Should sex after a caesarian (elective) hurt this much?

[lulupop]

Bit of an embarrassing subject, but I had to ask. I had an elective caesarian 4 months ago and have just recently resumed sex life with DH. He's loving it but I find it strangely painful. I say strangely as I also had a caesarian (emergency) with DS 2 years ago and sex was fine after that.

This time round, it really hurts at the moment of, erm... penetration, and continues to feel sore throughout. Like a burning sensation. No problem with the lubrication side of things but still very uncomfortable. Since I didn't have any labour or pushing this time, I can;t think why it hurts at all. Any ideas?

do you think you may be tense and nervous about penetration and that is why it is burning you? or it may be thrush

AS a graduate of 2 electives, I'd say that everything seemes to shrink after disuse, and takes a while to feel normal again.
KY jelly was very useful for me to help things get back to normal, and a very gentle, gradual penetration.
HTH

oh yes thrush could be a factor - it doesn't always present as white discharge, so can't be seen...the dr can do swab test

Yes, it does sound like you could either have thrush or bacterial vaginosis (a common bacterial infection). Both of which could cause discomfort during penetration. As long as you're sure that there's no psychological cause for the pain - maybe you're a bit nervous after 4 months? - then you should pop along to your GP or family planning clinic for a quick swab test. They can then tell you if there is an infection which can probably be easily treated. HTH

Don't know if this is relevant after a c-section, but are you breastfeeding? I had vaginal birth and bf until ds was 10 months. Sex was quite painful and this was investigated by specialist. He said when you stop bf and have a few menstrual cycles all will return to normal. He was right. I think it is related to hormones as your body doesn't want you to pg whilst bfing.

You should definitely see your GP as apparently quite common and you shouldn't be suffering. HTH

Yes, I have found that breastfeeding affects sex as well (no libido in the first place, and then takes much longer to get going, IYKWIM), but I think you might have something there about the thrush. I don't have the discharge and have only ever had it once before, but it does feel a bit like that. Don't know why I hadn't thought of it before actually.

Do you think that having thrush (if that's what it is) for this long could have caused any damage?

Just going to phone the doctor now...

Highly unlikely to have done any lasting damage if it is thrush.

I agree with iota on the shrinking thing after my c-section. I never could figure out quite why that would happen but that's what it felt like. Took a while, but seems better now (ds is 1). Continued to remind dh to take it really slow!

Lulupop, I have 2 elective C/S's and after first resumed after 2 weeks - yes - not properly though, just slowly! Tried after 3wks with 2nd baby and it took until about 8wks to feel comfortable. I didn't get tested for thrush and now baby 10mths and so if it was thrush I would know by now.