When do stitches dissolve?

[FRAGGLE06]

Hi

I gave birth to my daughter 2 and a half weeks ago and have stitches for an episiotomy. They haven't dissolved yet and seem to be quite tough, almost plastic. How quickly have anyone elses dissolved? Not sure if I am being impatient. Help????!!!

i can't remember sweetheart sorry {maybe ask hv / doc?) but my heart goes out to you x just remember to drink loads of water and if you still have probs, ask themn to refer you for a "fenton's procedure" it helps , ahem, loosen things a bit. what you may be able to feel is swelling and soreness?

congrats btw x

They'll dissolve - just as I was thinkin gthe same about mine, they dissolved.
Also, as you're always a bit less eager to look too closely down there after an epi, there might just be some blood dried onto the scar and you think it's stitches - that's what happened to me. Cause even though I was showering etc, the scab (sorry tmi) took a while to heal properly. Hope that helps a bit! ooohhh I feel a bit queesy now!

about 3 weeks in my case. congratulations

Its about 4 weeks isnt it? are you sure they are the disolving ones? sometimes they give you one to be taken out

mine took about three weeks but if they haven't by then i would ask hv!

Thanks, will do.

It does take time I would say probably almost a month if I remember correctly (I even had a panic where I thought it was all going to reopen when a stitch came loose, only to be reassured by my mw that there were 3 layers of stitches and one coming undone would not make a difference to the healing process.)Once the stitches are gone the rest of the healing happens remarkably quickly though - I know it seems like forever, but your body has been through alot, so don't be afraid to give it some more time.

Congratulations BTW! Boy or girl?

I don;t know because I didn;t look or feel until I knew that everyhitng would be OK again. I think i whipped a mirror past afer about 5-6 weeks just to make sure things looked roughly the same as they had done before - and saw no sign of anything that looked like a stitch.

I was totally squeamish about the whole thing!

sorry just reread your post - congrats on your new dd!

Thanks guys, that's set my mind at rest. I'll give it a bit longer.

don't forget to see your doc or hv/mw if you have any more concerns ((((((((fraggle06)))))

Think it was a couple of weeks but I didnt have all that many and took lots of arnica which I think speeded things up. Might be worth trying if you aren't taking it?