Episiotomy stitches undone - how long to heal?

[BlueRaincoat89]

I had an episiotomy following birth and a few of the stitches came undone on Friday. I went to the hospital and it's not infected but they won't restitch as it's healing from the inside. The pain has got a little better but it's still a gaping hole when I look down there with a mirror. Does anybody know how long it will take to heal?

I've also been a little constipated and this puts pressure on the hole which is more painful than sitting down.

Mine came undone and they wouldnt re stitch... was horrified at the time because the wound was gaping open and I really couldnt see how it was possible it would ever heal. Couldnt even sit to breastfeed etc
But I then found out my mum had had the same and they did re stitch hers but it healed so strangely because of the restitch that she could not conceive any more children! So now im glad they wouldnt re stitch!

Mine healed completely in the end... it was gradual but id say after a year you could not even tell that it had ever happened...

The first month was pretty awful and I had to sit on one of those donut cushions.
I was back walking around pretty much pain free after a couple of months pp. It did take several more months after that to feel completely pain free... and sex was slightly painful if due to angle it rubbed up against the edge of the scar for up to the first year... but is completely fine now.

and RE constipation, I had to press a flannel or cotton wool wad soaked in warm water against the wound when doing a number 2... that helped the pressure and pain

Buy or ask your gp to prescribe Movicol, it's a stool softener so will help when you go to the toilet. Make sure you're drinking plenty too.

Mine looked like it was gaping and had come undone, gp checked and said not. But it did take a good while to heal. Fast forward a year and it's healed really well, i no longer have pain when sitting, walking or having sex. I was so worried i was going to have long term pain. You can take arnica for any bruising/swelling, and once it has healed you can massage any scar tissue to help break it down or reduce it at least.

Thank you both for responding. The doctor at the hospital gave me senna for the constipation but it just have me terrible stomach cramps and no bowel movement. The midwife recommended lactulose which I have used and is working well. That's eased some of the pain.

I've been having baths with salt or lavender and tea tree oil - did either of you do this? The midwife recommended it to speed up the healing and avoid infection. I've also been taking arnica pills. I'm starting to think a c section would have been easier than this!

I had the same, letting the air get to it as much as possible really helped too, especially during the first couple of weeks. Water and tea tree oil when you pee helped too. I’d say it started feeling much better by 8 weeks and all back to normal by 6-8 months. Hope you start to feel better soon, it really is rubbish.

Sorry to hear you're going through this - I had exactly the same with my first daughter. I was MORTIFIED at the idea of it being a gaping wound and I had a very unsympathetic GP.

Please know that it did heal eventually - very well in fact. It was 20 weeks before I felt brave enough for sex, although I'd say it had healed completely by 12 weeks.

My second very recent labour was much better - and the tear I suffered healed much much faster than my episiotomy and without any pain.

I was also told the salt baths is been takingbhad probably softened the stitches prematurely and led to them dissolving too soon. Lavender = ace. Salt = dissolves stitching. Bastard salt.

If they are happy it's healing i think it is for the best to leave it. I had complete suture breakdown after an episiotomy with my first - after trying to fob my GP off on the phone, the registrar took one look at it and I was restitched as an emergency case 4 days later (delayed as I had to take antibiotics to clear up the infection first ). It was incredibly painful afterwards for a couple of weeks - they have to abrade the bits that have started healing before they can restitch, you don't want to go there if you don't have to! If it does start looking worse, or hurting more though, I wouldn't hesitate to go back and make them check again. Have you been discharged by the midwives yet - if you haven't it makes it much easier to go back in to hospital and get them to look at it again?

Advice I was given is to let it dry out as much as possible - lots of sitting with no underwear on. I got mixed messages about baths - the stitches are apparently water soluble so while some staff raved about baths, others warned me to keep them short.

2nd time round i tore, I'd been told to make sure they took extra care when stitching, which they did - it healed really quickly.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have been using a sitz bath so not soaking for too long - about 5 mins a day in the evening. It's just easier than running a full bath.

Is it also normal to feel a bit of pressure around the front, maybe in the bladder? It's not painful but when I go to sit up it just feels a bit different at the front...hard to explain! I've been weeing squatted over the toilet as it stops urine going in the wound.