12-09-2011, 23:52
I have been pumping for 2.5 years, and have determined that when I get the occasional red dots or total red hickey breast, it is due to a minor leak, hard to notice and detect. Once I find the leak and fix it, no more red dots regardless of how hard I pump.
Just my experience but also makes sense since I don't get them for months, then one day it happens. Sometimes the leak is very hard to detect. I have learned to recognize that another sign of a leak is a pull on one nipple when I am pumping, from the unequal pressure. If I take the domes off it's inevitable that I have the beginning of redness starting. Others disagree and say it's over pumping, but in my case it is always "overpumping" to compensate for loss of pressure somewhere.
The leak can be a very tiny pinhole in the tubing, or just the padding starting to wear creating a gap. I used to have problems with cracking cups, but they are making them stronger now so it's usually something simple, hard part is locating it.
Just my experience but also makes sense since I don't get them for months, then one day it happens. Sometimes the leak is very hard to detect. I have learned to recognize that another sign of a leak is a pull on one nipple when I am pumping, from the unequal pressure. If I take the domes off it's inevitable that I have the beginning of redness starting. Others disagree and say it's over pumping, but in my case it is always "overpumping" to compensate for loss of pressure somewhere.
The leak can be a very tiny pinhole in the tubing, or just the padding starting to wear creating a gap. I used to have problems with cracking cups, but they are making them stronger now so it's usually something simple, hard part is locating it.