Lactostasis is a condition that is characterized by stagnation of milk in any part of the mammary gland, or rather, in its ducts. This article will tell you how a cabbage leaf can help in this condition and how to apply it correctly.
Causes of lactostasis
Stagnation of milk is very common in women who have become mothers for the first time and still do not know exactly how to properly feed their child. In some cases, a woman can apply the baby to only one breast several times in a row. This is wrong, since such feeding in most cases leads to stagnation of milk. Therefore, doctors recommend alternating breastfeeding each time to avoid this situation.
The state of lactostasis is a kind of boundary between the norm and pathology, because if you do not cope with it in time, it can lead to mastitis. But if you start a fight with it in a timely manner, then it will turn out to be nothing more than an unpleasant memory among many happy people.minutes of motherhood.
Folk methods for the treatment of lactostasis
But how can lactostasis be defeated in a shorter time, because when breastfeeding, taking many medicines is not only not recommended, but even contraindicated? The only way out can be in the search for others, maybe folk remedies.
There are a great many of these methods, which, according to users, are sure to bring benefits. But is it worth believing everyone and everyone, because it is simply impossible to try all the recipes, and in the meantime lactostasis will smoothly flow into mastitis, and it’s good, if not purulent?
Cabbage leaf - a way out of this situation?
Now on the Internet you can find a lot of information about the benefits of cabbage leaf in lactostasis. But is it? Recently, many experts agree that the cabbage leaf with lactostasis can be useful. But only if you follow all the recommendations for its use. You need to know how to properly apply a cabbage leaf for lactostasis.
Popular opinions about the effect of this vegetable from the cruciferous family on lactation differ. Someone believes that cabbage increases the production of breast milk, but there is an opinion that it reduces it. Of course, both of these views are wrong. Cabbage leaf, when applied topically, has no effect on milk production in a nursing mother. But how then does it affect the situation with lactostasis?
Cabbage has a good decongestant effect. In addition, it has been proven to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. The leaves of this vegetable contain a large amount of various vitamins and minerals. Therefore, when a cabbage leaf is applied, these substances begin to penetrate into the breast tissue, accelerating regeneration processes in it, and its bactericidal action will prevent harmful bacteria from entering the diseased breast. It will help relieve redness and cope with the feeling of heat experienced by most women with lactostasis. If you start using it immediately, as the first signs of milk stagnation appear, it will prevent the development of mastitis.
How to apply a cabbage leaf with lactostasis?
Some women who tried to cope with their problem with the cabbage leaf claimed that it did them almost no benefit. But maybe it was just that they misused it. But how to apply a cabbage leaf with lactostasis so that it is beneficial? It is believed that in order to enhance the effect of this vegetable, it is necessary not only to apply it to a sore chest, but to create a small compress. A cabbage leaf compress for lactostasis should be made in such a way that it has not only a warming, but also a slight cooling effect. To enhance the effect, you can lubricate the part of the sheet that will be applied directly to the body with honey, butter and s alt.
Of course, there must be only one additional component. If a woman's condition is accompanied by a strong pain syndrome, then the compress can not be made from a whole cabbage leaf. To do this, a leaf (one or more, it depends on the prevalence of lactostasis) must be finely chopped or ground through a meat grinder.
There you will also need to add two dessert spoons of curdled milk. The resulting mass should be applied to the affected area also in the form of a compress and insulated. This can be done with a piece of cotton wool and a regular cellophane film. Also for this purpose, a gauze bandage is used, which will fix the compress itself. To do this, it should be wrapped around the chest. After the compress has been applied, it is necessary to put on loose underwear, since if it begins to tighten the chest, then lactostasis will be somewhat more difficult to cure.
Cabbage leaf without additives for milk stasis
Compress can also be made from one sheet without additional products, if, for example, there was an allergic reaction to any components before. But before applying the cabbage leaf with lactostasis to the diseased area, it must be doused with boiling water. This must be done so that the sheet itself is warm. Cold application at the initial stage can lead to narrowing of vessels and ducts and aggravate the situation.
How long to keep a cabbage leaf with lactostasis?
If you apply one cabbage leaf to your chest, and not a compress, then there is no exact time here. Someexperts say that you can keep it until it wilts. Then it can be changed to another. Therefore, the sheets themselves are best applied during the day.
The time during which you need to keep the compress is somewhat different. It can be applied at night. Honey will not only enhance the resolving effect of cabbage, but will also prevent the leaf from withering almost until the morning. If honey for some reason cannot be used, then you can simply attach not one, but several sheets.
Efficiency
Does cabbage leaf help with lactostasis? This question is one of the most frequently asked by young mothers. Of course, in a couple of hours, as many women believe, with the help of an ordinary cabbage leaf, lactostasis cannot be coped with. Of course, if the compress is applied correctly, and the cabbage leaf changes more than once a day, but as needed, then a woman will be able to notice some improvement in her condition the very next day. There is a decrease in swelling and redness, a decrease in pain.
The main thing when using a cabbage leaf is not to confuse lactostasis with incipient mastitis, in which, unfortunately, the above remedy will not help, but will only aggravate the situation. Therefore, before you self-medicate, it is still better to visit a doctor.
