Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To think I can’t use a tampon ever again after childbirth???

70 replies

minniemummy0 · 14/05/2018 21:52

I’m 6 months postpartum. I had a second degree tear and obviously had stiches for that.

I’m having my second period and no matter how much I try I can’t seem to get a tampon in right! I always used tampons before and had no problem getting them in. Very,
Very occasionally I would not put it in right and have to put a new one in again. Well it feels like that every time. I can’t seem to get it far up enough and I can actually still feel it.

Am I condemned to horrible towels forever??

Please don’t reccomend those cup things, I really have no interest in using them.

OP posts:

happymummy12345 · 14/05/2018 22:16

It took me a few withdraws bleeds (was back on combined pill from 6 week check) after giving birth to get used to them again. I find that since childbirth I do have to put them in at a slight different angle.
Not sure why people say not to use tampax though. I've only ever used tampax pearl and I love them. Wouldn't use anything else at all.

saturdaynightgin · 14/05/2018 22:19

I had a small tear that didn’t need stitches, but have struggled with tampons since having DD 2.5 years ago. I can never get the angle right and can constantly feel it!

I’ve switched to a moon cup, but to be honest I really wish I could go back to tampons as the cup is a bit of a faff

OpheliaLeghorn · 14/05/2018 22:26

A slightly happier tale for you, OP.

I never used tampons because I didn't like them (could somehow 'feel' them there). Had forceps delivery for flipping massive DC1, vaginal reconstructive surgery immediately afterwards, etc, etc. Nothing on earth would have persuaded me to use a tampon. Did think of a Mooncup, but it was ruled out on the grounds that I had a severe cervical prolapse and it wouldn't stay in (also couldn't have an IUD for the same reason - despite the consultant's best efforts). Prolapse was diagnosed after I kept moaning to the GP about the way that I felt as if everything was falling out through my vagina .

14 years after that particular birth from Hell, I thought I might as well give a tampon a go because I was so sick of towels. Astonishingly, all was fine. It didn't fall out. I haven't looked back. They involve a bit of judicious placement, so perhaps not for the squeamish, but once they are in situ, they are fine. I use lilets (no applicator). Strangely, the bigger ones for heavier flow are less inclined to stay put, so I just use the smaller ones but change them far more frequently. Hope this helps...

Nerdybeethoven · 14/05/2018 22:28

They don't feel right for me any more either, and my kids are 13 and 11. I had a tear and stitches with DS1 but not DS2. I just couldn't get a tampon in a comfortable position. Then I found that I had to change it every time I went to the loo - ie couldn't just go for a quick wee in between tampon changes as I guess I just can't isolate the muscles, and having a wee just pushes it out. I guess i might have a prolapse too (it's not right down there, but I just don't want to know). Although I was examined a couple of years ago by my GP and she said it was just my vaginal wall that was slack. Things nobody every bloody tells you before having kids. Grrrr. I could probably manage a tampon for a short amount of time if I was going swimming, but i don't do that very often, and I am pretty much just used to towels now.

evilharpy · 14/05/2018 22:28

I couldn't use tampons at all after having my daughter. No prolapse but I did need a lot of patching up/putting back together and it was as if something had shifted slightly, I could always feel the tampon. Didn't seem to matter which brand. I've given up trying.

I'm fine with a mooncup, funny enough. Maybe because they are bendier.

BuntyII · 14/05/2018 22:28

Another one here who can't cope with Tampax. I can always feel them. I can never get non applicator ones far enough in either. I used Lidl applicator ones now and they're much more comfortable.

Hohofortherobbers · 14/05/2018 22:29

Another vote for lillets or Sainsbury's own brand which are also short and expand width ways. Also need lubricant except on my heaviest days. Another one post forceps for 10lb baby

UterusUterusGhali · 14/05/2018 22:31

I was definitely a different angle after DC1. I couldn't have sex in certain positions either. There was a corner where there was no corner before.

I've got to grips with tampons now after lots of experimenting. :)
Keep trying different types and angles.

Katialoo · 14/05/2018 22:32

I've been too scared to even try a tampon since I gave birth (4 years ago. I'm a big chicken )

Boooommm · 14/05/2018 22:36

I was really against mooncups then gave birth. Could no longer use tampons (felt weird and would slip out). Mooncups were amazing revelation took a few months to get used to but have never looked back 10 years on.

TammySwansonTwo · 14/05/2018 22:39

I had a c section so can’t comment there but I’ve never been able to insert tampons without severe pain. My period are already excruciating (I have endometriosis) my specialist told me years ago that he advises all of his patients against wearing tampons or cups, not only due to the risk of retrograde menstruation (which is obviously higher with cups as it’s not being absorbed and can flow back when lying down etc) but because they do tend to exacerbate pelvic pain. He said my difficulty inserting them could well be down to scar tissue outside the vagina, and I wonder if a traumatic birth could cause the same sort of issues.

I know pads are hideous - they literally take my skin off, and my periods are very long and very heavy, but for me they’re a necessary evil.

SharronNeedles · 14/05/2018 22:41

I had a very bad tear too. I used to have mega heavy periods and no pain but since having DS I now have super light, but painful periods so have gone down a tampon from green to yellow. Can't get a green one in now!!

Ellboo · 14/05/2018 22:46

This is a really helpful thread! I’ve given up on tampons after 2 huge babies (youngest now 4). Will experiment with more brands now. And may try to woman up enough for a cup...

mirime · 14/05/2018 22:48

I had a third degree tear five years ago, still can't use tampons and pelvic floor exercises didn't help. I can use a menstrual cup - I know you said you weren't interested, but it is perhaps something to consider.

FrozenMargarita17 · 14/05/2018 22:50

To be honest, I had no tears or any kind of trauma really (apart from an 8lb 3oz baby with a massive head) and I find them REALLY painful to use now. Never had a problem before :(

welshcake82 · 14/05/2018 22:57

Echo what Believeitornot and a few others said: after childbirth I can't put a tampon in straight, put it in a bit and then there's a corner up to the left 🙄

justme28 · 14/05/2018 22:59

I had a 4th degree and can't either 😞

elephantscanring · 14/05/2018 23:13

My god! So many of us damaged by childbirth. And we’re all saying ‘so I can’t do this but it’s ok’ or ‘this is uncomfortable but it’s ok’ - but why is it ok?

I couldn’t use tampons for years after dd. Years. And I thought it was just me..

RoomOfRequirement · 14/05/2018 23:20

OP - I'm not interested in cups, please don't mention them.

Posters - Have you tried a cup? I love my cup.

Are mooncup users becoming the new vegans? Dear lord.

Carouselfish · 14/05/2018 23:22

They are weirder for me now, couldn't use it without applicator. I'm three years on from birth. What strikes me about this is the implications it has for sex too - I'm single so not an immediate concern but I was certainly off the idea of anything in that zone, up until recently.
Good that MN is a place people can talk about this stuff. Annoying that we can't/don't in real life and just expect everything to go back to normal.

Carouselfish · 14/05/2018 23:25

I'd love to print this and the thread on post-birth injury out and give them to my jolly hockey sticks doctor who had four children easily with her stiff upper lip vagina and seems to think everyone should be like her.

HelenaDove · 14/05/2018 23:27

YY Room of Requirement.

"my body my choice" doesnt seem to include mooncups.

evilharpy · 15/05/2018 06:06

I wasn't saying the OP should use one. Just saying that funny enough they don't bother me like tampons do.

Strax · 15/05/2018 06:43

A prolapse is where either the vaginal wall at the front has stretched and your bladder is now bulging into your vagina. Symptoms can include difficulty in fully emptying your bladder, utis, stress incontinence. Or the rear wall has stretched and your bowel is bulging into your vagina. Difficulty emptying your bowels, constipation etc. Sometimes if it's a bad prolapse people have to 'splint' is, push the bowel wall back in place in order to poo. Or a uterine prolapse is where your uterus is no longer held up properly and sags down into your vagina, sometimes it can sag so much your cervix is on the outside.
You can have any of all of them. As PP suggested, you may be able to see a bulge just inside (or outside) your vagina but you may not if the prolapses are mild. You should be able to feel inside though, if you insert a finger or two and bear down you might be able to feel a squishy mass on one side or another or both. An appointment with a GP can confirm.

Imchlibob · 15/05/2018 06:49

Try a larger size? I find the little slim mini ones won't stay put any more but the big super-maxi ones are fine.

Flip

1 2 3