Winnie,

Your whole post raised the familiar questions and dilemmas about whether
product manufacturers have any legitimate business "educating" potential
customers.

<Also, I am wondering what others think of the idea of promoting their
use to prevent soreness.  Both companies are pushing this use.> There's
your answer.

Too many are out to make a buck off of new parents, as Keren
Epstein-Gilboa has so lucidly pointed out. Nightmarish tales of "sore
nipples" have primed this already anxious population, and the gel product
companies are out to make the most of it-pure and simple.

Winnie, your present dilemma is <hurridly writing up a policy/procedure
for the use of gel dressings
for TRAUMATIZED (emphasis, not shouting, mine) nipples.> That is a whole
different matter, but let's not let it lead us close to going down a
slippery ethical slope.

Was it Shakespeare who said "What's in a name-a rose by any other name
smells the same." Well, a whole lot is in the name "sore nipples", folks.


Webster defines "sore" both as a noun, meaning "wound", and as an
adjective, meaning "painful". But the grammatical distinction becomes
blurred in everyday use. These companies are taking full advantage of
that fact, providing a "magic potion" to guarantee a "charmed existence"
of "no sore nipples" for the new mother.

In the olden days of advertising in the U.S., they used to call that
"snake oil".  In those times, the term "bellyache" blurred the topic of
all kinds of abdominal pain. The mere mention of the term could draw
crowds to the buggy driven into town by a professional sounding huckster
who purported to educate the public about "bellyaches" before he lavishly
praised his product.

He had planted paid "shills" in the crowd to "testify" to the value of
his product, and urge the crowds on to buy it. The hucksters and shills
departed silently in the middle of the night before the customers could
test the product and come demanding their money back. Today's advertising
is just a little more clever, but the same traps exist. Let the buyer
beware.

Do first-aid ointments and bandaids prevent skinned knees? I don't think
so.  Let's not tout "prevention" by the use ointments and bandaids. Let's
not be "shills" for the "snake oil" of gel companies purporting to
"prevent s-o-r-e nipples".

It's up to us to work on our skills and our health care system and
educate how to avoid nipple trauma. A good place to begin is with Marie
Biancuzzo's approved CE self-learning module "Sore Nipples: Prevention
and Problem Solving". Get info at www.wmc-worldwide.com/modules

I have no financial interest in any of her publications, but I "tout"
them because they are good!

Jean
***************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio (where it was in the 80's yesterday and is predicted for
frost over the weekend. The leaves are going to be gorgeous this year
though.)

             ***********************************************
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