Mastitis: causes, symptoms, treatment of a nursing mother

Inflammation of the mammary gland, provoked by pathogens, is classified as mastitis in medicine.This disease is considered quite common - on average, 16% of women are diagnosed with mastitis.Most often, the inflammatory process in the mammary gland begins in a nursing mother, and, for those who first deal with this case - a woman simply does not know how to properly put the baby to the chest, which leads to stagnation of milk, and this is a provocative factor.

Unfortunately, preventive measures do not give the expected result, mastitis is diagnosed by doctors more often.That is why women should have information about the symptoms of this disease and the methods of its treatment, especially since in most cases the patient can be helped with folk remedies.

Table of contents: Causes of developing mastitis Types of mastitis Diagnostic measures Symptoms of mastitis Treatment of mastitis at home

Causes of development of mastitis

As mentioned above, the development of this disease is associated with the penetration of pathogens into the mammary gland and in most cases areStaphylococci.However, if a woman has any pathological process of the chronic course, caused by another kind of pathogenic microorganisms, then they will cause the development of mastitis.Often, doctors diagnose the disease in question, which was caused by an E. coli!And it is explained simply: the infection gets into the mammary gland along with the blood flow.

The main cause of development of mastitis is the stagnation of milk in the gland( lactostasis) - this environment is ideal for the multiplication of pathogenic bacteria, the infection is rapidly developing and provokes inflammation / suppuration.

Important! The main way to prevent lactostasis is the correct application of the baby to the breast.Will help to learn how to properly apply the baby video-workshop from the consultant on breastfeeding - Nina Zaichenko.

Types of mastitis

Doctors differentiate several types of the disease under consideration, each of which has flow characteristics:

1. Abscessed mastitis.In the mammary gland there is an inflammatory focus with purulent contents.The doctor can clearly determine the size and shape of the pathological focus, as it is localized.
2. Purulent / serous / infiltrative mastitis.These types of the considered disease proceed sequentially, that is, the inflammatory process in the tissues of the mammary gland changes the formation of the edematous area, and then an infiltrate and a focus with purulent contents appear.
3. Phlegmonous mastitis.In this case, the inflammatory process and purulent contents will not have a clear localization - there is a proliferation of pathology in the tissues of the breast.
4. Gangrenous mastitis.A very rare form of the disease under consideration is diagnosed only if no medical measures have been taken.With a protracted current of the inflammatory process in the tissues of the mammary gland, necrotic processes begin.

Classification of mastitis does not present difficulties - as a rule, the specialist already at the first admission of the patient can with great accuracy perform the diagnosis and differentiation of the type of disease.

Diagnostic measures

Symptoms of mastitis are so pronounced that a woman herself can diagnose this disease.But still you need to visit a specialist - he will prescribe an ultrasound examination of the mammary glands, assess the infiltration and the amount of purulent contents, take the milk from the sick mammary gland for a bacteriological study - you need to find out which pathogenic microorganism triggered the development of the inflammatory process.Such diagnostics will help to prescribe effective treatment and prevent the development of possible complications.

Note: ultrasound examination of mammary glands allows to diagnose mastitis with high accuracy, therefore mammography is not performed in this case.If the doctor has any doubts about the good quality of the pathological process, the woman will undergo a biopsy of the breast under the supervision of an ultrasound.

Symptoms of mastitis

Most often, women are diagnosed with mastitis in the postpartum period, so it is called acute postpartum mastitis.Usually, this condition is associated with inadequate decanting of milk and stagnant phenomena in the mammary gland. Symptoms of such inflammatory process will be:

• appearance of compaction in the mammary gland, which is characterized by soreness, dense consistency and clear boundaries;
• at the place of formation of the seal, the skin becomes red and hot to the touch;
• increases body temperature.

If no therapeutic measures are taken at this stage of the disease, then the inflammatory process will progress - the pain in the compaction site becomes more intense, the breast increases, the skin becomes hot.A woman will complain of severe pain while feeding the baby and the subsequent decantation, in the milk, impurities of blood and / or pus can be detected.

Separately it is worth mentioning the mastitis of newborns, which can develop in children of both sexes due to the action in the body of infants of the sex hormones of the mother.Mastitis of newborns is manifested by swelling of the mammary glands, the appearance of secretions. As a rule, such a condition does not require any medical intervention - in 3-4 days the state of the mammary glands in the child is normalized.If the doctors find a purulent focus in the newborn, then surgical treatment is undertaken - they carry out the sanation.

Treatment of mastitis at home

If a woman has identified signs of mastitis, she needs to immediately seek qualified medical care, as it will be necessary to prevent the progression of the infectious process and to preserve the possibility of breastfeeding. The doctor-mammologist, having carried out the examinations, chooses the treatment tactics:

1. If the mastitis is diagnosed without a purulent focus, the woman will be prescribed antibacterial drugs( antibiotics) that have a wide spectrum of action.Usually the course of treatment is 7 days, and, within the first 3 days, inflammation decreases, and the infiltrate resolves within the next 2-4 days.
2. In case of the presence of intoxication symptoms, the patient is given a detoxification therapy - infusions are introduced with solutions of glucose and electrolytes.
   Note: if a woman has excessive milk production in her breast, then she will be given specific drugs that suppress this process.This will reduce the time of treatment of mastitis and maintain the main function of the mammary glands.
3. The presence of a purulent focus suggests an operative intervention.The site of the localization of the inflammatory process is opened, the purulent contents are removed from it, drainage is established for the subsequent washing of the formed cavity.

Traditional medicine in the treatment of mastitis

A woman should understand that folk remedies should be used in the treatment of the disease in question only in combination with drug therapy and after consulting with the doctor . By the way, funds from the category of "traditional medicine" in the treatment of mastitis are recognized by the official medicine as quite effective.

Here are just a few recipes that are useful for treating the disease in question:

1. If there is solidification and swelling of the breast, then this area needs to be applied carrots, grated on a fine grater.Suitable in this case, and bean flour, which must be mixed with a soap solution until the formation of gruel.The temperature and soreness of the mammary gland will be removed by cabbage leaves - the thickening on them is slightly discouraged and then applied.
   Please note: , when preparing pulp from bean flour and soap solution, it is necessary to use soap without flavors and coloring agents, the economic choice or the child's choice will be the best choice.
2. Purulent focus should be treated with onions.Pre-peeled onion poured honey or oil from the flax seed and bake in the oven until a golden crust.Then the onions are cooled, disassembled into "petals" and applied to the diseased mammary gland, covering with a scarf / shawl bandage.
3. Seeds of plantain need to be crushed in a mortar, then pour warm water in such quantity that "on an output" the viscous gruel has turned out.This gruel is applied to the inflammation focus, gently rubbing into the skin in circular motions.
4. Lotion with rice starch.In a small amount of water, you need to dissolve rice starch and achieve a creamy mass.Then the resulting mass is applied to gauze napkins and applied to the focus of inflammation for 15-20 minutes.This procedure should be done 3-5 times a day until complete recovery.This recipe perfectly helps with serous mastitis.
5. Compress with a clover.In the pharmacy you need to buy a medicinal clover, measure half a glass of raw materials and pour 300 ml of steep boiling water.The remedy is infused for 10 minutes, and then a towel is moistened in it and wraps the breast.From above necessarily impose a polyethylene and wrap up something warm( a plaid, scarf, a scarf) - the warming compress should turn out.Leave it for 2 hours, then remove everything and after a short break repeat the procedure( after 20 minutes).
6. Narcissus.It is necessary to dig out an onion of an ordinary narcissus( one that grows everywhere in the front gardens and flower beds), peel it and finely cut or grate it.The resulting gruel is mixed with rye flour, and the resulting product is spread on the diseased mammary gland.Once the mass has hardened, it is washed off with warm water.Such procedures should be done 2-3 times a day.

And this is by no means all the funds from the category of "folk medicine" that will be effective in the treatment of mastitis!More recipes you will find in our article Mastitis: treatment with folk remedies.

Note: , regardless of how much the mastitis progresses and what type of inflammation is diagnosed, this disease is a definitive contra-indication to the feeding of the child.The fact is that when mastitis, the mother's milk is infected and must be decanted.It is usually allowed to feed the baby 5 days after the end of treatment, so that the milk no longer contains traces of antibiotics.

Mastitis is an inflammatory process that occurs, as a rule, without complications.But a woman should apply for qualified medical help in a timely manner in order to get competent and effective treatment.

Tsygankova Yana Aleksandrovna, medical reviewer, therapeutist of the highest qualification category