what the duct?
Just when I thought that milk blisters were going to be the most painful part of breastfeeding, along came clogged milk ducts. I fell asleep after my 2 a.m. pump session one morning with normal, drained breasts and woke up with what I will call “mega boob.” The entire bottom half of my right breast was hard, engorged, and sore. If the average breast has nine milk ducts, then I can only assume that five of mine were clogged.
In addition to being very painful (I could simply lift my right arm and experience sharp pains that radiated throughout my breast), “mega boob” impacted my milk supply from the right side. I was eager to get the clogged ducts resolved as quickly as possible.
I had read about sunflower lecithin and how it can help clear clogged ducts within 24-48 hours of taking the supplements, and gave them a try. After soaking in an afternoon epsom salt bath and massaging the ducts for about 20 minutes (ouch!), I took one capsule of sunflower lecithin and drank one of my favorite pumpkin seed milk drinks (which happens to contain some sunflower lecithin, too). I took a second capsule before bed, fell asleep with “mega boob” still throbbing, but—I woke up for my 2 a.m. pump session with a normal boob! It felt like magic. For me, it was about 12 hours after taking that first capsule of sunflower lecithin that I was already cleared up.
As good as I've gotten at keeping my water bottle with me at all times, I still need the occasional nudge from my husband to drink more water, especially during the last breastfeeding session of the night when I am at my sleepiest.
Keeping a water bottle beside my breast pump has been very helpful—I make sure that I drink an entire bottle during each session and refill it before the next one.
Ever since “mega boob,” I (thankfully) haven’t had additional massive clogged ducts, and this may be thanks to taking a sunflower lecithin capsule every now and then as a preventative measure. The occasional singular clogged duct is easily worked out using a lactation massager during a breastfeeding session.