I wonder if my personal story might help.  I don't think it is the solution for most moms, but it was for me.  About two months into nursing my fifth adopted baby, I developed deep fissures about a third of the way around the base of both nipples.  They were deep enough that a little milk came out of them.  I tried putting various things on them, letting them dry, open, after nursing, and keeping anything that could impede they circulation of air.  I tried nursing from one breast only and just hand expressing whatever I could get from the other, since pumping hurt even more than nursing.  I did that for as long as 48 hours at a time.  It would look healed, but tear open as soon as he latched on.

After two months,  I started thinking about the fact that some people believe that the gall bladder, which I no longer had, was important for proper absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.  I started taking supplements of Vit. A and E.  The fissures were a little smaller, the next day and after a few days, they were closed!  I was nursing one, or two, babies for another three and a half years.  As long as I kept taking the A & E, I was fine, but if I forgot them for more than 3 or 4 days, the same spots would start opening back up.

I  think I took 400 iu of E, and about 20,000 of A.  Beta carotene might work, too.

Darillyn Lamb Starr
 		 	   		  
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