<However you may consider using magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) dissolved in an ice cream container of warm water and ask the mother to submerge her breast in it. The warm water and the soaking encourages the milk ejection reflex and the epsom salts work mysteriously to reduce the oedema. Mothers I have used this technique with love it.> Denise, please tell us more about the use of Epsom salts (MgSO4) soaks for breast edema. I had wondered because in my own family of origin (during the 1930's and '40's) it was used to reduce swelling in other areas, especially when the swelling had to do with infection, to "draw out the poisons" and "bring them to a head". I never had the nerve to try it on edematous mothers because I wondered whether it would be extremely drying to the skin, especially the skin of the nipple. It really isn't so mysterious when you think about it, because the solution is usually made up to be a supersaturated one (dissolving the most possible epsom salts that very warm water will dissolve), and therefore it sounds as if it might somehow create an osmotic attraction to induce interstitial fluid to migrate outward through the skin to the stronger solution, if that is in fact possible physiologically. How long should the soaks last and has anyone written this up? If it works as well as you describe, it should be much more widely known, and someone should be doing some research on it, given the prevalence of edematous breasts in our culture. I would love to learn more about it. I could "get into" this much more easily than I can "get into" believing in the power of cabbage (beyond the power of suggestion and hocus pocus) since no one seems to be able to explain how and by what means a similar thing is supposed to happen with cabbage. (No flames from the cabbage enthusiasts please.) Jean ********** K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC Dayton, Ohio USA *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] 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