I don't think women are particularly *wimpy* about nipple pain. We've all had
calls where mom says her nipples are really painful and in the office the
nipples show no signs of damage. On the other hand, we've had women who say
they are a little sore and in the office the nipples are nearly gone.
Using an abstract scale, like rate your pain from 1 to 10 , doesn't work
either.  Without a point of reference there is no way to rate their current
pain.
When I teach moms about c-sections I always ask if they have ever had any
abdominal surgery. If they haven't I tell them the c-section will be a MAJOR
insult to their body, if they have the c-section will be easier than that
surgery.
I also warn them that the 3rd day after surgery is the worst and the pain
gets better from there.  The mother's all tell me afterward that I was right.
Maybe it's true or maybe its psychological, I don't know for sure.  In my own
case my 3 c-sections were nothing compared to bone surgery. I was discharged
24 hours after the sections.  So on a scale of 1 to 10 my sections were
barely a 1.
Everyone is different in how much they are willing or able to bear pain wise.
Some people can tolerate anything short term but a lot of times I find mom's
worried that it isn't going to get any better or that it might get worse.
I think medicine in general needs to avoid the *wimpy* label at all costs. It
traverses all medical fields and people are constantly under medicated. Ask
anyone what their biggest fear is about having cancer is and it's pain. It
took at least 6 different doctors to get someone to prescribe sustained
release morphine for myself. The last one, a neurologist, heard I had an
infection in the bone and said *Oh my gosh that must be incredibly painfull!*
[ well yes] She wrote out the script then and there.
We need to treat the whole person. If sore nipples are interfering with the
breastfeeding then we need to put or *wimpy* prejudices aside and treat the
pain.
JMHO
Marie Davis, RN, IBCLC

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