To Robyn D, I helped a midwife friend who called me after 4 days of fever, & hard, red breast. Had been bf 4 month old frequently in bed. When I saw her, she had a hard mass about the size of a tennis ball, bulging, hot and red, and thick, greenish purulent discharge from nipple. She would consider MD only as last resort. She bf on all fours w/baby's chin pointing toward lump and me massaging from behind lump towards nipple, using one hand on top, one on bottom (baby thought we were nuts!). While we could reduce the size of the lump by about 1/2, it would fill up again. I tucked her into bed with cabbage leaves over hard area (she thought the cabbage felt great on breast & her feverish head too). Within several hours, we expressed out a large, thick plug that literally shot across the room, followed by about 15cc of pus. Fever and redness cleared within 12 hours. Mom took homeopathic phtyolacca 30x until symptoms cleared. She felt cabbage had really helped reduce swelling so that plug could pass. In last 4 months, she has found this area is v. sensitive to missed feedings. Has had much less trouble since quitting caffeine (family Hx of fibrocystic breasts), but lecithin supplement did not have much effect. I am new to the net, have been an LLL Leader/pump rental 5 years, and became IBCLC last year. I have a small, but thriving community based private practice, with 2 associates, and love helping moms & babies with the rest of their nursing lives that happens after the first 24 hrs. I work out of my home, within and around the business of my 3 kids, 5, 7 & 12. Ro K. Andersen, IBCLC North Shore Lactation Assocs.