I beg people to use discretion when it comes to putting essential oils
directly on nipples.  Essential oils are MUCH stronger than the herb itself,
and it is risky to jump on any kind of bandwagon just because the info
appears in one book (which may or may NOT be referenced or refereed).  The
quote from the midwife list contained several remarks which sets off my
alarms:  e.g. "the number of yeast infections is just tremendous these
days."  While this jives with a current BELIEF system, it doesn't
necessarily withstand scientific scrutiny, and may or may not be true.  We
have several good new studies identifying bacterial infection as a major
unrecognized cause of the type of pain we've commonly associated with
"thrush".  We really need to remember we may have been less than accurate
identifying the causes of sore nipples.  This is not to say there is no role
of fungal overgrowth in the etiology of sore nipples, just that it may have
been overstated to the point where we underestimated the role of bacterial
overgrowth.  There is a tendency to call "yeast" which fails to respond to
tx "resistant" when maybe it isn't "yeast" to being with. (Nystatin is not
very effective anymore, but I am talking about "yeast" which is resistant to
gentian violet and diflucan.)  Pardon me, it prob. isn't a fungus.

It appears to be the case that anything which changes the pH of skin tissue
can probably influence the growth of fungal (and perhaps bacterial
organisms).  There is a story about one of the great Mexican curanderos
curing the persistant foot fungus of the owner of the King Ranch by having
him fill his cowboy boots with tomato sauce and walking around in them for a
week.  So we can use the idea of altering the pH of nipple tissue, BUT we
have to make sure we do that with methods which are safe for the baby to be
exposed to.

 I would consider 2 drops of oregano oil diluted in olive oil to be risky
for the baby due to the strength of the essential oil.  And how do we
control for administration of the size of the drops?   I would also suspect
the smell might put the baby off the nipple, creating risks of breast
refusal.  Also, olive oil itself is a mild antifungal.  Maybe the olive oil
not the oregano is the beneficial aspect of the therapy.  None of the advice
in the post has any kind of scientific controls being exercised or reported,
and in my opinion should not be followed because it cannot be verified as
safe.

Remember, anyone can say anything on the internet.  We need to read with
intelligence, discernment, and a healthy amount of deep, unrelenting
suspicion.

Barbara Wilson-Clay, BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates, Austin, Texas
http://www.jump.net/~bwc/lactnews.html

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