Thrush Treatment
and Breastfeeding Pain

There are many thrush treatment options available to choose from. When left untreated, Candida thrush is a big problem for breastfeeding mothers. This page will give the remedy that helps baby's oral thrush and mother's breast stop the contagious pain.

What is thrush and is there thrush treatment? Treatment for thrush may never enter a new mothers mind and many mothers expect breastfeeding their baby will be a joyful time in life. What could be better than knowing mom is providing baby with all the nutrition she/he needs from her own body. In fact many first time mothers believe breastfeeding will be a breeze.

For some women, breastfeeding may turn out to be easier than imagined. But for others, well, it doesn't always work out that way. In fact, it can be the exact opposite.

Is oral thrush contagious? A baby may develop thrush mouth (candidiasis or oropharyngeal candidiasis) at any breastfeeding stage. If you suspect your baby has a thrush infection, you should immediately look for thrush treatment because baby can pass thrush onto the mother and vice versa. After a woman has a thrush infection on her nipples, she may find that breast feeding is too painful and quit altogether. Breastfeeding your baby should not cause you pain other than a slight pull you may feel while baby is nursing.

Thrush that has entered the milk-ducts (intra-ductal yeast or ductal candidiasis) gets even harder to treat. The pain associated with ductal candidiasis has been described as a burning sensation with intense pain or "prickly heat". There may also be shooting pains in the arm and back as well. The nipples feel far worse than just tender nipples. The pain of the sore nipples lingers even after a breast feeding session has ended.

Thrush treatment should be simultaneous for mom and baby. You wouldn't want to try and heal only the infected mother because the next time you breast feed, baby can pass the same infection back to mom again. It's important to note that mom should continue to breast feed during her thrush treatment. If the sore nipple pain is too severe on one breast, try feeding the baby on the opposite breast for the next several feedings to give the hurting breast some healing time.

If you feel worried that your milk supply may become low from skipping a few feedings on the hurt breast, you can try hand expressing the milk or use your breast pump if you have one. This should also stop your hurting breast from becoming to engorged with milk. If you notice your breast is becoming too full and feel a small lump, it could simply be a clogged duct. Try messaging the area until you feel the lump has flattened. At that point your milk will probably start to flow out and give you some relief.

Thrush Symptoms on the Breast

Baby Thrush Symptoms

Treatments for Mom
and Thrush In Babies

Yeast infection medicine from doctors: If you go to your doctor for thrush treatment, nystatin is usually prescribed. Mother and baby will use this simultaneously. The mother will spread this treatment over the nipples after each feeding.

Diflucan can be taken orally and is another prescribed medication that seems to be particularly helpful in combating yeast.

Natural Remedies For Thrush: A very effective thrush treatment that mothers have reported successful is Gentian Violet. Gentian Violet was used widely long ago as a yeast infection treatment up until "new age" drugs become prevalent. Now, people are starting to once again become familiar with it's powerful ability to fight candida and thrush in infants.

There has been some controversy over Gentian Violet due to the alcohol content. Some practitioners feel the alcohol content is so miniscule concerns shouldn't even be raised as it wouldn't be enough to cause the slightest harm to an infant. If this is of concern, half of the Gentian Violet can be diluted with water.

As a word of caution, Gentian Violet will turn clothes and anything it comes in contact with purple as the name implies so use clothes you don't mind ruining. Be sure to use Gentian Violet in 1% solution. It is not easily found in pharmacies but can be ordered online through Amazon for instance. It should be swabbed all inside baby's mouth once daily and on mother's entire nipple area once daily.

Grapefruit Seed Extract can be found at stores like Whole Foods or specialty drugstores/pharmacies. In liquid form, dilute 15 drops into 1 ounces of water. If you feel you need a stronger thrush treatment dilute 20 drops in 1 ounce of water. Swab baby's mouth prior to nursing and swab mothers nipples after each feeding. You should begin to see results within 3-5 days. It can also be taken orally by the mother in a 250 mg capsule three times a day. When washing clothes, you should also apply 25 liquid drops to every wash because you want to be sure clothing is free of the fungus as well.

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar may also be used in conjunction with the other treatments listed here. If you are applying apple cider vinegar to your nipples take caution because it may sting. Dilute 1 T to 1/2 cup water and swab nipples after each feeding.

Direct sunlight may be beneficial in combating yeast because yeast can not live in high temperatures. If possible, expose your sore nipples in the sunlight for about ten minutes a day in conjunction with the remedies listed here.

Strengthen Immune System It's important to strengthen your immune system by going on a candida free diet and adhering to candida diet guidelines as much as possible during the period of your thrush treatment. This means cutting out all sugars and artificial sugars (such as splenda, etc) as much as possible. Candida feeds on simple sugars so the more sugar you eat the longer your yeast problems will stay around.

Note: For thrush treatment, always use a clean/new cotton swab or paper towel when ever you apply treatments in order to prevent cross contamination.