My Breast Eczema Ordeal and My brief encounter with Dr. Jack Newman

I almost weaned my 19 month old toddler prematurely. The pain I experienced from breast eczema was so bad, I was biting my lip from trying to bear with the pain everytime my toddler latched on. I came to dread breastfeeding the past month. My baby refuses to drink from a bottle and would cry when I refused to nurse, so I bore the pain for weeks, thinking the sores will eventually go away. I thought I had thrush since almost everyone I know and most of what I've read online pointed my symptoms were that of a bad thrush infection. But after several anti-fungal drug treatments and I wasn't getting any better, I decided it was time to visit Dr. Christina Bernardo at Medical City. She's one of the highly recommended Gynecologists/Pediatrician here in Manila who specializes in breastfeeding and lactation problems.

My symptoms:
1.  Sore & cracked nipples that didn't improve even with the use of several good nipple creams.
2.  Dry flaky skin around nipple and areola.
3.  Sores developing on the sides of nipples due to tearing when baby latches on to sensitive and dry nipples.
4.  Occassional bleeding due to the cracks.
5.  Incredible (sometimes shooting) pain during breastfeeding due to the sores ("singaw"-like wounds) that is isolated near nipple/areola area.

After my visit to Dr. Bernardo, it was such a relief to know that I only had severe breast eczema and not thrush as I initially thought. Turns out that thrush has symptoms almost similar to breast eczema except that the shooting pain you feel usually radiates from the nipple towards the back of the breast near your armpit. And with thrush, your baby usually has white spots or sores in his mouth as well...something which my S didn't have. She prescribed oral antibiotics to help the sores heal faster and a topical steroid/anti-inflammatory cream to be applied on the affected areas. She asked me to take the antibiotics and use the cream for seven days.

I was so thrilled when I noticed an immediate improvement after the first application of the cream. After seven days, my nipples looked normal again! The eczema made my nipples look so dreadful for so many weeks that I've begun to forget what my normal nipples looked like! And the best thing? My baby and I can finally breastfeed pain-free after so long :)

The downside...eczema doesn't clear up easily. My areola started to get dry and itchy again with signs of the flaky skin returning a day after I stopped using the steroidal cream.

I was dreading the return of the eczema again and was afraid continous use of the steroidal cream would be bad for my baby as well. That was when I stumbled upon Dr. Jack Newman's facebook account and email add. Almost everyone who researched about breastfeeding would know Dr. Newman and his wonderfully informative latch-on videos. From what I've observed, he was generously giving advice to anyone who posted breastfeeding questions on his FB wall. So I tried emailing him the details of my symptoms and concern. What have I got to lose? I was desperate for advice. I was so thrilled when he responded within an hour after I sent him my email! Dr. Jack Newman responded!!! Wow! ;)

He reassured me that it was safe to use the steroidal cream every 2 to 3 days and see what works for me until the eczema clears up. He also suggested that I could use olive oil to help with the dry patches that may appear. So far, the olive oil and occassional use of the cream helps in keeping the eczema at bay.

To contact Dr. Jack Newman, in case your breastfeeding concerns are not addressed by his online sources, you may contact him here at the IBC site.

Dr. Christina Bernardo can be reached through The Bernardo Clinic, or you may contact her assistant Jane thru 09228216012.