That is a great question.  One that I have struggled with on occassion.
 Normally dramatic healing seems to occur within a day or two.  I had one
situation, however, an older first time mother who had very deep tissue
damage.  She had waited two weeks before she sought help with cracks that
turned to craters.  The healing was extremely slow.  After two weeks there
was still visible tissue damage one one side.

On the other hand I have seen it in the first days where correcting the
positioning works wonders and the nipples look dramatically different as soon
as they come out of the babies mouth (after a corrected latch and pain free
feeding).

With extremely damaged nipples what types of treatment do each of you
suggest.  Even to the point of apparent infection in the nipple tips (visible
pus).

Denise Parker