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I have a hard, red, lumpy area on one of my breasts and its very painful. What is causing it?

April 26, 2017area breasts causing hard lumpy painful red

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I have a hard, red, lumpy area on one of my breasts and its very painful. What is causing it?

1 Answer

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Posted

The red lumpy area on the breast occurs when the breast milk leaks from the ducts to the tissues, which causes a localised inflammation or swelling. This could be mastitis and you’ll need to see your GP. Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast which may also become infected, making you feel tired and flu-like. It can be caused by your breasts not being effectively emptied when the baby feeds. The most common reason for mastitis is that the baby does not latch on properly to the breast and as a result the milk is not removed effectively. Your Health Visitor or Midwife will be able to offer guidance with correct positioning and attachment to the breast. Your doctor will advise you to keep on feeding your baby (stopping feeding with that breast will make the problem much worse) and if an infection is present, antibiotics may be prescribed.