Ann, a very big alarm went off for me when I read that this poor mother was applying comfrey compresses. Comfrey is a dangerous herb, and compresses on the breast, so near where the baby's mouth and hands go, expose the baby to it.  There can also be transcutaneous absorption of the dangerous alkaloids. Rather than quote my old herbal text (which has the same information), I am citing the latest edition of Hale (2012), which many of you have own or have access to. He writes: "Comfrey and members of this family are exceedingly dangerous and should not be used topically, ingested orally, or used in any form in breastfeeding or pregnant mothers."

Recently I have heard that comfrey plants, for home herbal self-treatment, are being sold in some markets in the Brisbane area. No warnings, no regulaton.

Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA
In Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ann Marie Henninger wrote:  Breast pain/vasospasm at end of feeds?
Permission from mom to post:

"I am 33 years old.  My baby girl is 6+ months - actually, she'll be 7 months this week on the 13th.  Alice is my second child, and I didn't have any sort of issues with my first child.  I first noticed the pain in my right breast around the end of August/beginning of September - so at about 3.5 months.  The pain feels searing, hot, sharp.  I feel it the most intensely just after feeding on the right breast - never after feeding on the left breast, although the stimulation from feeding on the left breast sometimes causes slight discomfort in the right breast.  The pain is deep, not near the nipple and is transient - as in it moves from duct to duct ( I presume it varies depending on how I am feeding my daughter, weather we are sitting in a chair or laying on the bed.) As I told you in our phone conversation, I'm not positive how long the pain lasts - maybe an hour or two, getting less as time goes on.  The pain seems to start out more intense the longer she nurses.  One thing that I didn't mention in our conversation is that I do have fibrosystic breast change and in the past it has mainly been in my right breast, don't know if that would make a difference.

As for treatments:  I have tried hot compresses with a wash cloth, hot showers and a compress of comfrey leaf - all with no results.  I tried using a cabbage leaf for a few days as well, changing it throughout the day, that didn't work either.  I thought at one point to treat it as an infection and took a course of echinacia and vitamin c - also with no results. I thought if this was a complication of the fibrosystic breast change that perhaps taking evening primrose oil would help - but didn't notice much difference after taking it for a week or so.   Pressure sometimes makes it feel relieved - so if I put my hand or thumb on the spot where it hurts the most it feels slightly and temporarily relieved.  I have tried using an herbal tea blend: stinging nettle, oat straw, alfalfa & raspberry leaf to increase my milk volume and have also added fennel seeds to this periodically.  This tea produces the best results, but also brings in so much milk that I seem to get too full and kind of backed up - finding full ducts/glands as big hardish (but not infected) spots.  I guess she doesn't need that much milk in one day?  Anyhow, even these "best results" are still painful and I'm not sure if its the tea or just the time needed to brew and assimilate the tea."


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