Breast oedema – are you engorged or swollen?
Few moms will search for ‘breast oedema’, or even be interested in it, so I assume your reached this page via our features on engorgement and mastitis. If so, you are probably not feeling great right now.
Occasionally full, sore breasts in the early days may be caused by too much fluid in the breasts, and not by too much milk. This is called breast oedema, or swelling. It is most likely to happen if mom received lot of intravenous fluid (through a drip) in labour. Oedema can take up to 2 weeks to resolve, making it a challenging complications to handle.
It is very important to differentiate between the oedema and engorgement as the treatment differs, and if oedema is treated as pure engorgement it may actually worsen symptoms. Of course in severe cases a mom may actually have both at the same time, as oedema will definitely hamper both milk flow and latching, leading to the breasts not emptying.
You should know that many healthcare workers are not clued up on breast oedema, and may well not identify it correctly. Mothers therefore often receive wrong advice.
Signs of breast oedema:
- Breast fullness that starts on day 1 or 2, before you would expect the normal engorgement from milk coming in (which usually will be 3-4 days after birth). Note that if a mom has breastfed a few children already her milk may come in a bit earlier.
- Pitting oedema – if you press with you finger on your breast for 20-30 seconds and it leaves a hollow area when you remove it.
- If you experience no relief or even a worsening of symptoms after expressing.
- Your areola and nipple will usually be stretched too tight for baby to latch properly.
Treatment:
- The tissue salt number 9 is especially useful for swelling and fluid imbalances. Do add number 4 and number 12 as well, and uses these hourly until you start feeling an improvement, then reducing it to three times a day.
- Avoid using a breast pump, as this pulls fluid forward and will worsen the condition.
- Apply ice to your breasts, never directly onto your skin, but through a cloth. You can use crushed ice, frozen vegetables or sports ice packs. This will reduce swelling and inflammation, which in turn will enable milk to flow more freely.
- Wear a supportive bra that does not constrict your breasts. This will act in the same way that a pressure stocking helps to reduce swelling in the legs (obviously used only as treatment plan for certain health problems).
- Do lymphatic drainage – click here for more info.
- Reverse pressure softening is a technique by which you use your fingers to ‘work’ back fluid so that your nipple and areola can soften enough for baby to latch. See the below link to the website kellymom.com for a thorough explanation and illustrations on how to do this.
https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/rev_pressure_soft_cotterman/
