A systematic review of clinical trials in the treatment of sore nipple and nipple pain in breastfeeding women

Nipple fissure is one of the most common problems in breastfeeding women and the main reason for the early discontinuation of breastfeeding. Due to the importance of breastfeeding, the present study was performed with aim to review the clinical trials conducted on the treatment of sore nipple and nipple pain in breastfeeding women.
In this systematic review, all local databases were searched with the keywords of “sore nipple” and “clinical trial” and databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Science Direct and Medline with the keywords of “sore nipple” and “clinical trial” were searched to November 2015 with no time and language limitations. All the articles were reviewed based on the Jadad scale and those scoring ≥3 were selected. The results were reported qualitatively.
A total of 14 articles meeting the inclusion criteria were ultimately examined. Among the treatments examined in these studies, Lanolin along with a nipple shield, Aloevera gel, menthol essence and warm compress led to more decrease in severity of pain and the fastest recovery of sore nipples.
Lanolin along with a nipple shield, Aloevera gel, menthol essence and warm compress are the most effective treatments for sore nipples. Nevertheless, a definitive judgment about the effectiveness of these interventions requires more accurate studies with adequate sample sizes. Studies conducted on sore nipples and their treatment are scattered and drawing conclusions about the interventions is not possible due to the limited number of studies.