Breast surgery and breastfeeding
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Anonymous
| I had breast surgery about 18 years ago for a lump. It was benign, never had one again. My scar is about an inch from my nipple and slightly raised and tough. I have a painful latch only on that side. We’ve had the baby evaluated for a tongue tie and the doctor said it’s minor and shouldn’t impact feeding. Lactation consultants have no idea why it’s so painful still. Has anyone else had breast surgery and then breastfeeding pain? I’m wondering if it’s scar tissue tugging and whether there’s anything to be done for it. |
Anonymous
| I would see a surgeon. |
Anonymous
| How old is your baby? I have one inverted nipple and that side hurt HORRIBLY for the first solid 5-6 weeks of breastfeeding, but one day it just stopped hurting completely. I got through it with regular ibuprofen. Now I’m 10 months in and can hardly remember the pain. |
Anonymous
| He’s 12 weeks. |
Anonymous
|
Do you notice him preferencing one direction in terms of where he looks when relaxed etc? Sometimes tension and tightness in the neck and shoulders that babies can have from how they were in utero and/or their birth can cause pain on one side. Tension can also happen from tongue ties. I would just wonder if the tongue tie is as minor as you were told if you are having pain. Seems more likely it’s the tongue tie (and maybe related tension than not). Try looking on these two Instagram feeds for their highlights on tongue ties/tension just to see if anything feels familiar. Milkmatterspt has a tension highlight and lots of info and aloha.nutrition does too. Just to see if things ring any bells.
And I know you’ve seen LCs but I saw three and they ALL missed my sons tongue and lip tie despite my request to check. Unfortunately they aren’t all well trained in it. Susan from Arlington lactation is very experienced in it an does virtual visits if you aren’t close by so that maybe you can get the tie assessed again. https://www.arlingtonlactation.com/ Good luck, my situation was different but I was still having pain at 12 weeks and it’s incredibly frustrating when everyone is telling you it will magically go away at 6-8 weeks. Mine ended up being related to the ties that others had ignored. I found out too late though unfortunately and had already stopped. Which is fine, no shame in tbag and my kid thrived but I loved breastfeeding and it’s frustrating that my care providers were dismissive and not trying to divide out the root of the pain. Susan really works to figure out the root so that’s why I recommend her. |
Anonymous
| And sorry I don’t have an answer about the surgery but that seems so much less likely to me than the tongue tie causing pain since pain from tongue ties is so common. But of course just an anonymous message board here with limited info - jjst sharing my experience! Drs are very dismissive of tongue ties typically, so I just wouldn’t take that as gospel and if you’re trying to continue I would see someone specifically trained in ties to rule that out |
Anonymous
|
PP this is all very helpful, thank you for taking the time to share.
We had him evaluated for a tongue tie at Children’s. The doctor and the PA both found and noted the tongue tie separately but the doctor didn’t think it would help. She was definitely dismissive of the “if you feel pain something is wrong” idea and noted that tongue ties are diagnosed 800% more than x decades ago. She wasn’t our first choice for ENT but the one everyone keeps recommending doesn’t take our insurance. Our pediatrician checked his neck and said no problems. We thought we noticed a preference for one side but my husband said it was left and I said right. Maybe I’ll call next week and see if they still don’t take it (they seemed to indicate it was temporary until billing issues were worked out). I’d really like a second opinion but also don’t know how far to pursue and when it’s time to just soldier on. |
Anonymous
| I have not had surgery but with all 3 kids, breastfeeding directly over the nipple was fine, but if they accidentally got other skin it was like being burned. The suction was so painful on other skin. Was any skin moved or tightened,? Maybe that skin is more sensitive than would have otherwise been. |
Anonymous
Pp here and ugh so sorry to hear your experience, though I think it’s very common. There definitely seems to be conflict within drs and others about tongue ties with some believing it is over diagnosed etc now. I will just say that I didn’t get my sons dealt with (because it was dismissed) and had to stop, while my two friends who attended the same support group as me and had an LC who really believed tongue ties can cause significant issues, went on to breastfeed over a year. So I wish I had pushed more and frankly paid out of pocket (mine was a similar thing in that I saw who was on my insurance) to see someone who really addressed these issues. It’s anecdotal but yeah. Some initial things you can do: follow milkmatterspt on Instagram and go through her stories to find some of the exercises to release tension, start trying them - it can’t hurt. They are very simple and I had friends learn them from Susan and find them helpful. I know pediatrician said no, and I don’t mean to sound anti physician because I am not at all but in my experience with these items they just drop the ball. They are good at the overall picture and not necessarily trained in these smaller things that can impact breastfeeding. A couple other ideas - Susan runs two support groups through Virginia hospital center that are now virtual. They are free and you could pop on for some advice, the zoom links are on the VHC website. If you’re in VA you could also have the tongue tie assessed by a pediatric dentist experienced in tongue ties. The two I hear recommended are Dr. Jaju at smile wonders and Dr. Roca at Arlington smile center. |
Anonymous
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I would also just say to the dr who was dismissive of addressing a tongue tie even if there is pain because he felt it wasn’t significant enough to cause issues (even though you are actually having issues.. so that makes no sense), if he isn’t then helping you figure what else is causing the pain and helping it go away then I would... take what he says with a grain of salt. Just seems crazy that both saw the tie, you are still having pain at 12 weeks which is not at all normal and indicative that at least something is going on, and yet to dismiss it and leave you to just deal with the pain. It’s just not right. Sorry this has become somewhat of a triggering issue for me now that I am past it - I just wasn’t in the headspace to advocate for myself at the time but in hindsight people telling me to just deal with it and not actually trying to figure out the root of the issue and address it is incredibly frustrating and I feel mostly responsible for the eventual early end to our breastfeeding relationship. Again I’m not a breastfeeding zealot and my son is a thriving 2 year old now. So however you decide to go it will be just fine. But I would really question people who are just asking you to deal with daily pain. There definitely seems to be some conflict between pediatric dentists addressing tongue ties and ENTs who are often dismissive. And we as patients get caught up in it. I don’t know who is right, but in my personal experience it wasn’t the ENT.
Hope you are able to get some relief! |
Anonymous
| Maybe I'm a moron, but what is the risk to just getting the tongue tie fixed? |
Anonymous
|
With the painful latch, is the baby meeting growth milestones? If he is I would be more inclined to think this is from your prior surgery since poor latch is frequently associated with inefficient eating. If gain is low, or meh, I would get a second opinion on the tongue tie.
Otherwise, I would talk to a surgeon as previously suggested but also I believe there are LCs who specialize in mom’s recovering from breast cancer— they would have more experience with what you’re dealing with. Good luck!!! |
Anonymous
I’m the pp here and as far as I know very little risk which is why I don’t really get why there is such conflict about it between providers especially if there is pain with mom. I think the only downside is to make sure it “sticks” you have to do these exercises for a couple weeks that are not fun and painful for baby so I guess that’s the downside. But they are brief and the procedure itself is brief and with the laser not very painful from what I’ve heard. I won’t hesitate to do it with my second if they have one. |
Anonymous
Agree it is frequently but is not always, my child did great on growth which is why I was dismissed a lot despite latch clearly having issues (I had pain and his bottom lip never flanged out, he took forever to feed even at 12 weeks etc, etc). I didn’t learn til after that while poor growth is often an indicator, it isn’t always there. The breast cancer survivor LC is a great idea! |
Anonymous
| One other question— do you pump, and if so, is pumping also painful on that side? |