One of the biggest complaints I get from breastfeeding moms is about nipple pain. Some moms come into my office with nipples that are scabbed, bleeding, or infected. I tell ALL my moms that breastfeeding pain is NOT normal. A little bit of sensitivity is normal at the initiation of breastfeeding. This is an area of your body that is naturally sensitive. This is also an area that isn’t used to receiving frequent stimulation 7-8 times a day. However, even this sensitivity should subside with time. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort on your nipples while breastfeeding or in between feeds, I highly encourage you to seek the help of a lactation professional. There is a reason why breastfeeding is uncomfortable. We just need to find out what that reason is. A qualified lactation professional will be able to do a full assessment to help you determine the root cause of these issues.
When a mom has any sort of open wound on the breast, this is now a gateway for all sorts of infections. The most common breast infections that moms get are thrush (candida) or mastitis. Both of these are miserable and can be prevented and/or treated with proper care. That’s where this cream comes into play. After an assessment on both mom and baby is performed and the root cause of the pain is determined, I like to start the healing process with mom. I love to use this cream with my moms. I call this APNO Cream, or All Purpose Nipple Ointment. This is one of my favorite recommendations for moms that are “tore up” at the breast. The ingredients are easy to obtain as they are all over the counter. This is a fantastic cream that will help to not only heal up mom’s nipples but can help to prevent any thrush or mastitis infections from occurring.
The main ingredients in this cream are a hydrocortisone 1% cream, an anti-fungal cream, and a topical triple antibiotic cream. The hydrocortisone 1% cream is a steroid based cream that helps to get nipples healed quickly. This stuff is amazing! Mom’s that were previously using a nipple balm or butter on lanolin cream tell me that this cream is loads faster and more effective. It allows for airflow to get to the nipples and speeds up the healing process. A lot of other balms or butters don’t allow this. The anti-fungal cream helps to protect mom and baby both from thrush, or candida, while she is healing. The topical triple antibiotic cream helps to prevent mom from getting the dreaded mastitis. The last thing we want is to get infections while mom is already sore and tore up. Mixing these ingredients in equal parts and storing in a refrigerator makes for a cooling effect when applied. These ingredients are all perfectly safe if ingested by baby. Mom’s body will absorb these ingredients super quickly which will allow for little if any transfer to baby. This cream can be applied to affected areas up to four times a day for seven to ten days. I love this cream because it is both reactive to help get mom healed up and proactive to make sure we are protecting her from getting any future infections.
As with any care regimen, please speak to a qualified medical or lactation professional to make sure that this, or any other recommendations, will be the right choice for you and your baby.