follow some preventive steps to get rid of this disorder. She should try to ensure that both her breasts are emptied after feeding the child. If she still feels her breasts to be bulkier she can try feeding at more frequent intervals. She should check for the status of her immune system as the deficiency of it can lead to the chances of contracting the ailment through infection. If she has a suspicion that her breasts are developing some abnormality she should go for quick medical check up.