What should you know about mastitis symptoms?

Symptoms can affect one part of the breast or a wider area. The skin may feel hot, look red or become sensitive, while tissue can feel firm or swollen. Some people also feel tired, achy, chilled or generally unwell. Nipple soreness, milk-flow changes or pain during a feed may occur at the same time. These symptoms are not exclusive to mastitis, and a breast lump is not proof of cancer or infection; an examination helps separate common inflammatory problems from conditions needing other care.

Write down when the symptoms started and whether the area is changing. Rest, drink to thirst and use a cool cloth or wrapped cold pack briefly. If you are breastfeeding, feed or express gently according to comfort and avoid deep massage, tight pressure and repeated pumping aimed at completely emptying the breast. Check latch and positioning; Lactation Consultation can offer practical feeding support. Breast Pain and Painful Breastfeeding provide related symptom context.

Contact a healthcare professional promptly if breast redness spreads, pain or swelling increases, you develop chills or feverishness, or you feel increasingly ill. Seek urgent help for confusion, fainting, breathing trouble or severe weakness. Arrange an assessment for a firm area that remains, a new or enlarging lump, nipple changes, or symptoms that do not settle. A clinician may need to examine the breast and decide whether further testing is useful.

Bring a symptom timeline and ask what findings support mastitis, whether feeding should change, how to manage pain, and what improvement should look like. Mention pregnancy, breastfeeding, nipple injury, medicines, allergies and any previous breast problems.