Painful and/or damaged nipples associated with breastfeeding are common and represent a challenge for both the persons experiencing nipple
pain and/or
trauma and for those providing treatment. However, evidence-based data has been insufficient to demonstrably minimize these common reasons for failure to initiate or continue successful breastfeeding. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of specific-grade highly purified anhydrous (HPA)
lanolin versus expressed breastmilk (EBM) for the treatment of painful and damaged nipples associated with breastfeeding in a prospective controlled clinical trial evaluating 84 lactating mothers. Nipple
trauma and healing rates were rated by the Nipple
Trauma Score. Nipple
pain intensity was assessed on a visual analog scale. Outcome parameters were in favor of the HPA
lanolin group, reaching statistical significance for healing rates, nipple
trauma and nipple
pain. In our study, we found HPA
lanolin more effective than EBM, inducing faster healing of nipple
trauma (absolute risk reduction of 0.43) and reducing nipple
pain (absolute risk reduction of 0.61 on day 3). We concluded that HPA
lanolin, combined with breastfeeding education, was more effective than EBM, combined with breastfeeding education, in reducing nipple
pain and promoting healing of nipple
trauma.