How does cabbage leaves help engorged breasts

Breast engorgement is so uncomfortable that it can be difficult to even think straight. While engorgement usually goes away on its own after a day or two, no one would blame you for needing some relief in the meantime. A review of studies supports the idea that cabbage leaves are a reliable way to find the relief you need. The review found that using cabbage leaves reduced the pain and hardness of engorged breasts and made it easier for people to continue breastfeeding for longer.

When using cabbage leaves to soothe the swelling and discomfort of engorgement, you want to keep one important thing in mind: As soon as you begin to feel relief, you should stop applying cabbage leaves. To use cabbage leaves for engorgement, follow the same steps provided above for treatment of mastitis. Has the swelling or pain reduced at all? Obviously this treatment may or may not work for you; everyone is different.

Many people notice improvement of engorgement within a few hours after starting to use cabbage leaves. You may want to try using cabbage leaves to speed it up or make yourself more comfortable while you wait for your supply to decrease. You can leave cabbage leaves on your breasts until the leaves begin to wilt rather than for 20 minutes max and you can repeat the treatment as many times per day as you want.

Many treatments for breast engorgement have been attempted and explored. Objective: To examine the effectiveness of cabbage leaf treatment on pain and hardness of the engorged breasts of post-partum women and its influence on the duration of breastfeeding in women with breast engorgement.

Inclusion criteria: Postpartum lactating mothers 13 to 50 years of age and of any parity in the first two weeks postpartum with breast engorgement.

Cabbage leaf treatment on breast engorgement in reducing pain, hardness and increasing the duration of breastfeeding. Primary outcomes: engorgement, severity of the distention, hardness to touch and pain associated with breast engorgement. Secondary outcome: duration of breastfeeding. Use of this site is subject to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Registry Builder New. Cabbage Leaves While Breastfeeding. Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Wu, M. Medical Review Policy All What to Expect content that addresses health or safety is medically reviewed by a team of vetted health professionals. You may have heard that green cabbage leaves can provide soothing relief for breastfeeding issues such as engorgement and mastitis pain. Learn more about the effectiveness of this home remedy. Back to Top.

In This Article. Continue Reading Below. Read This Next. View Sources. American Academy of Pediatrics, Engorgement , August Science Direct, Mustard Oil , Breast engorgement: patterns and selected outcomes. J Hum Lact. Lawrence R and Lawrence R. Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession, 6th ed.

Louis: Mosby, , p. Breast engorgement: contributing variables and variables amenable to nursing intervention.

J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. Mohrbacher N. Breastfeeding Answers Made Simple. Amarillo, Texas: Hale Publishing, , p. Riordan J and Auerbach K. Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, 3rd ed. Boston and London: Jones and Bartlett, , p. A comparison of chilled and room temperature cabbage leaves in treating breast engorgement. Roberts KL.