There's no denying that breast milk is pretty miraculous. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, mom's liquid gold can protect against respiratory illnesses, ear infections, stomach problems, asthma, and eczema, but some moms don't just use it as a preventative measure or a source of nutrition. Due to breast milk's healing properties, one mom decided to give it a try when her daughter came down with a case of pink eye, and the results have gone viral.
After antibiotics didn't seem to be helping her sick daughter, one mom tried a squirt of breast milk.
The mom, who opted to remain anonymous, shared her breast milk hack on Breastfeeding Mama Talk's Facebook page. She explained that she had spent the entire day before putting prescription drops in her daughter's gunky eye to treat what she assumed to be conjunctivitis. "A lot of mucus was coming out. No improvement. Last night before her last dose before bedtime it dawned on me to use my breast milk," she wrote. "So I squirted some in a little bowl and with a dropper I applied breast milk into her eyes."
She shared photos of the girl's progress and was impressed to see how quickly her eye seemed to improve. "The power of breast milk," she wrote.
Other moms were quick to chime in that they've tried this before and had similar success.
This mom has done it a dozen times and doesn't care if haters are skeptical.
Others swear by it for clogged ducts and even treat their own cases of conjunctivitis with it.
Some moms even skip the eye dropper and apply directly from the source.
Others question whether those who don't support it work for pharmaceutical companies.
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It turns out, a ton of moms use breast milk to cure more than just pink eye.
Women flooded the comments with their own experiences of using breast milk on both their kids and themselves for everything from burns, rashes, stuffy noses, diaper rashes, to even cold sores.
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But unsurprisingly, not everyone is sold on the breast milk treatment -- including many doctors.
Some moms bring up the fact that causation doesn't equal correlation.
Others think it's dangerous to chance it when you're dealing with an infection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a number of things can cause conjunctivitis in babies, and antibiotics should be given depending on if it's bacterial. However, a warm massage can help treat a blocked tear duct.
Board certified pediatrician Jarret Patton, MD, FAAP, tells CafeMom that there's mixed evidence on whether breast milk can actually treat pink eye or ear infections, despite the positive results these moms are seeing.
"There have been studies that point to the potential of antibiotic properties of breast milk, but this certainly would not be in my treatment arsenal for ear and eye infections," he says. "In fact, for the majority of inner ear infections, the milk wouldn't get through the tympanic membrane to get to the infection. However, it is unlikely to be harmful."
It's not to say that breast milk isn't amazing, but it might not be the best bet for everything. "Breast milk does have great immune system boosters for infants; this is one of the main reasons pediatricians are great advocates of breastfeeding," Patton adds.
