On Thu, 4 Sep 1997 10:44:16 EDT Karen M Zeretzke <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
>> I furthermore hypothesise that  the inflammation associated with
>mastitis is just >that, and not infective.  Inflammation can be caused
>by the milk being forced out of >the ducts and into the surrounding
>tissue (which was also mentioned in Ros's post >I think). The reason
>antibiotics 'work' is that they have an anti-inflammatory effect.
>
>So...had anyone had a mom who was treated with only, say ibuprofen,
>and the mastitis resolved?  (And wouldn't the dose be more than normal
>OTC recommendations?  I know each OTC is 200 mg and rx is 800 mg  per
>tablet....)

Karen and all,

I am an apprentice midwife and we do not use antibiotics or ibuprofen to
treat mastitis.
We tell the woman to: 1) take her and the baby's clothes off, get into
bed and nurse, nurse, nurse ( nearly every case we see is in a woman who
is trying to do too much - this appears to be the bodies way of telling
her to SLOW DOWN )  2) warm compresses
3) when the baby nurses on the affected side ( do that side first ),
massage the breast towards the nipple  4) if there is a fever, she should
take echinacea tincture, increase vit C and can use rosemary infusion for
the warm compresses

I talked with my senior midwife before writing this post. In eight years
of practice this has worked everytime. No women have been referred to a
doc for antibiotics.

Keli