Cupboard Cures for Blebs
These articles in the "Cures" section are copyrighted and are not to be reprinted without permission of the author.
These cupboard cures are remedies that work for some moms but they are not meant as a treatment plan for your specific situation. If you are experiencing a breastfeeding challenge, I can provide professional support and together we can create a treatment plan specifically tailored to you and your baby's needs. Some breastfeeding situations can be remedied with cupboard cures moms have used for years but in other cases you may need care and support from an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and/or your Healthcare Provider. I would be honored to help you on your breastfeeding journey.
What is a bleb?
What causes a bleb?
Is treatment is needed?
What are some Cupboard Cures for Blebs?
These cupboard cures are just ideas to get started on the road to recovery but please contact me for a personal consultation and an in-depth treatment plan specific to you and your baby. I bring over 30 years of experience working with parents and babies and over ten years as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
Blebs can be painful and discouraging. Melissa is an IBCLC and can offer both professional medical help and support with this or any step in your breastfeeding journey. If you're interested in setting up a breastfeeding consultation with Melissa, please fill out our easy CONTACT FORM to get started!
Please note: If you have a question about a medical matter you should consult your healthcare provider. Do not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your healthcare provider.
These articles in the "Cures" section are copyrighted and are not to be reprinted without permission of the author.
These cupboard cures are remedies that work for some moms but they are not meant as a treatment plan for your specific situation. If you are experiencing a breastfeeding challenge, I can provide professional support and together we can create a treatment plan specifically tailored to you and your baby's needs. Some breastfeeding situations can be remedied with cupboard cures moms have used for years but in other cases you may need care and support from an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and/or your Healthcare Provider. I would be honored to help you on your breastfeeding journey.
What is a bleb?
- A bleb is sometimes called a milk blister, a blocked nipple pore, a nipple blister, or simply "milk under the skin."
- It is a painful white, clear or yellow dot on the nipple or areola, and the pain tends to be at the bleb spot and/or just behind it.
- If you compress the breast so milk is forced down the ducts, the blister will typically bulge outward.
- A bleb occurs later than the first few days after birth, and tends to come several weeks after the baby is born.
What causes a bleb?
- A bleb can occur when a tiny bit of skin overgrows a milk duct opening and milk backs up behind it.
- It also may occur because of an obstruction within the milk duct which is generally a tiny dry clump of hardened milk or a “string” of fattier, semi-solidified milk.
Is treatment is needed?
- Some moms have said that a bleb is some of the worst pain she had ever experienced while breastfeeding. Many times these moms want to give up nursing.
- Blebs can be present without a blocked duct, but if the pore stays plugged, it could block milk drainage and lead to a plugged duct and/or mastitis.
What are some Cupboard Cures for Blebs?
These cupboard cures are just ideas to get started on the road to recovery but please contact me for a personal consultation and an in-depth treatment plan specific to you and your baby. I bring over 30 years of experience working with parents and babies and over ten years as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).
- You can apply a cotton ball soaked with warm olive oil that sometimes will soften the bleb and make it easier for the let-down of milk to break through the skin that has overgrown the duct opening.
- This cotton ball can be placed in your bra which will soften the skin and allow you potentially remove the skin across the bleb area with your clean fingernail. You may then be able to hand express milk from the nipple pore. The milk expressed may be thick.
- Watch the area closely so it does not “seal over” again and/or become infected.
- Potatoes are a drawing vegetable and can be grated and applied to the bleb to help pull out inflammation, infection, or help remove the skin which makes it easier to expel the backed up milk.
- Parsley is also used to help remove infection in the body. It can be wrapped in a compress and then applied to break down the clog and relieve pain.
- Some moms have reported using grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and making a massage oil by adding a few drops of GSE into a small amount of olive oil and massage this into the nipple area.
- Another mom-suggested remedy is spraying the nipple area once a day with a solution containing 1 cups of water, 1/8 cup of vinegar, and a drop of GSE.
- Some moms have reported that taking Lecithin capsules (for recurrent blebs and/or plugged ducts) has helped keep the blebs from returning.
- Reducing saturated fats in mom’s diet may help.
- Occasionally a healthcare provider may need to open the bleb with a sterile needle, which is then washed with soap and water daily and an antibiotic ointment applied.
- Working with an IBCLC to correct a shallow latch may be all that is needed.
Blebs can be painful and discouraging. Melissa is an IBCLC and can offer both professional medical help and support with this or any step in your breastfeeding journey. If you're interested in setting up a breastfeeding consultation with Melissa, please fill out our easy CONTACT FORM to get started!
Please note: If you have a question about a medical matter you should consult your healthcare provider. Do not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your healthcare provider.