Mastitis is an inflammatory disease of the breast (mammary gland), which develops most often after childbirth and is accompanied by severe pain in the breast, discomfort during breastfeeding, redness and enlargement of the breast, fever, there are also other mastitis symptoms. The main cause is a bacterial infection that causes inflammation . Mastitis proceeds in several stages and, in the absence of proper treatment, passes into a purulent form, which has dangerous complications. In the early stages, the treatment is conservative (with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, etc.), and purulent forms are already treated surgically. In this article, we will tell you what mastitis, symptoms and treatment of this disease are.
Mastitis: causes
Typically, the cause of mastitis is bacteria entering the mammary gland. They can get there through cracks in the nipples, through the blood (in case there are foci of infection - pyelonephritis, tonsillitis, etc.). After all, the female body is usually in the postpartum period is weakened and is not able to fight bacteria effectively.
An important moment in the development of mastitis - lactostasis - is a stagnation in the ducts of the mammary glands of milk arising from insufficient or incomplete expressing of milk or due to rare feedings. The presence of milk in the ducts of the mammary gland is a favorable factor for the reproduction of bacteria, since it contains many nutrients.
There are 2 main types of this disease:
- lactational - mastitis of nursing mothers;
- non-lactational - he is not associated with breastfeeding. It is quite rare and occurs after a breast injury due to compression of the breast or hormonal disorders.
Mastitis: stages of development
Postpartum mastitis has several stages:
- Serous - an early stage of the disease, characterized by a slight increase in temperature, pain when palpating the mammary gland, an increase in its volume.
- Infiltrative - occurs in the absence of treatment at the serous stage and is characterized by the presence in some part of the chest of painful compaction, fever.
- Purulent - suppuration of this site occurs.
Mastitis: symptoms
The disease often develops sharply - this means that the first signs of mastitis appear quite quickly, from a couple of hours to a day. Mastitis symptoms cause these:
- An increase in temperature above 38 degrees indicates that an inflammatory process is present in the body. Fever leads to headaches, chills, weakness.
- The mammary gland is hot, it is enlarged, the skin on the site of inflammation is red.
- Chest pains - incessant and aching, aggravated by breastfeeding.
If in the early stages you do not begin to treat the disease, it goes into a purulent form. The signs of purulent mastitis are as follows:
- The temperature is elevated, from 39 degrees and even higher, sleep is disturbed, severe headaches are tormented, and there is no appetite.
- The lymph nodes in the armpits are enlarged (they are palpated as small, dense, painful formations).
- The chest pains are severe, even a very light touch to it is painfully tolerated.
Mastitis breastfeeding
Despite the form and stage of mastitis, breastfeeding is strictly forbidden, because milk in both healthy and diseased breasts can contain many bacteria that are dangerous for the baby. But pumping should be done very carefully and regularly. Complete pumping not only accelerates recovery, but also maintains lactation so that the woman can continue breastfeeding after recovery.
Mastitis: treatment
The tactics of treating mastitis depend on the time that has passed since the onset of the disease, as well as on its form (serous, purulent, etc.). The main principles of treatment are to suppress the growth in the number of bacteria, reduce inflammation and anesthesia. As for the purulent forms of mastitis, they are treated only surgically. In no case do not treat yourself.
Recovery occurs more painlessly and much faster if lactation is reduced or completely suppressed. After recovery, if desired, lactation can be restored. Usually its suppression is carried out using special drugs (Parlodel, Dostinex, etc.), which can only be prescribed by a specialist.
Non-purulent stages (infiltrative, serous) are treated conservatively, they do not require surgery. Doctors advise expressing milk every 3 hours from two mammary glands, since its stagnation leads to the multiplication of bacteria. To eliminate pain, local anesthetics are used (for example, procaine blockade).
In the treatment of mastitis, the main drugs are antibiotics. Their choice is determined by the results of detecting the sensitivity of bacteria. Most often, antibiotics from the group of penicillins (Amoxiclav, Oxacillin, etc.), aminoglycosides (Gentamicin) and cephalosporins (Cefradil, Cefazolin, etc.) are used in the treatment of mastitis. Antibiotics can be prescribed orally, intravenously or intramuscularly.
The purulent form of mastitis is treated only surgically - an operation is performed under general anesthesia. After the operation, antibiotics are prescribed.
But breastfeeding is allowed only when antibiotics are stopped and bacteriological examination of milk does not detect bacteria in it.
Any delay in treatment will cause the development of a purulent stage, which is life-threatening, therefore, having noticed mastitis symptoms in yourself, immediately go to the doctor.