Blocked Breast Ducts

PhysioMatters
Apr 29, 2021
2 min read

Updated: May 29

Blocked breast ducts are not only an inconvenience, as they can dramatically slow down the flow of your breast milk, but they can be incredibly painful as well.

What are some causes of blocked breast ducts?

The cause of blocked ducts is plentiful, however a few of the main causes maybe and are not limited to:

A poor latch of your baby on the breast and hence poor emptying of your breast
Excessively thick / fatty milk constituency
Inexperience with the various positions of breast feeding -may lead to poor latching
Fatigue of the mother
Low hydration and poor supply of milk
Over supply of milk

How can physiotherapy help with blocked breast ducts?

Physiotherapy working in conduction with a good Breast Lactation Consultant, may assist in successfully clearing blocked breast ducts. A noninvasive physiotherapy modality such as Ultrasound is often a key to successfully clearing blocked ducts.

Therapeutic ultrasound uses sound waves to create a ripple effect that passes through the breast tissue and ducts and hence clear the blockage in the blocked milk ducts.

Ultrasound is painless, and affective. Depending on the extent of the blockage of the breast duct, treatment sessions may need needs to be 30 - 45 minutes in duration and may need to be applied over 1-3 sessions to clear the blocked ducts. Treatment sessions are most affective when applied daily or 1 day apart.

Often a combination of the ultrasound treatment plus soft tissue massage, rest, and good hydration, support good milk flow.

Please address block ducts sooner rather than later to avoid further complications such as Mastitis.

Here are some signs of Mastitis:

Mastitis can be very painful and make a new mum feel very unwell.

The signs of Mastitis are:

Pain in the breast or at the blocked duct or arm pit
Redness around or near the blocked breast duct
Heat of the breast or blocked area
You may feel unwell with flu like symptoms and or a fever that arises suddenly
Milk flow slows down or stops
If you have any signs of Mastitis please ask your General Practitioners (GP) advise as soon as you notice any of the above signs and start antibiotics immediately.