It's bitter sweet: your infant sleeps 11 hours and you're amazed, but you wake up with the most engorged breasts ever. No biggie, nursing should take care of it. Later that morning I started to experience pain on the underside of my right breast. I figured it was related to the engorgement and that after nursing a few times it would resolve itself. Well it got worse that night. In fact it kept me up worrying that night because of all the internet research I did on the topic. I didn't want to end up with mastitis. That night when the baby woke up at 3:30 (far earlier than she would normally) I welcomed it as another opportunity to try and relieve the pressure of the clog. Then I used our microwavable heating pad and kept it on the affected area until I fell asleep. Day two I really went full force with treatment techniques. I took a warm shower and massaged the area. I nursed that side first on all occasions. I varied my nursing positions to make different points of pressure. In between nursing sessions I used the heating pad. It did feel noticeably better by the end of that day but there was still localized pain. I went to bed with the heating pad again. Finally after waking up on day three it feels so much better and I think I'm in the clear, thankfully. I'm heading on vacation next week and I would hate for this to become a full blow infection before I go.
My advice if you think you have a plugged duct is to aggressively treat yourself as soon as possible. Use heat, pressure, and nursing/pumping often. If I had still felt the same level of pain when I woke up on day three I would have called the doctor. I checked my temperature as well because flu symptoms are a sign of mastitis. If you have a fever or feel like you have the flu when you notice a plugged duct, call your doctor immediately.
