Topical treatment for the prevention and relief of nipple fissure and pain in breastfeeding women: A systematic review

Abstract

Objectives: Nipple fissure is considered the second factor responsible for the early cessation of breastfeeding. Untreated nipple fissure leads to several problems, including severe pain, bleeding, inadequate milk excretion, mastitis, and nipple abscess.Design: The present systematic study was designed to review topical treatment for the prevention and relief of nipple fissure and pain in breastfeeding women.Methods: This research included articles found in the electronic databases, including SID, IranMedex, Magiran, Scopus, PubMed, Medline, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane library, published from inception to May 2021. In both Persian and English languages, the searched keywords were sore, nipples, pain, trauma, wound, prevention, treatment, therapeutic, therapy, clinical trial, breastfeeding, herbal and drug.Results: Twenty-two out of 520 found articles were selected for the review, including non-herbal medicines (nine) and herbal products (thirteen). We studied among clinical trials regarding the effects of herbal (olive oil, Aloe vera, Calendula officinalis, jujube oil, mint, frankincense, saqez, and Portulaca oleracea) and non-herbal (lanolin, hydrogels, breast milk, and collagenase) medications on nipple pain and fissure. In twelve studies that people used breast milk to treat and prevent fissure and nipple pain, the results showed the effectiveness of breast milk in improving and preventing fissure and nipple pain.Conclusions: Herbal medications on fissure and nipple pain have also indicated a positive effect on the treatment and prevention of fissure and nipple pain. Still, definitive conclusions about their effects are not possible due to the limited studies.