PSYCHOSOMATIC SORE NIPPLES

These often occur when a mother consciously or unconsciously associates breasts or breast-feeding with some unhappy memory or feeling, for instance in connection with uncertainty of her own feelings about motherhood.

Typically, on inspection, usually one or both nipples turn pale and then suddenly blush and then turn pale again. The mother feels pain in the nipple when she feeds the baby and all the time that the baby is at the breast.

Treatment consists of finding the cause of the mother’s anxiety, and then discussing it with her. Sometimes, when a woman understands her own problems, her fears decrease and her nipples no longer feel sore. At other times the problem is too great to resolve quickly enough, and may prevent her from breast-feeding successfully. An understanding doctor/ family physician is needed to tackle otherwise a woman may keep gorging on pain killers.