Mastalgia...a fancy word for one of a girl's worst enemies, breast pain. Breast pain can have many causes and if you are personally experiencing it, you may wish to consult with a physician for help in finding the cause. I did consult with a physician when I began having spasms and severe pain while nursing my 2nd child. His response: I've never heard of anything like this before. Considering he'd been an ob-gyn for decades at that point, I found it hard to believe, but thanked him and went home to figure something out for myself.
At that time, it turned out to be candida, brought on by antibiotics given during the birth. I came to discover that it was candida related all those years ago by doing a little test. I was concerned that the antibiotics I had been given had created an imbalance in my gut. I was eating yogurt and taking probiotics, but I was given massive doses of antibiotics due to the fact that I was Group B Strep positive. Since candida was a concern, I researched natural remedies for candida overgrowth and found that cinnamon can be helpful. When I would start having excruciating pain, I would take 2-3 capsules of powdered cinnamon and voila! The pain would go away.
That was 18 years ago, and unfortunately, the pain didn't stop after I quit nursing 11 years ago. I have lived with fibrocystic breast disease for years. I have also struggled with systemic candida, and when having a flare, the pain in my left breast is debilitating. Oddly enough, I experience the pain most severely when I am exposed to chemical fragrances. I have gone to a meeting where someone was wearing perfume, and ended up in bed for the rest of the day because the pain was so severe, I just couldn’t function.
Unfortunately, there’s just not a lot of information out there about candida-related breast pain unrelated to breastfeeding. In fact, I couldn’t find anything. All of the breastfeeding related information deals mostly with nipple thrush and fungal rashes on the breast. In these cases, when doctors have no answers for you and can’t find any information yourself, you have to become your own personal science experiment.
At one point a couple years ago, it was so bad that my entire left arm ached, constantly. I decided to see if there was an oil for breast pain. I found a few things but nothing really seemed to cover all my issues, so I decided to do a little blending myself, and low and behold, it worked. I added Clary Sage, Frankincense, Myrrh, Vetiver, Copaiba and Peppermint essential oils to Jojoba Oil. I rubbed it on every evening after a shower and the pain would ease up or disappear all together. I had also started on a product called SF-722 by Thorne Research, for the yeast, so I thought maybe that was what decreased my pain. But while on the supplement, when I would experience pain, I would use my oil and it worked!
Most likely, this is because all the oils, except Vetiver, are analgesic, or pain relievers, and every one of them are anti-inflammatory. Clary Sage is used frequently to help balance female hormones, which can also contribute to breast pain. Vetiver is also anti-fungal, and since my breast pain is often candida related, I felt that would be a good addition.
The pain does eventually go away, until the next flare. Unfortunately, a change in the seasons, stress, and various other things can bring one on. At least when it happens, I know I have a proven remedy to fall back on.
To find Lovely Lady Breast Health Essential Oil Blend, visit our Etsy Shop at www.lovelydarkwoods.etsy.com.
For more information on balancing your gut, check out The Body Ecology Diet.
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