Milk Blisters

What are Milk Blisters?

Over one year of breastfeeding, and only recently have I experienced this problem. Milk blisters might sound really weird, but they are simply what they sound like - a blister containing milk inside. It happens when skin grows over the opening of the milk duct on your nipple. It appears as a white spot on the surface of the nipple, much like a pimple. If you want to see how it looks like, you can click here.

What Causes Milk Blisters?

Milk blisters may be caused by oversupply, wearing tight-fitting bras, or problems with the baby's suck or latch. Out of those three, what I possibly had was oversupply, as my baby was nursing much less frequently now. It can also be caused by thrush, a yeast infection.

Reading up about symptoms of thrush, I began to worry that that might have been the cause of my milk blister. I had experienced a burning or shooting pain inside my breasts, and it occurred only AFTER I nursed and not during. The pain also came and went. My symptoms were consistent with thrush symptoms.

I rationalized that if I had thrush, my daughter was going to have it in her mouth as well, as she always breastfed directly from my breasts. I checked her mouth for signs of thrush - it would appear as white patches on her tongue and cheeks - but there was none. At that time, I was on Levofloxacin for mastitis anyway, so for the meantime, there was nothing I could do for thrush (if I had it) until I finished my week-long antibiotic therapy.

I decided to treat it as a milk blister, as I was really hoping that it was just a milk blister and not something worse such as thrush.

How Do I Treat Milk Blisters?

From what I've read over the net, most cases of milk blisters will resolve on its own as the skin covering it is exfoliated off. But sometimes, this takes a long time and obviously, we wouldn't want to suffer for long if we could help it. Fortunately, there are a few things we can do to help drain the milk blister.

The first step would be to apply warm compress over the area. This helps to loosen up the skin over the blister. Then, attempt to feed your baby soon after removing the warm pack. The baby's sucking most often does the trick of opening up the blister.

If it doesn't, you can open up the blister yourself, but this is quite risky as you could instead introduce bacteria into your skin. So, take all measures to prevent infection. Wash your hands really well before starting the procedure. Wash your affected breast as well. Sterilize the needle you intend to use by holding it over a flame until it becomes red-hot or by soaking it in alcohol for 15 minutes. What I did was I used the needle that came with a tuberculin syringe. We have several tuberculin syringes in the house because my husband was supposed to practice intradermal injections on me. These are already considered sterile, so I used it right after opening the pack.

Using the sterile needle, lift a bit of skin off the edge of the blister. Be careful not to push the needle deep into the blister because 1. you might be introducing bacteria from your skin to deep inside your nipple, and 2. it would really hurt. When the blister has opened, you can press on your nipple to let the milk drain out. You can also let your baby nurse on that breast. This similarly helps to drain off the milk inside the blister. You can also apply antibiotic ointment over the area, but be sure to wash it off before the next feeding.

From my experience, it didn't hurt at all. Not when I used the needle to lift the skin off, and not when my baby nursed after. Best of all, I didn't feel the intermittent, burning "afterpains" anymore. Looks like it really only was a milk blister after all.