Labial tear

[sophie1411ayla]

So giving birth to my little girl, I ended up with a 2nd degree tear which isn't bothering me, however I did also suffer with a labial tear starting from just below my urethra. I noticed today how big the actual tear is, and although I had stitches, I'm in agony with it. I was wondering from anyone who had anything similar how long it took to 1. Stop being so painful 2. Stop bleeding and 3. Heal? I'm now 3 days PP. Thankyou

Ouch! Sorry to hear you're in pain, OP. But congratulations on your little girl's arrival!

How quickly it heals is a bit how long's a piece of string but within a few weeks is normal. They should look at it at your six-week check and might be able to help if it's not healing properly then. But if it's bothering you now, do ask your midwife to have a look next time she pops in.

We're bumping this for you in case anyone passing has had a similar tear and might be able to tell you what happened with theirs.

Wishing you a speedy recovery anyway.

I also had a second degree tear and labial tear, it took me about 12 weeks to start feeling a bit normal again and for the pain to dull down, my baby is now five months and I still have some discomfort down there, that's probably because I haven't done any pelvic floor exercises though!

Everyone is different though so you might heal a lot quicker! Oh and I recommend salt baths for the healing process they really do help.

Forgot to add about the bleeding.
I stopped around about 10 weeks pp but I know people who stopped between 4-6 weeks. Again everyone is different, I hope to have a speedy recovery and congratulations on your baby girl

I tore up to my urethra and I felt for the most part better at 4-5 weeks and then just ached a little here and there for a couple of months.

I’m puzzled as to why your midwife didn’t do an episiotomy, which would have prevented (or at least much reduced) the tearing? An epis is much more comfortable healing as it’s in a less sensitive area of perineum and cut in a controlled manner.
Anyway, not to worry. Tears do heal eventually, they’re just bloody sore in the meantime, especially if they get urine on when you pee - that can sting like hell.
Keep the area clean, have gentle soaks in the bath, and you will notice improvement within a week. You may find the pain turns to itchiness as the tissues knit back together, but within a couple of weeks things should be a lot more comfortable. Get your midwife to check the wound on her visits, to make sure it’s not infected and is healing properly.

@babdoc episiotomies are not recommended routinely. They can cause a significant amount of trauma. Most trauma from birth is unpredictable. Episiotomies also come along with other lacerations and does not stop labial, periurethral, 3rd/4th degree tears. That is a foolish comment to make.

I had it and unfortunately never healed I had plastic surgery.
It didn't hurt for long because it has a lot of blood flow. There is a numbing cream that you can use but I think it's prescription only.
Congratulations hopefully in a few days you'll feel better.

Mummyme, do pardon my ignorance as a mere hospital doctor and mother of two, who has personally experienced both an episiotomy and a tear. You are obviously much better informed.
Apparently I was simply imagining the excruciating pain from my periurethral tear, and all my obstetric colleagues for the past 36 years were idiots.
How fortunate that we have you to put us all right and call us foolish!

I had a minor labial tear when DC1 was born but I declined stitches as the Dr said it was “borderline” whether it really needed to be stitched or not.
Looking back, I really wish I’d had it stitched!! Going for a wee was like peeing battery acid for at least the first week And weirdly, Day 1 or 2 postpartum was actually less painful than Day 3-4. It was like the pain got worse before it got better as I healed. But within about a week, I could pee without the unbearable stinging and burning that made me cry.
I’d say I was pretty much back to feeling “normal” - and by that I mean zero pain when walking/peeing etc after about 3 weeks.

Sorry you’re suffering OP!! Painkillers are your friend, lukewarm baths to pee in too!! Our gas bill must have been horrendous that month because I was running a shallow bath every single time I needed to pee! I would sit in the water and pee, which filled the sting massively.

Dulled not filled

@Babdoc it is a foolish comment. I am an obstetric clinician and there is no evidence at all that episiotomies are recommended routinely. RCOG, RCM and NICE do not recommend them. None of my colleagues nor myself do routine episiotomies and in my experience of following up women with perineal trauma of all kinds, the highest incidence of perineal breakdown is with episiotomies.
periurethral tears are horrific, I appreciate but an epis won’t stop that from happening.

I'm 2 weeks post partum, I also had 2nd degree and labial grazing (still required stitches).
The pain and discomfort has only just subsided but I still have an odd feeling down there.
I'm still bleeding, it started to taper off after a week but then returned and became quite heavy, that has also now calmed down abit.
As for healing, I have no idea - I'm not brave enough to have a look yet haha but it feels healed if that makes sense?

Well I had a small episiotomy in the perineum, it was stitched and healed up quickly.

We can't generalise about these things.

Miss Polly: As for healing, I have no idea - I'm not brave enough to have a look yet haha but it feels healed if that makes sense?
...........

Sounds OK to me. You're only two weeks post partum though so give it a couple more weeks at least until you start introducing anything to the area ;-).