Advice to relieve pain after epsiotomy

[nappyaddict]

So far I've told my friend to do the following.

Apply arnica cream and take arnica tablets (must be 200C, anything less isn't strong enough).

Have a salt bath.

Put 10 drops each of tea tree oil, distilled witch hazel and lavender oil in the bath and also on pads.

Put 100% Aloe Vera gel straight from the plant in the fridge and then on pads.

Put pads in the freezer.

Boots and Mothercare do small gel packs you can put in your knickers under your pad. They also do ones you can put in your bra for when your milk first comes in.

Use Aloe Vera wipes

If you have anything to add I would be really grateful.

Also has anyone tried putting aloe vera gel straight into the bath?

Lidocaine gel on the incision. Ahhh....

Also lavender oil straight on the incision. It's antiseptic and pain relieving. (Safe to use full strength or dilute with a bit of carrier oil... or lidocaine gel.)

Arnica best in 30C strength.

What is lidocaine gel and where do I get it?

Lidocaine is a local anaesthetic. You should be able to get it at the chemist's (you have to ask for it). You don't want EMLA cream though - make sure you're clear on that. That's quite different (and much more expensive).

You have it covered! Unfortunately there is nothing else you can do really.

I was advised to alternate between Ibuprofen and Paracetamol every 3 hours for pain relief.

I took the Arnica tablets and did the salt and tea tree baths and the pain and discomfort went within a couple of weeks.

foam ring cushion.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... that was better.

most chemists will have them 'round the back (pardon the pun) but you usually have to ask.

I really don't think it is a good idea to put salt in the bath. This can start to dissolve stitches too quickly.

Wasn't she discharged with anything from the hospital? I alternated voltarol and paracetamol.

salt is 'proven' top be ineffective (althogh lots of women find it is soothing)

The foam rings are not recommended either - sitting on one makes the bits in the hole in the middle get all swollen from the blood poliong in the tissues. She'd be better lying on her side lots or using a cushion underne cheek and alternating.

Diclofenac is a better painkiller than ibuprofen.

icen packs under a pad are next to useless. don't ice the area directly either.

Arnica good. Lavendar good. Aloe vera good.

Arnica will only help if it actually contains arnica of course - arnica tablets tend to be homeopathic (sugar pills/placebos).

If the arnica cream contains arnica it will help though.

ooh - I never thought about the blood-pooling thing with the foam cushions. I nearly married mine.

My MW told me to soak maternity pads in witch hazel. Twas good.

Can you take Diclofenac with paracetomol? Do I have to ask OTC for it?

Yes, I was given both voltarol and paracetamol at the hospital. Not sure if it's OTC or prescription though.

volterol(dicolofenac) is POM.

She could take ibuprofen (400-600mg, X3 daily) with paracetamol(1g, X3 daily). The trick is to take them non-stop for a week or so, then reduce the ibuprofen but keep the paracetamol going.

Paracetamol is a wonderful analgesic if you keep taking it regularly, but it is hopeless for breakthrough pain.

There is no difference between a 30C and 200C arnica tablets and both are sugar pills with NO arnica in them. Or maybe one molecule of it in a whole tube of pills. Definitely not enough for any effect whatsoever.

Episiotomy pain is horrible but will pass in three weeks whether she sits in a tea tree bath and takes sugar pills or not.

I would not advise anyone to rub gels, creams, or wipes into an open wound. She should, however, disinfect the area frequently. Around here, they use foaming iodine solution, but I hear their use is discontinued in some places.

When wound heals (i.e. covered with skin, although it won't be pain-free at this time), she should use Contractubex. It is a scar cream specifically prescribed for gynecological operations. Rub it on scar tissue twice a day. This is the magic cream that saved me.

Highlander - voltarol is not POM, it's OTC.
I swear by the stuff

JackSawMamaKissingSantaClaus Did you use that lidocaine gel when it was still an open wound or after it had started to heal?

Codeine, diclofenac and paracetamol on rotation, but watch out for getting a bit constipated with the codeine.

sit on a sheepskin rug - put the rug on the armchair sofa and sit on that, it was good for me much more comfy on my sore areas. I also had acupunture and have no idea whether it worked or not in the healing process

Arrange for someone to wait on her hand and foot - getting up and down every two minutes isn't great fun...

The ingredients for Nelson's arnica cream are as follows:

Purified water, glyceryl monostearate & macrogol stearate, apricot kernel oil, theobroma oil, glycerol, polawax GP 200 (cetearyl alcohol, PEG-20 stearate), cetostearyl alcohol, cetyl palmitate, glyceryl monocaprylate, methyl parahydroxybenzoate, propyl parahydroxybenzoate.

I don't think it actually contains any Arnica does it? What a joke!

and Boot's Arnica cream:

says the active ingredients is Arnica Montana Tincture.

Yep, Nelsons is homeopathic - it's a big con isn't it?

What a con re. the Arnica!

I'd say the most important thing is to stay on top of the pain with drugs. Even if it starts to feel better for an hour or two keep taking the pain meds on schedule as it can creep back up and then it's harder to get back to a manageable level again.
Also don't do too much moving about too soon. I had a 3rd degree epi and made the mistake of walking to pick up my daughter from school too soon. I ended up with burst stitches which made things much worse.

MoonUnitAlpha How come they are allowed to call it Arnica cream though if it doesn't even contain Arnica!!

In the description it says Nelsons Arnica Cream has been specially prepared from the alpine plant Arnica montana and the active substance is Arnica montana tincture 0.9% v/w. So how come it wasn't in the ingredients list?

Not sure nappyaddict - from the Nelson's website it looks like they do homeopathic remedies though.