Can You Get a Breast Infection When You're Not Nursing?

I have had some Very serious bouts of mastitis (I'm talking a week or more in the hospital on IV antibiotics.) for years, before I was ever even pregnant. In fact, it went undiagnosed for a while, because doctors often treat it as a breastfeeding side-effect, and don't think a woman whose never dealt with pregnancy and breastfeeding can get it. Please do NOT wait. I speak from experience. You are at the point, that the infection is really starting to explode. Those red streaks (or spots, if you have those) are a bad sign, that the infection is advancing. Go to the labor and delivery ward and get on antibiotics. The first time I had a bout, I said I would wait until Monday (I had the red streaks and all.) and by Sunday morning I was in the hospital with breast being swollen 3 times it's normal size. I'm not trying to alarm you, but explain to you how fast it gets bad. don't wait, it's not worth it.

Like someone else said, if you wait...it turns into other things. My first infection also turned into cellulitis, staph, and almost went to my blood. Especially when pregnant, it's easier to treat early on. The longer you let it go (even just d days), the more chances for it to explode.

The ER doc told me red streaks on the skin are a BAD sign, that the infection is advanced and needs to be dealt with.

I've always been told that if there's pain the breasts, especially if it interferes with typical activities, that you should have it seen immediately. I wouldn't wait until Monday. Call your doctor and see what she says to do. She'll probably send you to urgent care to get it checked out.

Talk to your OB. I had an infection when I was 8 months pregnant. If it is treated early it is so much easier to deal with. Because of a misdiagnoses, mine turned into a staph infection which required surgery. Hopefully an antibiotic would clear up anything you have. Also, if it is just a blocked milk duct a hot shower or warm compress may help. Take some tylenol and Monday will be here soon :)
Good luck and blessings on the remainder of your pregnancy!

Please get a thorough exam and don't make any assumptions that this is due to pregnancy. It could be a simple infection or it might not. You need a professional exam. Pain in the breast can be as simple as an infection or strained muscle or as serious as cancer -- it is a myth that "all breast cancers have no pain." I"m not trying to scare you, truly, I'm just saying that there is NO way to tell whether it's simple or serious, we can't make assumptions, and we can't diagnose you here, so you need to see a doctor. Don't let them put you off even a few days -- clearly you're in pain and it's worse so insist on being seen first thing Monday. If the pain's bad this weekend I'd go to the ER, especially since you're pregnant - if it's an infection you need to get started on meds ASAP, and that 24 hours could make a difference.

I'm sure it is.My friends and I use "Happy Ducts" from Wish Garden available at health food stores. I don't think there's anything bad for pregnancy in it and it works! I was fighting repeated blocked ducts that were hard and painful. I did the shower and heated pad/ice but it kept coming back. This stuff worked with in 4-6 hours along with an advil and I kept it up for 2 days and haven't needed it in the last 2 weeks.Hope that gives you relief!

Girls and our boobies, sigh.
Mine even got sore during the onset of menopause.
Hot shower or a heating pad and massage helped mine finally go away.
You probably have some inflammation due to pregnancy.

Call the doctor. It is possible to get mastitis when not nursing (pregnancy is the second most common time, I believe), but the symptoms don't seem to quite match (I always got a fever of at least 102 early on, for one thing). But it could be something else.

In the mean time, check your bras - are they too tight? This happened to my grandma, similar symptoms as you describe over several weeks, she went to the doc and he said that it was pressure from the bra: she'd gained weight, and size, and not increased her bra size. That's common during pregnancy too, and if you use an underwire it's more likely to put extra pressure if it's too small.