I have personal experience with homeopathic treatment for recurrent mastitis:

When my 1st baby was about 5 months old, I began having recurrent mastitis (inflammatory, not infectious).  At least once every 2 weeks, I would develop a stubborn blockage and would run a low fever, due to the inflammation.  This continued for several months.  I got very good at getting rid of them and was able to handle it on my own most of the time, but sometimes I sought out the help of a LC friend (also a chiropractor) who was able to do additional treatment to help clear it.  Through working closely with my local LLLL and my LC friend, we ruled out all manageable causes and figured it was likely had 2 factors:  I had a lot of milk (bordering oversupply) and my daughter had become very inconsistent.  She would go a few days nursing constantly, increasing my supply accordingly, and then she would follow that with a few days of hardly nursing at all because she was too busy and preferred to play.  Her inconsistency was the main culprit and unless I chose to pump on her off days, which I was not inclined to do, my breasts got engorged and did not have a chance to adjust to her changing nursing patterns.

My midwife recommended I try Phytolacca.  She suggested 2 dosage levels.  One for acute episodes and one for prevention.  I took the acute dose for a week, a few days after clearing the current episode, and followed it with a month on the prevention dose.   I never had another blockage, though my daughter became more and more irregular in her nursing.

I don't understand how or why it worked, but it made a huge difference for me, and quite possibly saved my breastfeeding, since I am not sure how long I would have continued breastfeeding through recurrent mastitis.  I am dedicated, but I have my limits like everyone else!  We went on to nurse until she self weaned at 4 years old.

I agree, this is not a first step in treating recurrent mastitis.  You have to try to find and treat the root cause whenever possible.  But if that is not possible, then it is an option.

In my own practise today as an IBCLC, I do not recommend phytolacca to my clients because it is beyond my scope.  However, if ever there were a client whose recurrent mastitis I could not resolve by other means, I would not hesitate to let her know of the existence of phytolacca and suggest she consult with a homeopathic doctor to determine if it would be appropriate for her and to determine proper dosages.

Jennifer Welch, IBCLC, LLLCL, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

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