How can you treat a bleb?

A bleb is a white (or clear, or yellow) spot or a blister on the surface of a nipple pore. There are 2 main reasons they can occur:

1. A little bit of skin can grow over the top of the opening of a milk duct, causing the milk to back up behind the blocked pore – often from nipple friction trauma
2. You’ve had a blocked duct and the material that was banked up in the blockage has now blocked a pore at the nipple surface

Blebs can cause a lot of pain but there are some treatments available.

It is important for a bleb to be treated effectively, as they can prevent good drainage of the breast and result in blocked ducts or mastitis. Your baby is the best treatment for a bleb! They will do the best job of draining the breast and in lots of cases, the suction they create while breastfeeding will pop the blister spontaneously.

Sometimes, your breast may need a bit more help to get rid of the blister.

Common strategies to relieve a milk bleb includes:

• Soften the skin with a wet, warm compress prior to feeding.
• Soften by gently rubbing olive oil or vinegar on the nipple to soften
• Referral to a medical practitioner for steroid cream for chronic blebs, when scar tissue has closed the nipple pore

What can I do for persistent blebs?

If that bleb is persistent, your doctor may prescribe a topical steroid cream to address the inflammation. The ABM guidelines advises topical moderate potency steroid cream such as 0.1% triamcinolone.

It’s a good idea to keep feeding or pumping after a blister has popped to make sure the breast is well drained.

What else should you do for a bleb?

As we know these days, a blocked duct is actually caused by inflammation. That is the same for a bleb. So reducing inflammation may your best option to relieve the bleb. This may include:

• ice
• anti-inflammatory medication
• rest

Will I get mastitis from a bleb?

When you have a bleb and blockage, you usually DON’T have a fever, or any other flu-like symptoms. The breast is not usually red, but it may be tender to touch and feel firm, possibly engorged. If the blockage doesn’t clear, this may lead to mastitis due to a build up of pressure in the breast tissue behind the blockage.

Even if your nipple bleb clears, then you come down with mastitis soon after, the bleb is likely the cause.

How can I avoid blebs?

Prevention of blebs is always better the cure!! 

• If you are pumping, check you flange fit! You can see a guide we wrote for our sister-company Your Two Jugs
• reduce rubbing with clothing seams
• work on getting the best latch for comfort and nipple health
• learn how to massage to reduce inflammation and increase the health of your breast – this is our skillset!!

Can you help me with my bleb in clinic??

We use low intensity therapeutic ultrasound to mobilise the milk sitting in that portion of the breast. As most blebs are caused by a preceding blocked duct, it’s always important to consider the anti-inflammatory approach for conditions on the inflammatory breast spectrum.  Yes, we do work on blebs in clinic and teach our clients exactly what they can do to get this thing gone ASAP.

You can book in online or call the clinic to make a booking.