What Donguibogam describes as the congealment of qi and blood and heat due to depressed fire aligns significantly with the mechanism of mastitis as explained in modern medicine. In modern medical terms, mastitis is primarily an inflammation of breast tissue caused by galactostasis and bacterial infection. The most common causative organism is Staphylococcus aureus, which resides on the skin. It enters through a nipple fissure or wound, or when breast milk is not sufficiently drained and stagnates, it proliferates within and causes an infection.
Such galactostasis can occur when the nursing posture is incorrect, feeding intervals are too long, or the baby cannot suck efficiently due to nipple confusion. Galactostasis also easily happens with tight underwear or during abrupt weaning. In modern terms, the depressed fire and anger mentioned in Donguibogam are closely linked to a mother's decreased immunity brought on by stress, fatigue, and sleep deprivation. Excessive stress stimulates the sympathetic nerve, impairing blood circulation and inhibiting the secretion of oxytocin, a hormone that assists milk ejection, which can make draining breast milk even more difficult. This leads again to galactostasis, forming a vicious cycle that accelerates the inflammatory reaction.
When inflammation develops, our bodies mobilize immune cells as a defense mechanism, and during this process, typical inflammatory symptoms such as erythema, heat sensation, edema, and pain appear. If it worsens, chills and high fever accompany it like a generalized body ache, and it can sometimes progress to a breast abscess, requiring incision and drainage. Early mastitis can improve through antibiotic therapy along with proper breast care, but as Donguibogam emphasized, one must remember that if emotional stability and overall physical condition management for the mother are not carried out concurrently, recurrence is easy and recovery can be slow. Through mastitis, we can confirm once again that no single part of our body operates independently, and that the mind and body are closely connected.
