What Is Mastitis ?

Mastitis is a condition in which the breast tissue gets infected. The condition is also known as lactation mastitis as it mostly affects women who are breastfeeding their baby but it can also affect women who are not . The infection usually only affects one of the breasts and it is recommended that mothers continue breastfeeding their child even with mastitis as breastfeeding would help in recovery and is perfectly safe for the child to drink.

Symptoms ?

Some of the typical symptoms that would indicate a mastitis infection are a feeling of  tenderness and redness of the breast, swelling of the breast, body pains, tiredness, high fever and a warm and burning sensation during breastfeeding the baby.

Causes:

Mastitis is caused when bacteria such as staph bacteria manage to enter into your breast via an opening or breakage in the nipple's skin. The bacteria can already be present on the surface of the skin or can come from the baby's mouth as well. Once the bacteria moves into the breast a mastitis infection occurs.

People at Risk:

Women with sore and tender nipples and women who wear tight and fitting bras that put pressure on the breasts could be at a risk of a mastitis infection due to the restricted flow of milk.

Diagnosis:

A doctor would perform a physical examination of the breast to diagnose a mastitis infection. The diagnosis would include checking if the patient experiences any pain in the breast, tenderness and swelling of the breast as well as a moderate or high fever. 

Sometimes a type of cancer known as inflammatory breast  cancer may be mistaken for mastitis. Symptoms such as redness and swelling of the breast are seen in both conditions and performing a biopsy would indicate whether an individual has breast cancer is done.

Complications:

Repeated Occurence:

Women who have acquired mastitis and received treatment may get the infection sometime later while breastfeeding again.   This may usually happen if the treatment was not administered properlythe first time.

Stasis:

This is a condition which occurs when the milk in the breast is not fully exhausted. Due to the excess amount of milk present it can result in discharge of milk into the breast tissue which can cause swelling of the breast.

Breast Abcess:

If a mastitis infection is not treated in time it may cause an abscess to form in the breast. An abscess would need to be   drained out surgically and it is therefore important to see a doctor once symptoms of mastitis are observed.

Treatment:

In the treatment of a mastitis infection, antibiotics are usually given and may be required to be taken for a period of 11 to 15 days . Apart from antibiotics, taking plenty of fluids, sufficient rest, and continued breastfeeding can help speed up your recovery process.

Prevention:

To help prevent mastitis  mothers should let their baby completely drain out their milk from one breast before switching over to the next breast. This does not ensure that a woman won't develop a mastitis infection but it may help in preventing the diseases.