Mastitis-I

Mastitis, also referred to as lactation mastitis, is a condition usually occurring in breast-feeding women that causes inflammation of the breast tissue. It usually appears in one breast causing redness, swelling and pain and sometimes fever and shivering.
There are two types of mastitis and they are as follows:
Non-infectious mastitis caused as a result of a blocked milk duct or breastfeeding difficulties leading to milk statis, breast milk remaining within the breast tissue.
Infectious mastitis caused due to bacterial infection.
If non-infectious, untreated mastitis can develop into infectious type as bacteria can infect the milk remaining in the breast tissue. Infectious mastitis can cause adverse complications like abscess in the breast if it is neglected and not treated immediately.
The condition is common in breast-feeding mothers; around 10% of them do get affected by it, anytime from the first 3months upto two years after childbirth.
It is not only important but also beneficial to continue breastfeeding even if one gets mastitis, as it helps in removing “blocked” breast milk. As a matter of fact it is always advisable to feed the baby more often or to express out all the excessive milk in order to resolve the symptoms faster. This milk is absolutely safe for the baby, any bacteria present in the milk is harmless and gets absorbed by the baby’s digestive system easily. However, in severe cases there might be an immediate need of antibiotic treatment so as to control the infection from becoming worse.

Symptoms

Mastitis is usually seen to impact one breast and the below symptoms soon show up:
Redness of affected breast area, which is hot and painful to touch
Lumpiness and redness spreads to the entire breast tissue
Scathing pain in the breast, which can be continuous or limited to the breastfeeding time.
Flu-like symptoms such as fever, body ache and shivering, lethargy, anxiety and stress and a general unwell feeling are seen in some women.
It is quite imperative that medical advice should be sought immediately at the appearance of above symptoms, so that the prompt action can be taken to avoid any kind of further worsening of condition. Discussing this situation with your doctor might lessen your stress and anxiety about the situation and help you to continue breastfeeding so that you can get rid of this condition.

Diagnosis

This involves a physical examination by the GP and through verbal description of symptoms. The GP might also check the breastfeeding technique you use and advice any correction if required. In severe cases, or those which do not respond to treatment, breast milk sample is tested for presence of bacteria. It also detects the bacteria type to decide further treatment.

Complications

In severity, infectious mastitis can lead to abscess formation in the breast, which is a pus-filled area on the skin or inside the body. Treatment is only through draining the pus out of the infected breast.