Breastfeeding lump won't go away

What's a clogged milk duct?

Milk ducts are small, straw-like tubes that carry milk from your mammary glands to your nipples.

When your body makes breast milk faster than it's getting expressed, it can get backed up in the duct.

How to massage a clogged milk duct

How to massage a clogged milk duct

What does a clogged milk duct look like

Painless lump in breast while breastfeeding

Dilated breast ducts on ultrasound

How to get rid of a clogged milk duct

When this happens, the tissue around the duct may become swollen and inflamed and press on the duct, causing a blockage. This is called a clogged or plugged duct. According to one study, 4.5 percent of women have clogged ducts in their first year of breastfeeding.

There's a network of these ducts, with some merging together.

The number of main ducts ranges from 4 to 18 at the base of the nipple.

How to tell the difference between a clogged milk duct and breast cancer

The size of the ducts ranges from 1.0 to 4.4 mm in diameter, and the diameter can increase to allow for the flow of milk when nursing.

When your baby breastfeeds, the hormones prolactin and oxytocin increase.

This causes the muscles in the breasts to contract, moving the milk through the milk ducts to your nipples. This is known as letdown.

When the milk lets down but isn

hard lump in breast milk duct

lump in breast blocked milk duct