A clogged duct is a blockage of hardened breastmilk caused by inflammation of the milk ducts, making it difficult for milk to pass through that specific duct. So, can you prevent clogged ducts? Absolutely! In this post, you’ll learn about clogged milk duct pumping, how to use a Haakaa for clogged duct, clogged milk duct in armpit, sunflower lecithin for clogged ducts, and clogged milk duct symptoms!
Clogged Milk Duct Symptoms
It’s characterized by a hard, often painful area on the breast that is warm to the touch and swollen with milk because of temporarily poor milk drainage.
Once the inflammation is worked on, you can also focus on releasing the clog. So, a couple of tips for releasing the clog are having a partner suck it out since they can suck harder than your baby or using gravity while nursing your baby. And these are fine to do for releasing the condensed breastmilk, as long as you’re addressing the inflammation as well since that is the root of this problem.
When the clog comes out, it will look like a yellow worm, and it’s totally okay for your baby to ingest! It’s just condensed breastmilk. However, you may get some blood in the expressed breastmilk when you finally get that clogged duct out, and the blood in your breastmilk is perfectly safe for your baby to ingest, but of course, you can do whatever you want with it!
And in case you’re interested, we talk about all possible colors of breastmilk in The Balanced Breastfeeding Course and what they mean!
1. Reduce Inflammation to Prevent Clogged Ducts
Focus on reducing inflammation if you’re still getting engorged. If you are dealing with some engorgement and your baby is showing fullness cues after feedings and transferring breastmilk well, some options to help reduce inflammation include:
- Applying a warm compress to your breasts before nursing or pumping to help get the milk flowing easier (something like a warm, wet washcloth or a heating pad)
- Using a cold compress after nursing or pumping (like a cold, wet washcloth or a reusable mini gel cold pack)
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) such as my favorite clean brand of Ibuprofen or some regular Aspirin
- Dietary natural anti-inflammatory foods or supplements such as:
2. Express Your Breastmilk to Prevent Clogged Ducts
Ensure you’re expressing your breastmilk every 3 hours from nursing or pumping. However, if your baby sleeps longer stretches at night, you do not need to wake up to pump. Only pump to relieve yourself if you wake up feeling uncomfortable overnight from your baby sleeping longer.
3. Avoid Wearing Restrictive Clothing to Prevent Clogged Ducts
Avoid wearing tight, restrictive bras with an underwire or tight sports bras. Instead, wear loose and comfortable bras without an underwire or none if you’re not leaking anymore!
Check out this beautiful lace nursing and hands-free pumping bra! Or, if you’d like one that you can nurse and pump with, with padding, check out this one from Target.
4. Avoid Continuous Pressure on Your Breasts to Prevent Clogged Ducts
Avoid putting continuous pressure on your breasts while pumping or nursing (i.e., pushing the flange into your breast or using a breast hold for the entire feeding).
Often newborns can’t hold all the weight of your breast, but, it’s fine to use a breast hold during a feeding. But try to avoid having to do this every single feed. Sometimes try utilizing other breastfeeding positions where you don’t need to help support your breast, such as laid back position or koala hold.
Check out how to do these breastfeeding positions in: 6 Breastfeeding Positions You Need to Try!
5. “Can I Take Sunflower Lecithin for Clogged Ducts?”
Taking sunflower lecithin has been recommended to treat or prevent clogged ducts. Dr. Jack Newman says this helps thin out breastmilk to make it flow out more easily. But, keep in mind, it does not increase your breastmilk supply.
The recommended dosage of sunflower lecithin is 3600-4800mg/day or 1 capsule of 1200mg 3-4x/day. By thinning the breastmilk, sunflower lecithin may help break free the condensed milk clogging your duct.
However, sunflower lecithin can increase intestinal inflammation, so if you’re already working on that, want to avoid this, or try sunflower lecithin and notice abdominal pain, diarrhea, gas, bloating, etc. Then there is a better option that is also much easier and more nutritious to get into your diet, and I go over what it is, everything you need to know about clogged ducts, mastitis, other breastfeeding hurdles, how-tos, and more in The Balanced Breastfeeding Course.
Can I Get a Clogged Milk Duct in my Armpit?
Yes, you can get a clogged duct in your armpit! Your milk-making breast tissue extends to your axilla (armpit), and it has a special name, “the Tail of Spence.”
To help effectively decrease inflammation in all areas of your breast tissue, check out The Birthing Balance Course, which contains 280 minutes of education, including video demonstrations and 160+ easy-to-follow PDF pages with photo demonstrations.
Clogged Milk Duct Treatment
Again, I go over 7 different methods you can use to treat your clogged ducts (plus so many other breastfeeding hurdles) in The Balanced Breastfeeding Course, but one I will give you the down-low on right now is using a Haakaa for a clogged duct.
How to Use a Haakaa for Clogged Duct:
With your Haakaa, you can do an Epsom salt soak to help release your clogged duct.
- First, fill the Haakaa with warm water, just enough so that you can still suction it to your breast.
- Then, add 1-2Tbs of Epsom salt to the water and put the Haakaa on your breast for 10-15 minutes
You can do this up to 4x per day.
Lastly, regarding treatment for clogged ducts, I’ll also mention that finding the root cause of why the clogged duct occurred is vital. You can either find out in The Balanced Breastfeeding Course or make an appointment with a lactation consultant to avoid reoccurring clogged ducts, which have the potential to turn into mastitis.
Clogged Milk Duct Pumping:
When using an electric breast pump while you have a clogged duct, continue to use it as you usually do. By decreasing your inflammation, you really shouldn’t need extra suction to help release the clog.
Are you looking for a reliable, portable breast pump that you can use hands-free?! Check out theZomee Z2 Bundle and take 20% off with code: KATELYN20
However, if you feel that your anti-inflammatory methods have been working and you want to turn up your pump’s suction to help get your clog out, of course, you can go for it, but ensure you stop if it starts to feel uncomfortable or painful at all. We do not want to cause more inflammation in your milk ducts again by increasing your pump’s suction.
And since increasing your breast pumps suction more than usual for you can increase inflammation again, it’s even technically possible that you could accidentally give yourself another clogged duct before you release the one you’re working on. And I know you do not want that!
Have you ever had a clogged duct before? Do you have one right now? Let me know in the comments!
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DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
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