hows your episiotomy holding up??

[ilovefirelighters]

when i had my dd ten weeks ago it was a very fast 2hr long labour resulting in having to have an episiotomy, which i was fine with having. i had all the usual blood loss aches and pains etc. after a few weeks i had a little look and it seemed like the stitches had come loose. my midwife checked and said they had but i was healing nicely and shouldnt need re-stitching. my dd is now 10 weeks and although i havent had pain for several weeks now i dont seem to be healing fully. has anyone out there had this too? is it perfectly normal to take this long when your stitches come undone?? your experiences are very welcome.

[Unwind]

It took about 8 months for mine to feel fully healed, and to be pain free. I had it checked out twice - and was told it looked like it had healed nicely and I shouldn't have any pain . I felt that they treated me like a whinger.

Knowing it looked okay made me even more miserable, as there seemed no prospect of things actually getting better. And nobody suggested that even after so much time it might just improve anyway.


I read on here a suggestion by another poster to invest in a mooncup, as using one would gently stretch the scar tissue, and it had helped her. I thought it was worth a shot, and to my surprise it seemed to work! It may have been coincidence, but I have had no pain or discomfort since the first week I used it.


10 weeks is early days, but you could ask your GP for a gynae referral, if you are worrying.

[ilovefirelighters]

thank you, blimey i didnt realise it could take so long. like i said im not in any pain at all now but i would quite like to get back to my old self in the bedroom department and its worrying me that it will hurt and i wont be able too. what is a mooncup is it something that has to be prescribed?

[Unwind]

A mooncup is an alternative to tampons, and available in most chemists. There are many, many rave threads on here about them. Slightly tricky to get the hang of, which is where the incidental stretching of scar tissue comes in

The last gynae I saw said I should use dilators (dildos of various sizes) which she had sent out to me, to stretch the scar tissue. I could not bring myself to ever use them.

[muslimah28]

hi there if your stitches have come undone they will definitely take longer to heal than normal, but at least youre not in pain. try to get some air to the area daily, and keep it very clean, wash when you go to the loo etc. this is important to avoid infection if the wound is open. it will heal in its own time, but dont lose hope that it will indeed heal. i found salt baths helped a lot too.

[ilovefirelighters]

thank you i will definately look into that. any advice on the sex front? is it horrific or is that just my imagination??

[mycousinrachel]

I know lots of women who've had episiotomies and their sex life has been fine after - no problems at all. Don't let your imagination take over.