Painful tear

[penguinpurple]

My dc is 6 days old and I had a second degree tear. However that is manageable. I also had a load of really superficial tearing, looks like skin has come off. This is extremely painful every time I wee and really getting me down.
Has anyone else had similar and how long did it take to get over. Don't know how much more I can take.

I haven't experienced this personally, for obvious reasons, but really sorry to hear about it. Ask your GP to prescribe some Instillagel for you - it's a local anaesthetic and antibacterial gel you can squirt on every so often to take the stinging away, and should help disinfect it too. If they can't/won't, call your local maternity assessment centre (they see recent postnatal women too) and see if someone can grab you a handful of syringes of it from somewhere...! (It comes in syringes as it's used as lubricant when inserting catheters - no needle involved.)

It should progress from this painful raw stage within the next week, but it is miserable As your midwives have probably recommended, regular baths without soap and drying off with a hairdryer on a cool setting helps speed the healing along.

About 2 weeks and it felt better, just hurt if I took too ig of a step, walked too fat. Still occasionally hurts 18months later!

Pour water from a jug on to yourself whilst peeing and pee in the shower, helps with the pain.

I was going to suggest the jug thing.

Also, pelvic floor exercises. They won't ease the pain but they will help speed up the healing process. I know they are probably the last thing you want to do though!

Leaning right forward when you wee might help if your not at home but otherwise pee in a shallow bath or under the shower.

Might be a daft point to make but make sure your dry down there after the loo/bathing etc. Air dry if need be! Wounds don't heal well in warm damp environments.

Tea tree oil is meant to help but I tried it and it was akin to rubbing chilli oil on your bits so I wouldn't recommend.

Thank you all for your replies. Sorry for delay in replying it's all been a bit much. This was a VBAC and one of the big arguments for VBAC is it should be easier recovery than from a section but this has been worse than the section
Doctor monty I have something similar to instillagel which helps a bit.
Good to know it can take a couple of weeks fanfrickintastic. Midwife told me a few days so was panicking when there was zero improvement.
Tea tree oil yikes that sounds painful!
Re drying seems a bit impossible as I'm bleeding constantly.
Peeing in the shower is manageable but kind of limiting re going out or trying to breastfeed and look after a toddler!

I had a massive tear with my first and it was very 😣 painful, I used lavender oil on my pads, and rinsed myself with warm water when I went to the loo. Wish I'd known about the gel from the doctor.

Sending hugs xx it will get better lovely x

I didn't have a tear but a lot of stitches which came undone pretty much straight away and took a while to heal. Like others have said, it'll be a few weeks rather than days I'm afraid. It was about a week before I could even hobble to the corner shop so take it as easy as you can. Are you taking painkillers too? Just keep an eye on it and keep as clean as you can - regular pad changes etc x
And congratulations on your new baby

I find sports cap bottles less faff than a jug of water - squeeze a jet of water on your bits as you wee and it won't sting. I had a second degree tear with my first and first degree with my second. You have my sympathy!

Had two severe tears (one a 3b). Spend 5 mins sitting in a shallow warm (not hot) bath with 6 drops tea tree oil in it each evening and then lie on a towel on your bed to air dry. Really helps with the pain and healing.

Google padsicles, made a difference for me, basically pour some witch hazel onto a pad and freeze it.
I also used to sit on an old towel in front of a fan with my legs open, helped to air everything out.
My second degree tears took about 4 weeks to heal superficially, much longer before the aches went, you will be ok though don't give up hope, think what your body has been through and give it time.