Hello all. I haven't posted in a long time, and will introduce myself. I am a Lactation Consultant in private practice, with a La Leche League background, and I live in New York City, in Manhattan. I think this can be a very bad problem for mothers, very discouraging. I am remembering a mother who was reluctant to use antibiotics for her recurrent plugged ducts, with flu like symptoms, occurring every 10 days. She tried many "holistic" treatments, getting quite a bit of relief from self massage. Sadly she only felt better when there was less milk in the breast, and she did wean earlier than she intended. Looking back, I would have referred her to a lymphatic drainage person: but she was often too tender to really get a massage. In our conversations we concluded that she seemed to have a "background" infection which opportunistically "invaded" her breast. Over the years I have also heard women say that when there is a household strep infection, mom gets a plugged duct/mastitis. One of my co Leaders discovered that her recurrent infections needed a much longer dose of antibiotics (and dietary management). We need research: many of us would want to wean if we felt sick every ten days! Kate Sharp Manhattan, NYC [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html