How to Treat Mastitis Naturally

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Mastitis is a painful infection in the breast caused by a clogged milk duct. This can lead to painful nursing, pain and tenderness in the breast as well as fever and chills.

Clogged milk ducts

Clogged milk ducts are a common occurrence in nursing mothers. They can happen for many reasons, one of the common reasons this happens is not emptying the breast all the way, or often enough. In the beginning when milk first comes in a lot of woman become very engorged. Producing way more milk then baby needs. This often times leads to clogged ducts and eventually mastitis. The go to most often is antibiotics but there’s another option you might not have heard of yet.

Why to avoid antibiotics

Although there are antibiotics that are considered safe for nursing they are not without side effects. First for the mother the obvious one of destroying your microbiome and your gut lining. Antibiotics also have a negative effect on tooth health. It can cause discoloration as well as prevent your teeth from remineralizing well which could lead to other dental issues.

These issues mom faces are the same for baby. There immature gut lining is not equipped to handle the harsh antibiotics seeping through the milk. Even if baby has no teeth they are under the gums and can still be effected by the antibiotics. They could erupt with discolored spots, or deal with cavities right away. These are just some of the reasons to avoid antibiotics while nursing whenever possible.

Why sunflower lecithin

Sunflower lecithin helps thin your milk so that the fat doesn’t stick to the ducts forming a clog. It can help thin an existing clog, as well as prevent one in the future. Sunflower lecithin also has a positive effect on supply so if you tend to underproduce then it has a secondary benefit.

Why marshmallow root

Marshmallow root is anti-inflammatory. So combining the anti-inflammatory properties of the marshmallow root with the thinning effects of sunflower lecithin the clog can come out more easily.

Supplement studies

Unfortunately when it comes to the study of supplements and natural treatments they’re very underfunded. Natural treatments can not be patented so they can not make enough to pay for the studies even if they did find a treatment for mastitis. There is anecdotal evidence that this treatment works. I have used it, and recommended it to many woman who say they have also had success treating their mastitis using this protocol. I highly recommend giving this a try before reaching for the antibiotics. As always seek the advice of your Doctor if you continue to suffer from mastitis symptoms. There are not many studies on these supplements for clogged ducts but below are articles to give a little more information on these supplements and their effects on inflammation or breastfeeding.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7090173

https://www.canadianbreastfeedingfoundation.org/basics/lecithin.shtml

Mastitis treatment protocol

Take 2 sunflower lecithin capsules in the am

Take 2 marshmallow root capsules 3 times a day until symptoms subside

Discontinue marshmallow root capsules once mastitis has cleared and the clog is gone. Continue to take sunflower lecithin to prevent future clogs.

This should clear symptoms like fever and chills within 24hrs and the clog should be gone in about 3 days.