I posted on this in April.  One of my coworkers complained of severe breast
pain in a stripe from the nipple to the ribs with no rash or any other
symptoms.  She had similar pain on the other breast about 6 weeks before and
was treated with antibiotics without relief for suspected mastitis.  The
second occurrence on the opposite breast I suspected shingles without
lesions (zoster sine herpete).  She had the diagnosis confirmed by her MD
and the severe pain quickly resolved with antiviral meds.  She is still
having post herpetic pain and uses topical hydrocortisone for the pain and
itching.  Hydrogel breast pads were very soothing during the acute phase.

Now my friend, a breast cancer survivor, complains of breast pain for about
the past 6 weeks that became severe the past few days and I suspected the
same condition.  She has sharp, stabbing, burning pain in her nipple that
radiates out to her ribs and her breast and chest feels heavy.  She saw an
Infectious Disease specialist today after getting no diagnosis from her
oncologist or OB/GYN and she diagnosed shingles and she broke out in a rash
today with a few vesicles on her shoulder.  She started antivirals.

This is just something to keep in mind when moms complain of unusual pain
that does not seem to be directly related to breastfeeding.  Other
conditions, benign, infectious, or malignant, can occur that have no
relation to breastfeeding.  This is the second case I've seen in a few
months and I've never seen it before.  By the way, neither are lactating but
both thought they had mastitis.

Linda Anderegg, RNC, IBCLC, RLC 


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