<Pain in the breast that is coincident with breastfeeding is trivialized by the medical profession, and mastitis is poorly understood. Most of the texts describe febrile sx as the marker for mastitis, and it seems to be required to receive treatment. Yet few of the women I see are febrile.> If YOU feel this way, then I don't feel quite so bad about being unsure when to refer for evaluation for Abx! Just had a mother Friday in tears with breast sensitivity and plugged duct symptoms, too sensitive to even think of having her massage under the shower. It being Friday afternoon, the mother having little or no social support system to help her with the baby, we opted to call the MD's office to ask that they work her in that afternoon for evaluation for Abx treatment. We took care to instruct her, verbally and in writing, to KEEP THE MILK MOVING as much as possible, and don't give in to any temptation or anyone's recommendation to wean cold turkey, as it would just increase chances of worse complications. The opposite extreme is still omnipresent: Too many mothers are still being told "We'll treat with Abx and have you wean immediately!" < What we don't know about mastitis in humans would fill a textbook.> Definitely. Just such astute questioning as yours will one-day lead to someone editing one, with many contributors though! Jean ********* K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC Dayton, Ohio USA ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. *********************************************** 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