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?

only adivce i can offer other than that already is get checked if still sore. i had pain for along time and thought it was episiotomy pain. Turns out was a tear that became infected, which i assumed was sore stitching.

1. Make sure she has been prescribed diclofenac. Take that and paracetamol as prescribed. If she runs out, get more diclofenac prescribed. If the pain has gone after 3 weeks as advised above she's doing very well. If not, ask for more pain relief.

1. Tea tree baths.

1. Hold a pad soaked in cold water against the wound when peeing/pooing. It was too difficult to do the pouring water thing.

1. If she is bf, get a counsellor to teach her how to do it lying down. Bf was the cause of most of my episiotomy troubles as I spent so long sitting upright putting pressure on the wound.

1. I doubled up pads inside my knickers for extra comfort(!) One cheapy mothercare one for foundation padding and one boots with wings on top to keep my clean and dry.

1. Change pads LOTS to reduce infection risk. AT LEAST every time you got to the loo, more in the first few days. Worth every £ on pads!

1. I wouldn't look at my wound/scar which was a mistake. Encourage her to do so if she feels up to it so she can monitor the healing. If I'd have seen just how many stitches had come undone I'd have been motivated to get a referral to check whether I should be re-stitched. As it was, midwives just advised it was "Open but not infected and healing"....which took 3 months to heal and much longer to be pain free (still not quite there 15 months on).

1. Sounds silly but make sure she has enough support so she feels she can take her time when going to the loo. All the palava of preparing for the pain/cleaning/changing each time takes ages but it's really important if she's to heal well.

1. I don't think I'd advise ointment of any sort (unless prescribed for infection) as it will keep the wound wet when you want to promote dryness for healing.

10. I know others on here have advised to air it by sitting pants free on an old towel. I wasn't brave enough to do that but it comes highly recommended.

Phew, that was long! With hindsight, I didn't realise what a battered state I was in and muddled along when I should have been seeking more help an admitting how awful I felt. She should be honest with her midwife and if necessary see a GP if she's feeling bad.

Can you believe she wasn't prescribed anything by the hospital!

Contact the NCT and hire a Valley Cushion to sit on.

TCP has a little local analgesic effect, might take the sting out, poor lady

Lie down as much as possible and if you need to sit up to feed, get comfortable first (I found a hard chair better). Sitting cross-legged on a hospital bed really stretches stitches (ow) and you won't win any prizes for getting to your baby quickly but having to feed them while you're uncomfortable.