Mayo Clinic Health Manager
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By Mayo Clinic staffIf you have mastitis, it's safe to continue breast-feeding. Breast-feeding helps your breast clear the infection.
To relieve your discomfort:
- Maintain your breast-feeding routine.
- Avoid prolonged engorgement before breast-feeding.
- Use varied positions to breast-feed.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- If you have trouble emptying a portion of your breast, apply warm compresses to the breast or take a warm shower before breast-feeding or pumping milk.
- Wear a supportive bra.
- While waiting for the antibiotics to take effect, take a mild pain reliever, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others).
If breast-feeding on the infected breast is too painful, try pumping or hand-expressing milk.