Episiotomy site still very sore after 8 weeks

[Woodlandwalks]

Hi,

I had an episiotomy and a second degree tear, plus grazes and a fair amount of time spent stitching me all back together after birth 8 weeks ago. I'm still rather sore when I stand for even a little while (anything over 10 minutes maybe) or any walking. It feels like a pressure really, it's the only way I can describe it. Also a bit of irritation maybe but that's possibly due to the length of time I've been wearing sanitary pads now maybe.
I am still bleeding which my GP is aware of and I have been given antibiotics for this but they finished yesterday and still bleeding the same amount so the GP said we would try the mini pill as they said if the antibiotics didn't stop it, then it must be hormonal. I am seeing them on Wednesday for the 6-8 week check.

Everything I have seen and heard is people saying that they felt healed after 6 weeks so why do I still feel sore? I will obviously speak to the GP but I was just wondering if other people experienced anything similar for this length of time.

Thank you

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but mine is still painful over 2 years later. I’m not saying this will happen to you but it can take a while. I know lots of people who had long recoveries or ongoing pain. Sadly the

Is the pressure definitely from the episiotomy? My feeling of pressure was from my pelvic floor muscles.

When possible I would go to physio, there’s definitely stuff they can do to help with the pressure. And after a while ask GP for a referral to a gynae, there are things they can do IF the pain doesn’t improve. Hopefully it will though, and it’s just taking a bit longer for you

I don’t know anything about the ongoing bleeding I’m afraid.

TBH, I can't remember how long I felt sore for, but it seemed like ages! I can only recommend freezing a wet flannel (or similar), then wrapping in a thin tea towel and sitting on it. Sometimes that was the only relief I got.

Sounds very similar to my experience except at the 6 week check nothing was done (eg no antibiotics) and I was told to monitor for a further 6 weeks and then they would refer me to a gynaecologist if needed. Between weeks 6 and 12 it gradually improved (whereas up until the 6 week mark I had had no improvement) and by week 12 I had no pain so didn’t feel like I needed any further action x

Mine hurt for a while too and felt irritated after walking for too far. It was so frustrating to see people bounce back from all types of birth than me. Turns out I had something called a granuloma of scar tissue. Some steroid cream sorted it pretty much quick 🙂

I was sore for a year (painful to have sex) but it gradually got better. The pressure sensation sounds like it could be pelvic floor so make sure you're doing some pf exercises. Your body has been through a major trauma and it takes as long as it takes. Try not to worry. If things don't settle, see a women's health physio.

Yes just to echo PP I think what you're expericing is normal. I had an episiotomy which was healing well initially but sods law that literally a day or two after discharge from community midwifery, I rolled over in bed and tore a bit of it open! It was a very tiny wound which the GP checked and left to heal itself with regular Sudocrem but it was so frustrating as i was no longer taking painkillers or anything and able to do short walks and things and then I took a few steps back and ended up on painkillers again for another couple of weeks etc as you've had additional tearing on top I would imagine it will take a while to heal. But it will heal!

The pressure may be your pelvic floor muscles, are you doing pelvic floor exercises? That will help strengthen your muscles and encourage blood flow to the area to encourage quicker healing. I didn't do them at that stage as it hurt to do them, but that was a mistake, I got referred to pelvic floor physio about 8 months PP and they said I should have been doing them despite the mild pain. Pelvic floor physio helped improve my weak pelvic floor muscles and mostly got rid of the remaining pain and symptoms I had. This was around 8-10 months postpartum and we first had sex at around 9 months PP, but it wasnt painful at all, so I'm glad we waited. I fell off the bandwagon with the pelvic floor exercises so I have recently bought the Squeeze app and am really staying focused on strengthening my pelvic floor again, I'm seeing small results already after only a month or so of training. We want to TTC no.2 towards the end of this year so I want my pelvic floor as strong as poss before pregnancy, especially as im likely to develop HG again and severe vomiting puts a lot of strain on your pelvic floor, I'm terrified of incontinence.

I had an aching kind of pain after standing etc and it was granulation tissue. I had it removed with silver nitrate and once that had healed the ache disappeared. If you have bleeding during sex it's possibly granulation tissue.

I had similar after my first birth. I had a heavy, achy feeling over the scar that did improve with time but I still sometimes got it even 2 years later, when I did a lot of standing or activity. In retrospect I should have accessed women's health/pelvic physio. The good news is that I had just a 2nd degree tear with my second birth, and the repair of that tear entirely resolved my symptoms. Since healing from that tear then I've never had the achey or heavy feeling again.