What is the best way to treat mastitis?

To effectively treat mastitis, you must pay attention to the correct method and prescribe the right medicine. Drug treatment is mainly in the early stages, but it is recommended to treat it with traditional Chinese medicine. If mastitis reaches the abscess formation stage, surgical incision and drainage is required.

1. Treatment policy

Acute mastitis should be treated as early as possible. Ultrashort wave physical therapy can be used in the early stage; high fever can be treated with infusion, penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics; when acute mastitis reaches the stage of abscess formation, timely incision and drainage are required.

2. Drug treatment

Early mastitis is mainly characterized by milk stasis inflammation, which has not yet formed into pus. Ultrashort wave therapy can be used, and the effect is better when combined with traditional Chinese medicine treatment. Milk discharge usually disappears within a week by using traditional Chinese medicine combined with techniques to clear away heat and detoxify, soothe the liver and promote lactation. Commonly used herbs include Trichosanthes kirilowii, Taraxacum mongolicum, Lophatherum gracile, Panicum ovata, Fritillaria thunbergii, and Deer antler powder. For low fever, use Bupleurum chinense. For high fever, add gypsum. For constipation, add burdock. For excessive milk, add malt to reduce milk secretion. Because the body is weak after childbirth, it is taboo to use too much bitter and cold food, such as Plantago, Forsythia, and Rhubarb. If the fever is high, you can combine it with intravenous drip, penicillin, and cephalosporin antibiotics.

3. Surgical treatment

When acute mastitis reaches the stage of abscess formation, timely incision and drainage are required. The size and position of the incision should be based on the principle of ensuring smooth drainage of pus. Because breast abscesses are often multi-chambered, it is necessary to use fingers to separate the connective tissue partitions of multiple abscess cavities so that drainage can be unobstructed. Abscesses deep in the breast are mainly characterized by high fever and chills. The local redness and swelling are not obvious, and there is no fluctuation. A puncture and pus extraction test can be done first, and then an incision can be made after the presence of pus is confirmed. It is best not to wait for breast abscess to rupture on its own, because the abscess cavities are often multiple or occur one after another, and the spontaneous rupture cannot be drained completely. Generally speaking, as long as the pus is drained and the fever subsides, suppurative mastitis will enter the wound healing period. The dressing will be changed every other day, and the wound will usually heal within a month.