Had an episiotomy, need some pain relief and aftercare advice pls TMI alert

[ElmMum]

Had a snip downstairs (ouch) right at the end of delivery on Monday night and haven't had the nerve to look yet. Midwife looked today and said all looks fine.

My questions are:

• If I follow mw advice and put lavender oil and tea tree oil in a shallow bath to dip my bits into, how many drops of each should I put in?
• She also recommended arnica cream but I'm a bit tentative about putting anything on at all other than dabbing with clean towel. Any thoughts for or against putting on arnica cream?
• DH picked up some arnica tablets while he was out getting supplies. Are these okay to take alongside ibuprofen/paracetamol? Be good to get some down me but don't want to take them if they're not to be taken with traditional painkillers.

Okay, and here's the TMI

When I was being stitched up the mw said it was tricky stitching because I had some varicose veins on my vulva!!!! This was news to me and I can only think they've appeared during pregnancy because of pressure on that whole area. I was a bit constipated early on.

Apart from being totally horrified at the thought, it's a vein that is most swollen down there (according to mw who looked today) rather than the stitches, which was a relief because to me it all feels quite tender and I'd assumed it was the stitching.

Anyone got any experiences of varicose vein in the vulva (be gentle with me, horror stories need to be couched in careful, positive tones pls!). Is there anything I should/shouldn't do.

And finally, I will be able to do a poo without it being more painful than labour, won't I???

Congrats on baby- poor you re episiotomy.

I had one at end of first labour (but no v vein) & aftermath was fairly grim.

I used no creams but, on mw's advice, lay on side top of bed (on a towel) for a while everyday so air would get to it! I also crouched in the bath to wee with shower head running on my bits. First poo didn't hurt but almost caught me unawares - I remember having to sprint up the garden!

My midwife snipped out a stitch or 2 everyday when she came, it was quite uncomfortable as it healed, so this gave me relief.

Mothercare sell cool packs with gauze liners for your vulva. Worked a treat for me. Congrats!

A Mr Bump cool pad from the fridge is fab. Eat a tonne of fibre - my saviour was dried figs/apricots daily and when you do your first poo hold a pad against your stitches. For my second episiotomy I did this and never looked back. Was a bit sore up to 2wks. Am at 4wks and all healed and feels great! Didn't do this for first episiotomy and it took laxative, suppository, anxiety and a loooong time to poo (might have cried a little too )

Don't know about the arnica etc but can recommend a sports water bottle with lukewarm water from tap to squoosh on area when peeing to remove sting and clean. Air the area as advised above. Hold a sanitary pad firmly against area when doing first poo, I think this is maybe psychological but it works and prune juice' plenty of, to soften poo.

Fill a condom with water and freeze it. Then wear it in your knickers.

There is no conflict between arnica tabs and painkillers. Arnica is homeopathy. Buy arnica 30 tabs (not strength 6) from holland and barratt and follow instructions (nelsonms). Think boots often have them$ too. I have used the cream as well on other parts, but not lady bits.
Not had an episiotomy, but did have stitches and agree that sometimes it does help to have community midwife to snip out a few stitches. Mine were 'supposed' to dissolve, but didn't. Skin healed and stitches just pulled on the tender skin which was really uncomfortable whenm sitting feeding. Once stitches came out it was much more comfortable.

Congrats, and ouch. I can relate - well at least to the stitching, not to the varicose veins part, though it's not something I ever thought to look for
For the stitching though I would recommend the nappy ice pack. Take a disposable nappy, go to the end with the tabs, open it up like a packet of crisps, fill the pocket with ice cubes, fold over the opened end and then use the tabs to seal it closed. The great things about this are that it's relatively soft to have against your skin, plus the nappy absorbs the water as the ice melts. The nurse taught my DH how to make this while we were in hospital and when we came home it was a lifesaver! Plus you don't have to buy any spendy bespoke gel thingies.
Definitely agree with mullypeep squeezie bottle with lukewarm water so you don't have to touch anything. If you spray water while you pee it takes away the burning too. Another thing that helped was putting witch hazel soaked pads on my bits (I just lay them on the nappy ice pack).
As for the last bit, prunes prunes prunes, and don't take pain killers that have the side effect of causing constipation

no experience with the varicose vein but had an episiotomy.

-was told no more than a few drops of tea tree oil in the whole bath, too much can dissolve your stitches

-also told NOTHING on the would, no witch hazel on pads, creams etc - just keep it as dry as possible and change pads frequently to prevent infection

-re arnica 30 strength won't do much. i got 200 strength from nelson's homeopathy (you can buy online) and was recommended these. no problem taking with pain killers.

I used babywipes as toilet paper after mine - that helped too!

I found baths with lavender oil helped a lot. MW was impressed how well I healed.

Witchhazel all over a pad and hold it against yourself - heaven!

Brilliant, thanks all. I'm going to try a bath with a few drops of tea tree oil and a few lavender, and just pat dry. Then I'm going to have a look and see what shape it's all in, yikes. My instinct says not to put arnica cream on it but I will take the tablets. Not sure what strength they are but will take them regardless.

And will get some dried apricots down me! Prune juice here we come.

Thanks all.

xxx

Congrats on your baby. I tore badly with DS1 and DS2 - what I found helped were

• lavendar baths - 5 drops of lavendar oil - a couple of times a day - afterwards blot area dry with sanitary towel (do not rub)

• keep area clean and dry - after going to loo pour warm water with a couple of drops of lavendar oil in it over your pubic area then blot dry

• sitting on a valley cushion or feeding lying on my side relieved pressure on my stitches. You can hire valley cushions - take a look online.

• take the arnica -its fine to take alongside ibuprofen. Also I recommend vitamin E pills (promote healing of skin).

Do not use tea tree oil - it will sting abit. And dont put arnica cream on (risk of infection).

Wash with soap, then antiseptic solution. Dry with hair dryer (set to "cool")

DO NOT put Arnica on episiotomy or any other open wound.

You can take as many homeopathic Arnica pills as you like, whenever you like. They are basically sugar pills with no active substance so you can't overdose on them nor do they interact with other medication for the same reason.

For poo purposes: eat lots of cooked green vegetables for soft poo, especially if you are taking iron supplements which tend to constipate.

Regarding the vulval varicose veins - I had a couple of massive ones (well they looked massive to me when I got a mirror out to have a look! ) I was horrified!

Anyway my baby is now 13 days old and they have gone down so much you can barely tell, which Im very glad about. So hopefully yours will go down soon. Hope it all feels better soon.

Just a thought about the arnica cream.... Have you got any bruising? My inner thighs were black and blue for some reason so the cream was recommended for that rather than the episiotomy and it did help. I don't think you should put it on your wound.

Good luck with the mirror. Mine never looked that bad.... My bruises on the other hand.... They were impressive!

Congratulations by the way!

Do keep drinking as well - especially if you are BF, as that will help you to not get constipated.
I had an episiotomy and tore badly too. TBH I think the stiches were the most uncomfortable aspect. Mine were dissolving and took ages to go.
I was told to pour a jug of warm water over my bits after the loo to keep it clean and then dry thoroughly. Also to lie for a while with your bits to the air
Congrats on your baby and hope things improve soon.

LaurenLaverne - that's really good to hear. Congrats on your baby!

Everyone else - thank you! Loads of good advice.

I'm not going to use the cream on the wound. Just doesn't sound right to me and I didn't put anything on my c-section wound with DD1 and it healed brilliantly.

I will bath daily with the tea tree and lavender drops in the water and pat dry, but that's it I think.

Fingers crossed x

Congratulations on your baby.

One thing to try is drying your lady bits with a hair dryer rather than a towel - helped me (4th degree tear & episiotomy). Also, I wasnt brave enough to look down there myself for a number of weeks so dont do it until you are ready.

Now is not the time to buy budget loo roll - you want softness all the way , and try taking lactulose to soften your poo which will help.

No experience about the varicose vein but a friend of mine had one during her pregnancy. She told me that after a few weeks after the birth it just naturally reduced in size and is now no problem.

Please don't bath with Tea Tree it's much to strong, (both my best friends are aromatherapists). Either salt baths, excellent for heaing, or disperse 6-8 drops of lavender into a small cup of milk and then add to bath, you should never add neat essential oils to water to bathe in.

Hope everything heals soon I had two episiotomys and the first days after were horrible, you have my sympathies.

Congratulations!

And ouch. I had a tear and an episiotomy. My stitches were dissolvable. I was not brave enough to look down there for a few days. It wasn't as horrific as I imagined. I was very bruised though as DS was in distress and it was an emergency forces delivery, all done really quickly and quite aggressively.

I found a warm bath helped, use a small amount of dettol, it's an antiseptic and did not sting at all(obv would if you put it directly on...ouch)but left me feeling clean. Second the hairdryer on low temp for drying too. Also get a swim ring thing, so you are sitting on it, without pressure on your bottom area. Gosh this is bringing back memories. I took two weeks before I stopped wincing when I moved

Poo wise(I lied and told midwife I had done one, when in fact it was a week post labour), it just happened. It didn't happen for so long because I think I was so scared it would hurt!! It was the easiest thing ever and surprisingly not sure. Lots of water and fibre.

Enjoy your lovely baby.

Well, I had a very quick dip. Luke warm water, 3 drops of tea tree and 6 of lavender, so very dilute given how much water they went into. I only stayed in a few mins - don't want to dissolve my stitches too soon. Patted dry with a clean maternity pad.

Didn't sting or bleed or anything dramatic.

Tried to have a look but tbh it's all still a bit of a mystery...! Everything looks swollen and purple I can't tell which bits are which. I couldn't really even see the stitches and couldn't make out the varicose vein either. Did see what looked like two sides of a wound that weren't tight together but might be mistaken.

Mw coming again tomorrow so going to get her to have a good look and make sure I don't need it stitched again.

Don't think I'm going to look again for a bit

Don't look again for weeks It will be recognisable again one day.

Don't worry about dissolving your stitches - no-one ever said anything to me about not taking a nice long bath in case mine dissolved. I was advised not to put anything in the water though - not even the liquid salon or oils I'd bought. Just plain water and dry off thoroughly after (hairdryer was a good call!)

v. brave to look. Do get MW top have a really good gander tomorrow as mine missed some stitches that had come loose and the wound got infected. You do not want that to happen, trust me

Top tip from me? Keep a bottle of witch hazel in the fridge and sprinkle some on a maternity pad. Bliss.