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Evidence summaries

Treatments for Breast Engorgement during Lactation

Cabbage leaves, cold gel packs, or herbal compresses may have some effect on breast pain and breast hardness during lactation. Level of evidence: "C"

The certainty of evidence is donwgraded by study quality and by imprecision (small number of participants).

Summary

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 21 studies with a total of 2170 subjects. For breast pain and breast hardness, cold cabbage was a little more effective than routine care (n=152). For breast pain and breast hardness, herbal compress was more effective than hot compress or massage (n=500). For breast hardness, cold gel packs was slightly more effective than routine care (n=152).

Clinical comments

Note

Date of latest search: 2020-10-06

    References

    • Zakarija-Grkovic I, Stewart F. Treatments for breast engorgement during lactation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2020;(9):CD006946. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords