Blisters Vasospasm NO IDEA!!

hollystutz

I've been having tons of pain since coming back to work and pumping during the day. LC thought vasospasm was the cause because of the pain cold was triggering and the white to red color of the nipple. She recommended trying bigger shields and turning down the pump (I get carried away and turn pump up WAY too high). I got the pumpin pal breast shields which have seemed to help and the pain is slowly but surely subsiding to te point that I don't flinch when I turn the pump on anymore. BUT, not I have blisters! Not blood blisters, just regular friction blisters but they are towards the front of the nipple where nothing touches during pumping. Does anyone know what's going on?! I just want to have pain free pumping as I have a great milk supply and don't want to stop nursing/pumping because of this problem. Enduring through the pain is starting to get old. LC recommended putting lanolin cream on the shields to make less friction.

hollystutz

I checked for thrush and no signs of that with LO so we ruled that out. I sanitized everything just to be safe and I'm on triple nipple cream in case there is an infection.
She did mention that his latch could be off. I guess I don't feel like that's it because now that I'm at work, he only nurses 2-3x before he goes to bed and then once in the morning before daycare and the latch never seems uncomfortable.
I'm using brand new pump parts because I purchased a second set to have an extra so washing wasn't such a pain at work.
I think I'm just going to give in and see the LC in person...

hollystutz

ClaryPax said:

I always pumped at the lowest setting.  What I was asking was how long had it been since you turned your pump down and got the new flanges to see how long your nipples would have to heal.  It can take 1-2 weeks to heal all the way. 

It's been about a week so I'm assuming I need to turn my pump even lower yet.
Since you pumped at the lowest setting did you have problems getting much milk out? It seems like for me when it's too low nothing comes out, even after let down.