Mastitis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Mastitis Definition

Mastitis is an inflammation of one or more mammary glands within the breast, usually in a lactating woman. Mastitis can be felt as a hard, sore spot within the breast. Mastitis can be caused by an infection in the breast or by a plugged milk duct. Mastitis is also known as breast engorgement.

Girls may have brief hormone-induced breast inflammation soon after birth and during puberty. Chronic mastitis usually occurs in systemic diseases. It occurs occasionally in non lactating females and rarely in males. All breast-feeding Illothers develop some degree of engorgement, which is not an infectious process. The prognosis for both disorders is good.

Mastitis Causes

Mastitis is a common benign cause of a breast mass. Mastitis occurs when milk stays stagnant in the breast. It is commonly seen in women after childbirth while breastfeeding. These masses are often quite painful. Women who are not breastfeeding can also develop mastitis. In healthy women, mastitis is rare. Tight clothing can cause mastitis by blocking your milk ducts. Try to avoid strenuous movement of the arms. Regularly reaching high can be risky. So can sports activities that involve heavy and fast use of the arms.

Chronic mastitis occurs in women who are not breastfeeding. Mastitis may develop if the breasts are not emptying properly at each feed. Then they become swollen, lumpy, sore, leaky and tense. In postmenopausal women, breast infections may be associated with chronic inflammation of the ducts below the nipple. Hormonal changes in the body cause the milk ducts to become clogged with dead skin cells and debris.

Mastitis Symptoms

Symptoms are usually worse when there's an infection - which happens in about 50 per cent of cases. Mastitis may develop anytime during lactation but usually begins 1 to 2 weeks postpartum with fever.

The symptoms of the mastitis may be included:

• Chills
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Shivers
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Tenderness
• Swelling
• Muscle aches
• Body aches
• Breast engorgement
• pains in the breast
• Hardening in the affected breast

Mastitis Treatments

Breast infections require treatment by a health care provider.

The goal of treatment for breast engorgement is to relieve discomfort and control swelling, and may include analgesics to alleviate pain.

Some people recommend putting chilled leaves of a savoy cabbage inside your bra, to relieve the pain and swelling of mastitis.

Don't leave mastitis untreated. If you do, you might develop a breast abscess, a serious infection that usually requires surgery.

Continue breastfeeding. Your milk is harmless. Emptying the breasts regularly is essential in preventing and treating mastitis.