episiotomy help! :'(

[Cgow]

I had my daughter 5 weeks ago and after a long 15 hours, 3 of which I spent pushing she was finally delivered by ventouse.. I was also given a large cut (well in my opinion!) on the outside the scaring is about 5-7cm long!! Now I am in severe pain even now! I admit I have slept with my partner on 2 occasions with no pain at all it just seems each night it hurts terribly! In fact it's becoming deepressing as if it isn't hard running around after a new born to deal with this pain aswell is unbearable. Sorry if tmi but I have felt inside and I have a lump which I am confident is scar tissue but again it's very painful! It's now getting to the point I struggle to get up once sAt down if I drive for more than 20 mins it's awful and generally moving around doing day to day bits! To look at its completely healed u wouldn't of even known I had a cut but the pain is unreal! Is this normal and is there any advice to help ease my pain I can't cope with it anymore I'm beginning to feel it's more painful than the birth!! X

[avocadotoast]

That sounds so difficult. Have you had it looked at by a GP/midwife?

I'm coming up to 6 weeks postpartum and had an episiotomy too so I know how hard it is. Mine is healing but isn't there yet; it doesn't hurt but my stitches came apart and I've had an infection so it's taking a bit of time.

I've been back to docs with mine a couple of times and if you're ok with them having a look at it I'd definitely recommend it. They'll be able to tell you whether it's healed normally. If not then they might be able to look at referring you to a specialist for them to give a further opinion.

[avocadotoast]

Oh - and if the pain has increased relatively suddenly, it could be an infection. Mine got a lot worse pain wise pretty much overnight. As soon as I started taking antibiotics it calmed down. So please go see your GP.

[Cgow]

I will do! I saw my midwife and she said I have healed beautifully but I feel like a turkey at Christmas! I do sometimes think is it in my head (replaying birth over and over) as it was hard I pushed for a solid 3 hours it's strange as it's not necessarily the cut area that hurts that much its everywhere else it feels like someone has kicked me really hard and I'm severely bruised all over!
I was advised when they cut they went trough a blood vessel but I'm not sure if this is why I'm in pain
What symptoms did you have regarding an infection if you don't min Me asking x

[avocadotoast]

I had a bit of a bad smell (which I didn't recognise as being a symptom as it was like 3 days after birth and nobody told me what to expect). There was also some yellowish discharge (again, didn't notice this in amongst other bleeding). The main thing was the pain - I gave birth Sat, was fine until maybe Tues, and then it got worse until by Thurs I couldn't go to the toilet without crying. It was like a real kind of stinging pain; even walking was hard.

I had my first course of antibiotics for a week, which took care of it a bit, but couple of weeks ago went back to docs as it started stinging again. They took a swab and now I'm on some more antibiotics so hopefully that'll sort it!

[Lonz]

Although I don't have any experience of stitches getting infected, bits of your post stood out to me. I had an episiotomy and 2nd degree with other stitches internally. Even though it all healed, I didn't feel well until about 6 weeks. I still felt like it hurt in my head but it actually didn't physically. I was angry they cut me because I didn't know the reason why they did it. I struggled to deal with my son's birth for so long and the physical scar they caused me, but it wasn't until getting partial details of the birth I realised I wasn't hurting anymore. As you say you're reliving the birth and you think it is in your head, do you feel that you may benefit from joining Birth Trauma Association? Just a thought. It has really helped me gain reassurance until I finally have a birth debrief for closure.

[Lonz]

Sorry I meant the BTA Facebook page. A lot of things happened in my son's birth that I didn't understand and left me feeling absolutely miserable, but it really has helped. xx

[LibrariesGaveUsPower]

Even if there is no infection, bruising can take a long time to heal and sex may not be helping. I would lay off (excuse the pun!) for a fortnight or so and see if things are improving. Any sign of infection, see the doctor.