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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Tearing: How does a tear heal and do I need to do anything special?

50 replies

morningpaper · 14/10/2005 09:38

Gave birth two days ago - 2nd degree tear. Asked for no stitches because I'd had enough by then.

Had a look in the mirror but I can't make out what the feck is supposed to be where.

When you tear, do the edges heal together, or does it heal 'open'?

Did I do the right thing by refusing stitches? What difference might it make?

Do I need to take any special measures?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 14/10/2005 09:45

Dear god - you looked???

I had my tears stitched both times so I can't really help. I did put tea tree oil in the bath religiously to help fight any infection though.

shhhh · 14/10/2005 14:27

Can't help either as I tore but was stitched. I also used Tea Tree oil. Maybe you may want to call your midwife unit at hospital and ask..I now mine was v helpful after the birth.

BTW even after I was stiched and I looked in the mirror I was also none the wiser as to what was what !! LOL!!! DH even though that maybe they had stiched me wrong also after looking! SITMI!!!!

Whizzz · 14/10/2005 14:29

I think Lavender in the bath is also supposed to help

edodgy · 14/10/2005 14:34

I was another tea tree oil fan, i had a second degree tear and an episiotomy, my second degree tear was through the vagnal muscle so inside and therefore you couldnt see anything externally (apart from episiotomy) maybe this is the case with you.

edodgy · 14/10/2005 14:35

*vaginal not vagnal!

Aero · 14/10/2005 14:38

I had no stitches after any of my three children were born and the small tears I had (too much of a wimp for stitches) did heal eventually. They did take a good few weeks (about 5 after dd), and I was worried at the time, but they've all healed up fine and no scar tissue gave me any bother the next time iyswim. HTH

OMG MP - two days ago - what Have I missed? Congratulations - should I look for a thread?

Nbg · 14/10/2005 14:42

Congratulations MP!

I had a second degree tear when I had dd. It didn't hurt for the first few days but it was sore after. I used one of those gel pads which worked really well and I had too pour luke warm water over myself when peeing or just peed in the shower because it stung quite badly.

I couldn't see anything but was told that was because the tear was inside.

spidermama · 14/10/2005 14:47

Don't look in the mirror yet. It';s way too early. Give it a few weeks because you'll only upset yourself. I did it once and remember the horror at the open steak and kidney pudding which stared back at me. Sorry to be so graphic, but having been through birth I'm sure you're not averse to me calling a spade a spade!

I've had four births and four tears of varying severity. I never wanted stitches. The jury is out on whether or not tears heal better without them. There are good and bad stories on both sides.

HOWEVER .... You have to keep your legs together if you haven't had stitches. It's really important. You shouldn't be going up and downstairs. You should stay in bed as much as you possibly can for at least a week or two ... as long as you can get away with it. This is really important. The tissue around the wound needs to be allowed to knit back together and it can't do that while you're moving around.

If you must walk, do so with your knees together. I'm not kidding!

I'll level with you ... my tears haven't healed as well as I'd have liked and I may even go in for re-fashioning. I ignored the mw's advice and was up and about far too early.

Look after yourself, or better still get someone to look after you while you concentrate on the baby for a while.

All the best.

spidermama · 14/10/2005 14:49

Keep the area clean. If the tear stings like hell you can wee in the bath or shower.
Also ... TMI alert ... glycerine pessaries for that first bowel movement will really help.
Yikes! It brings back memories.

sweetbean · 14/10/2005 15:50

Your so right it realy do's bring back memorys !!!!
i tore forwards but the midwife didn't think that i was bad enough to be stiched and so being my first baby i didn't argue but and i exspected to be in pain for a while you know having just had a baby and all but after it just kept getting worse and worse and in the end i couldn't pee with out crying and when ever i stood up for more than 5 minutes i had the most agonising drawing pain and way after 6 ays of this i asked the midwife to have she saw that there was a problem and arranged an appointment with the gyicologist who said that i should have been stitched but that i was to late as healing had started!
Anyway my point is that i know flap in the wind as the tear didn't heal toghter so the answer is to do what ever i takes to make it knit together no one told me anything about not moving around so i guess thats why i didn't heal together anyway sorry for rambeling on and congrats with your new baby

Nbg · 14/10/2005 15:52

I still get niggling pains down there now and dd is 2.

So all what Spidermama said is very very true!

Aero · 14/10/2005 15:52

Oh - marvellous tip I had from a midwife if you can bear it. Put a big wadge of vaseline on your fingers and hold it against the affected area if it stings when you wee (effectively weeing over your hand). Wipe vaseline off fingers and bin it. goes without saying to wash your hands thoroughly! Worked wonders for me. I went through two tubs of vaseline after dd!

sweetbean · 14/10/2005 15:54

I should realy have read that back before i posted! sorry for all the errors

Nbg · 14/10/2005 15:55

If your going to do the pouring water thing, invest in a 3 pint measuring jug.

Easy to pour from and hold just enough water.

Aero · 14/10/2005 15:55

Sweetbean - that sounds awful!

Original poster
morningpaper · 14/10/2005 16:41

I was advised about the pouring water but once I sit on the toilet my various fat bits fill up all the available space and there's nowhere to pour anything. :-/

It's actually feeling a lot better today. I spoke to the midwife who said that it was a very shallow tear and some hospitals wouldn't routinely have stitched anyway. She said it is clean and dry. If I lean forwards when I pee then it doesn't sting. The tear seems to be on the line of my previous episiotomy which in some ways is good because that was stitched too tightly so probably needed a bit of loosening...

Definitely an open steak and kidney pudding effect spidermama! But TBH that's the way things have looked since my previous birth - I don't think it looks any different. Can't believe you've torn four times and had no stitches!

I will attempt to keep legs together as much as poss! Thanks for advice. Why the refashioning thoughts though? Is that cosmetic or for sexual function? I don't know whether external tearing makes much difference to sexual tone/function - does it? I would have thought it was more about pelvic floor tone? Don't know though.

LOL at your kite effect sweetbean!

I asked the midwife whether my porn career was going to be over but she laughed nervously and changed the subject.

Thanks for all advice and tips!

OP posts:
spidermama · 14/10/2005 16:47

I'm considering re-fashioning Morningpaper partly for neatness (it's really quite gapey ) and partly because of the long-term picture as describe by my mum.

She has a similar vestibule after her three births and now she's menopausal it's not as moist as it used to be so it chafes. She has trouble finding comfortable trousers and it's painful and annoying.

Original poster
morningpaper · 14/10/2005 16:51

spidermama: oh that's interesting - thanks. Is vestibule the technical term for the open-sandwich effect?

OP posts:
hunkerpumpkin · 14/10/2005 16:51

Spray! Discussing porn career with midwife! PMSL! Brilliant!

Ahem.

Had stitches for second degree tear and now have hard scar tissue which I'm sure will split in half when I have this baby. Ho hum - my porn career's flagging somewhat these days anyway, so never mind

Original poster
morningpaper · 14/10/2005 16:52

Hunker: You'll need to avoid those open-leg photoshoots from now on...

OP posts:
Original poster
morningpaper · 14/10/2005 16:52

Oh I had my first bowel movement this morning - phew it was FINE but obviously I was terrified. It's SUCH a hurdle isn't it?!

OP posts:
hunkerpumpkin · 14/10/2005 16:53

The beginnings of SPD have put paid to those - will have to go on Loose Women to talk all about the trials of having a porn career ruined by childbirth. Loose Women...not really a phrase I should've brought onto this thread, right?!

hunkerpumpkin · 14/10/2005 16:54

LOL! DH asked me what I wanted to eat after DS was born (ate dinner at midnight that first night!) - brown rice and vegetables, with apple juice to drink.

Will have the same after this one - very...straightforward, shall we say?

spidermama · 14/10/2005 16:54

Sorry MP no it's a sort of joke.
On a recnt thread about what to call girls bits saomeone produced a fantastic link which said one of the definitions of a vestibule is the opening of the vagina.

spidermama · 14/10/2005 16:56

Mini hijack