Clogged milk ducts are painful, make pumping unpleasant, and can lead to mastitis if they aren’t cleared quickly. Here is everything you need to know about them, including how to tell if you have a plugged duct, how to treat them, and how to prevent them in the future.
What is a clogged duct?
A clogged (or plugged) duct occurs when the milk flow out of your breast has been obstructed in a certain place.
A lot of the time, this can happen when milk isn’t removed quickly enough from the breast for whatever reason, such as if a feeding or pumping session is missed. They can also occur if your breast tissue is irritated for other reasons – if your bra is too tight, if you are sleeping on your breast, if your diaper bag is rubbing against your chest, etc. Sometimes, they seem to occur for no obvious reason.
How can I tell if I have one?
When you have a clogged milk duct, you generally can feel a hard, painful lump in your breast. The area around the lump might be red, warm to the touch, and tender. The breast may be more tender before feeding, with some relief after a feeding. Usually, only one breast is affected.
Additionally, the flow of milk out of the affected breast can be slower because the pressure from the duct with the clog may collapse the other ducts around it.
If you have other symptoms in addition to a painful lump, such as a fever, chills, flu-like aching, and malaise, you may also have mastitis. It’s really important to start treating a clog as soon as you notice it, before you develop mastitis. Mastitis is like having the a terrible flu but with a baby to care for 24/7; if you’re exclusively pumping, it’s even worse because you still have to be functional enough to pump instead of just lying down and nursing your baby a lot while you have it.
How do I treat a clogged milk duct?
To treat a clog, empty the affected breast as often and as completely as possible. That means pump (at least the affected side) as often as you can. A warm compress (such as a warm washcloth or a heating pad) on your breast before you pump can help with emptying – just make sure that it’s not so hot that you hurt yourself.
Sometimes it can be painful to pump on the side that has a clog, and it can be worst at the beginning of a pumping session, before and during letdown. One thing that you can do about this is hook yourself up to pump only on your “good,” unaffected side. You can either just have a breast pad covering the side with the clog, or you can hook everything up on that side except the breast pump – put the breast shield and pump parts in place to collect any milk that comes out when you letdown, and then attach the pump to the pump parts on the affected side once letdown has occurred from pumping on the other side.
Once your milk lets down and you hook yourself up, empty the affected breast as much as possible.
While you pump, do breast compressions on the affected side. You can also try and massage the affected duct towards the nipple. Some women have recommended using a comb on top of the area where there plugged duct is while pumping in order to work the clog out.
Another option is to use a lactation massager – many women have found that the vibration helps break through the blocked duct. If you are prone to clogs, this is a good investment for your pumping journey.
Finally, take ibuprofen! It will both help with the pain and reduce the inflammation in your breast.
This sucks. How can I prevent clogged milk ducts in the future?
The best way to prevent clogged ducts is to empty your breasts completely and on a schedule. Breast milk production is a system of supply and demand, and clogged ducts often happen when supply suddenly exceeds demand. If you’re prone to clogged ducts, it’s best to not skip pumping sessions unless you have no choice; additionally, you should try to make sure that you empty your breasts as much as you can.
An exception to the “make sure you’re empty” rule would be if you were weaning or trying to decrease your milk supply. In situations like this, you don’t want to empty all the way, but you do want to stick to a schedule and gradually decrease the amount of milk that you remove from your breasts, so that your body has time to catch up.
A few other things to watch out for when it comes to avoiding clogged ducts are making sure that your breast shields are the right size (not too big or too small), that your bra is comfortable and not too tight, and that you aren’t sleeping on the affected breast.
If you are prone to getting plugged ducts, you can also try taking lecithin. It may help in reducing the “stickiness” of milk by increasing the amount of fatty acids in the breast milk; the less sticky milk is better able to flow out of the milk ducts. The recommended dose is 1200mg, taken 4 times per day.
References- Newman, Jack, MD. “Blocked Ducts and Mastitis.” https://ibconline.ca/information-sheets/blocked-ducts-mastitis/
- Medela. “Medela Breast Shield Sizing Guide.” https://blog.medelabreastfeedingus.com/2015/05/medela-breastshield-sizing-guide/#.VxacxpMrJE4
Ugh. These have been the scourge of my existence! I have had my left side plugged up 8 times in 12 weeks. It is definitely from skipping pumping. I take lecithin, and it just keeps happening. LO is three months old and every time I get one, I just want to throw in the towel. Trying very hard to stay motivated. 🙁
So sorry you’re dealing with this! 🙁
I’m a young mother and this is my first time breastfeeding I’ve had a plug duct for a few days now and I try to feed a lot on that side but it hurst so darn much my boob will shrink but then 10 mins later it’s filled and hard again someone please help I’m desperate ?
Did you resolve your issue? I was told by my doctor to keep constant heat on it. Keep a warm compress in your bra and pump/breastfeed often and keep a warm compress on when you’re pumping. Also, try the lecithin. Using both these strategies have helped me. Good luck!
Hi Courtney and Claudia,
I too have been dealing with some nasty knots and have been from the start, especialy on my right side. I read this article the other day and it has honest to god helped ALOT!!! Its called a pressure massage (which can hurt like hell, but totally worth it). The only difference that i had made was i actually take both hands, ✋✋place one on each side of breast and squeeze together like a vice using the pressure from the bottom of my palms. Every time i do, milk will start either oozing out or shooting across the room, lol. Before doing this, i couldnt even get a drop (especislly on my right side), and when i alternate the position of my hands (ex: bottom of breast in one hand and top in the other), i notice that milk starts to come out of different holes, not just one. Then, i got on all fours and faced my daughters feet towards my head and let her do her thing. I felt a difference the first time and she seemed content and didnt fuss AT ALL. It was very exciting and i only did it once today but i am going to keep it up and see where it take us. Here is the link that i found on the Dr. Sears website : https://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/breastfeeding/common-problems/plugged-milk-ducts
I got this when i googled using these search terms because nothing i found on plugged ducts had been helpful thus far:::
GOOGKE SEARCH::: how to push dislodge force expel force deep in breast tissue plugged milk clogged duct out of nipple pressure massage
I too have been using lecithin, seems to be helping. The liquid lecithin is nasty so yiu might wanna get it in pill form if you choose.
Keep it up, your doing amazing guys and Courntney, if your breasts hurt really badly, try the bottle method::: Here is a link that might be able to help you because it slowly draws your milk out. https://en.hesperian.org/hhg/A_Health_Handbook_for_Women_with_Disabilities:If_you_cannot_breastfeed
Hugs and hang in there
Hey ladies. I current have a clogged duct and my husband nursed the affected breast was able to relieve some of the pressure quicker than my baby and the pump. He has done it a few more times and it’s definitely helping. If your husband or partner is willing to do that for you give it a try.
I got a clogged duct because of holding the breast pump flange too tightly restricting the milk flow while pumping. Taking a shower on the affected breast for 10 minutes and massaging the breast at the same time helped. In the shower, I massaged the breast and also squeezed milk out. I also asked my husband to nurse on that breast after shower which definitely helped in getting the flow started. I then hand expressed for an hour and took shower again for 10 minutes. And nursed the baby immediately after shower. She was then able to drain the breast completely.
My baby was premature (born at 33 weeks) so I have spent time exclusively pumping and had many clogged ducts leading to painful lumps and engorged breasts. Every single time it happened I was able to find a small white spot in my nipple. Sometimes these were difficult to find. The blockage was always on the same side as the breast lumps and hand expressing helped find them (revealed parts of the nipple where no milk was coming out). Sounds gross but I used a sterilised pin to gently work the blockage out. It was such a relief and far less painful than massaging/pumping it out, which I found very difficult.
I have clogged ducts and I’m pumping, I try breastfeeding but since the flow of my milk is so slow my baby gets fussy. That’s when I try to pump. How often should I be pumping and breastfeeding? And how do you use a pin to get the clumps out?
I have a pumping app called Baby nursing and it reminds me every 4 hours so I try to stick to 4 hours around the clock. I sometimes go about 6 but anything longer is painful. I had a really bad case of mastitis after I went longer than 7 hours twice in one weekend. No plugged duct – just went straight to full blown mastitis.
I had them all the time too, and was ready to give up. Finally someone recommended (in addition to warm compress, shower, etc.) to do both lecithin and ibuprofen. And I was told specifically SUNFLOWER lecithin, NOT soy lecithin. It’s harder to find but doesn’t have the estrogen issues soy does.
It sure seemed to work. The ibuprofen I think kept the inflammation down and the lecithin helped the milk to flow…By that time my supply was so messed up I never got a ton of milk, but was able to almost eliminate the clogged ducts.
Thank you for the replies, I have started taking the lecithin and a tea called mothers flow. The mothers flow is supposed to help with the amount of milk I’m producing and of course the lecithin is to help with the clogs. I haven’t really had anymore clogs but my milk supply is still low. Hopefully if I increase the amount I’m pumping, my milk might increase also
Yes, I get my sunflower lecithin from
Amazon. It’s great!
I have gotten mastitis twice and just now I woke up with a hard breast and knew if I didn’t resolve it I would get it again. All the other times I did notice a white spot on the end of my nipple and I would sterilize a needle and poke it hoping that would open it up but it didn’t. This time I saw a white spot and used tweezers and gently tugged on it and pulled it out! ( It was just a little bit bigger than the size of a splinter) That did the trick! I then manually expressed the milk out of the blocked duct and my breast is no longer hard! So LADIES IF YOU HAVE A WHITE SPOT ON YOUR NIPPLE GENTLY PULL IT OUT WITH TWEEZERS!!!! This will relive the issue faster than anything else! Good luck!
I could kiss you Kelsea! I’ve been trying to relieve this knot in half my breast all day, till I read your comment. I found a white spot on my nipple; it didn’t seem hard enough to grab with tweezers, so I poked it with a needle. Sure enough, milk started flowing out of the white hole easily and I was able to nurse and pump till it was gone. Amazing, thank you!
kelsea, I echo what Laurie has said below… I just followed this advice and you SAVED ME.
Women out there with a clogged duct: I filled a mixing bowl with the hottest water I could stand and dunked my boob in for 5 minutes. I could then squeeze a little out. 5 more minutes in super hot water, some squeezes, and then 5 more again. That’s when I saw the little white “dot” almost like the top of a whitehead pimple? I squeezed around it and then got it with a tweezers and then OMG the duct was unclogged and the milk river was flowing. I’ve never seen anything like it. Good thing I had a mixing bowl handy because I could basically fill it. I called my mom and sis to come watch and they were in awe. It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. Now I have relief 🙂
Thanks Kelsea. Here i was thinking the white spot is due to the constant sucking as im trying to nurse af often as possible. The moment i opened the white spot and massaged really really hard milk came streaming out. I used hot towels and even dunked my breast into hot water to help and everytime streams of milk came out. Soon after this i nursed my baby hanging over him and the relieve was amazing. I could literally not feel the clogged ducts anymore. Breast still very tender even 24h after but the warm / pulsing feeling subsided. Thank you.
My troubles with clogged ducts all began when I tried to drop a pumping session. I tried to stretch my time between pumping sessions from 5 hrs to 6 hrs in order to pump 4 times a day rather than five. Something about that extra hour caused quite a bit of engorgement and I kept getting clogged ducts on the underside of my right breast (my better producing breast). It took me TWO WEEKS to figure out that with all the engorgement, I needed to now start my pumping session with a larger shield on my right side, and then switch back to my smaller shield halfway through the pumping session (the smaller shield provides more nipple stimulation and better letdown for me). So the shield switching worked pretty effectively, but I would still occasionally get a clogged duct on the topside of my right breast. I would have my husband suck on my nipple like 3 or 4 times and it would start flowing. I finally figured out that all I needed to do when this happens is just gently rub a rag across my nipple to break open the ducts at the end of my nipple. Visually I could see no problems, but I think my ducts would seal over if I went a good amount of time between sessions. In conclusion, I went back to pumping five times a day, but I now feel better equipped to try for four again! I hope I have better luck this time around.
Thank you for writing this. What happens if you can not remove a clog? I’ve been at it for two days now. The hard lump is the size of a baseball. I am on antibiotics but still can not get it to clear.
Oh geez. Are you sure it’s a clog and not a galactocele? I didn’t know that clogs could get to be the size of a baseball. Was the antibiotic prescribed for the clog?
I have a galactocele – it’s hard and is the size of an almond. It’s been confirmed through ultrasound. I’ve also had a huge plug that involved my entire breast at one time. I used cabbage leaves (recc by my nurse at the birth center), heat and an ultrasonic tooth brush and alterning hand massages. Stressing about it makes it worse but I’m sure it’s not easy to be relaxed in that situation.
Oh that I have never heard of. It’s like engorgment and I’m not getting nearly as much milk when I pump as normal. The doctor prescribed the antibiotics for potential mastitis.
Does this seem like what it might be?
https://exclusivepumping.com/a-pain-in-the-boob-galactoceles/
What made your doctor think you had mastitis? Was it this clog plus a fever or something?
Does it seem like it could maybe be this?
https://exclusivepumping.com/a-pain-in-the-boob-galactoceles/
Can I ask why your doctor thought you had mastitis? Did you have a fever or something at the same time you had this clog/galactocele/whatever?
Last question: is this an OB or a general doctor? Thanks!
I went to the doctor yesterday for this problem (my right breast was completely clogged). I had tried a hot shower, manually expressing, hot compressing and painful attempts to pump. I had a TERRIBLE case of mastitis with my last child and wanted to avoid that if at all possible. The midwife told me to soak my breast in a bowl of hot water (as hot as I could stand) for 5-10 minutes and then pump as much as I could stand. It worked like magic…I feel like a new woman!
I have had so much issues with lumps, but turns out it was the Chair I was sitting on.
Initially I was sitting on the sofa while pumping and I kept on getting lumps, and I have tried everything i.e. hot compress, massages by hand / vibrating massage tool, hot showers, hand express, 4 lecithins a day, spent heaps of money on physio ultrasounds, soaking in salt water to clean nipple…. everything I read out there I tried…
Then I moved chair to the dining table chair (discovered this when on holiday using a different chair while pumping) and suddenly no lumps! possibly due to the ergonomics? I dont know, but my life have significantly improved so much without constantly worrying if I would get a lump or not.
Hope this can help !
Hello! I’m an experienced clogged duct getter outer. I’d say I have to have passed the 25 mark sometime this week… I have talked to many people and tried just about everything suggested to prevent the clogged ducts. Never had any mastitis or any issue like that just pain and discomfort and sometimes a little fatigue. I think that it may be caused by an allergy. I have found some information on that recently. I have used advil to treat it and it seems to come out without much effort. I take two once I feel a hard spot that is the clog. I then go on to massage in hot shower and use my vibrating face cleaning device on it. Then I pump to empty and massage the spot/feed the baby. I go to bed and then feed in the night. It clears by then normally or soon the next day. The advil helps with the inflammation! It will relieve you of the pain too…
I was on a good schedule – 5 sessions a day – and then had an insanely busy week that messed it all up. I only did 4 sessions on Thurs and woke up in the middle of the night with a rock hard boob. I pumped it immediately and it felt better, but it hasn’t gone away completely. I pumped 6 times (including that one) and woke up again with a rock hard boob 🙁 I pumped immediately but it’s very tender now – maybe from the massage/compressions. I took Ibuprofen and it’s starting to feel a little better… QUESTION: How often should I pump if I want to get back to my 5 sessions/day schedule???
Hi Katie! I would pump as often as you can to get the clog that it sounds like you have out, and then just drop back to 5. You can keep the side that’s not hard/tender on a 5 pump a day schedule and just do the affected side more often. Good luck!
I want to share this with as many moms as possible, so that hopefully it won’t happen you. I got a clogged duct almost 8 weeks ago now. Every time I asked a health care professional or looked online at what to do they all said that unless I have a fever, just keep trying to work it out. So for weeks I applied heat pads, massaged, took as hot baths/showers as I could manage, pumped on all 4s, took lecithin, used a wide tooth comb, pumped every hour for 30+ mins ect…..
I started to feel very tired and had body aches, but still no fever. And the mass in my breast kept growing bigger and bigger, but because there was no fever no one seemed concerned. Eventually I had enough! I went to my doctor and got an ultra sound. Turns out I had a huge abscess. They said this is what happens AFTER mastitis. They think I was so exhausted from being a new mom that I didn’t even notice. And now I’ve had to have a cathedar placed in my breast to drain the abscess. I had a natural childbirth and this is just as painful as that (sometimes more)! I don’t want another mom to go through this. If you can’t work out your plugged duct in 2 days max: go to your doctor! Get on antibiotics and get yourself fixed asap. You do not want to go through this! Trust me. Please share with as many new moms as you can. You don’t need a fever to have mastitis. Plugged/clogged ducts are very serious and should not be ignore!
I have a blockage on the areola down to my nipple. I’m exclusively pumping, baby bit is only 1 month old. It’s too painful to even try to see if he latches on to help unclog. And the pump flange doesn’t allow me to massage the clog while pumping. Hand expressing is excruciatingly painful. What else can I do to get rid of this clog? Suggestions? I have decided to stop pumping once this clog is gone so I’ve been applying cold packs to both breasts.
You poor thing. That sounds terrible. If you have decided to wean I would take Sudafed, put cabbage leaves on it constantly, and pump as much as you can with the pain. Take Advil (or another NSAID*) for the pain. Pump the unaffected side normally so that you don’t end up with issues there too. I’m so sorry and hope it gets better soon!
*Note: I’m not a doctor
Sudafed? How does it help? Cabbage leaves are my best friends right now. They provide cushion too allowing me to hold my baby without pain 🙁
I have no idea how it works! They did a study though and women taking it lost 25% of their supply in a few days.
I have a pea sized clog right now on my right breast. I’m still getting the same amount of milk out at each pumping session as before though. It’s hard and tender and I’ve tried the warm compresses, massaging, vibrating face cleaner thing and pumping that side a lot. It doesn’t feel like it’s getting smaller or moving. Suggestions? I woke up today like that and it’s still that way. What kind of Dr. do you see about this?
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I would keep doing what you’re doing – you’re doing all of the right things! Maybe try running a comb on it in the shower?
You should be able to go see your OB about it.
I’ve had that a couple of times and it went away eventually. For me it took about a week. Just keep pumping as you do and continue to massage and apply heat compress.
You can see your obgyn. I just had an incision done on my breast for a hard lump the size of a $.50 coin, on the areola. I tried everything and nothing helped dislodge it. Antibiotics were so strong I was pumping and dumping, and eventually stopped taking them bcus I was getting ugly side effects.
See your Dr and they will help you, whether with antibiotics and techniques, or incision. Good luck! I’m so sorry you’re in this situation, it was horrible for me.
Its been two months since m living with a clogged duct. Now its the size of a tennis ball. m pumping evry 2 to 3 hour.. n have a latch issue with my 3 month old son… i took anti biotics twice but nothing seems to help.ne suggestion how should i proceed with it..
Do you think it might be a galactocele? Just wondering because I haven’t heard of a clogged duct getting that big.
https://exclusivepumping.com/a-pain-in-the-boob-galactoceles/
Something similar happened to me. I got very strong antibiotics I had to pump and dump and that didn’t work! I went back to my Dr and he had to cut open to release the infection. Ball was the size of a regular sized marble.
Does the incision leave a bad scar? Also do you guys think trying to dry out my milk help with unclogging? I have tried everything plus antibiotics and nothing seems so change or get better it’s been more than a week now. I’m only getting more frustrated!
The incision I got was very tiny! I cannot see the scar, plus mine was on the areola ? so that helped hide the scar if it’s noticeable. I strongly encourage you to talk to your doctor. That’s not normal. And I’m not sure if drying out milk will help because it may not be milk causing the ball.
Thank you for your response! Yes, i have a lump on the side of my breast that doesn’t seem to get smaller and on the top of my breast it feels hard and hot and its also red which doesn’t seem to get better either…
Ay, yes go to Dr. I went again after first batch of antibiotics when my breast began to turn red. I