How long does the pain last after birth? And what can I do to help?

[chloemegjess]

Hello. I had my DD a week ago and still in agony "down there". I don't really feel any better than I did the dau after the birth. It is really painfull and agony when I go to the loo, walk, move etc. Even the maternity pads are uncomfortable as they get in the way and make me more sore!

When I spoke to my midwife, she seemed to think I was putting too much lavender in my bath, which I had been doing at least once a day to try and help it heal. She said this was why it is still hurting so much and I should just cut down. I have stopped using it now and if anything, am in more pain than before!

I am getting so fed up of the pain and it is stopping me getting on with my day. I have been in tears with it at times as it is just so painfull.

Anybody know when this wil go? Or how I can help it?

Please help!

Hi there. Hope that you are feeling a bit better already. I'm a women's health physiotherapist and advise women on pain releif as part of my job. The following advice is part that and part personal experience. Number one priority is to minimise sitting and prolonged periods of standing. Lie down as much as is humanly possible and it will feel ten times better than sitting. This means delegating big time to all your well meaning visitors to help with anything from cups of tea to doing the washing and hoovering. People want to be helpful but often aren't able to initiate it for fear of offending so be cheeky and ask outright! Number Two is get some drugs prescribed. In hospital you may have had Diclofenac. It is an anti-inflamatory and it really works. It is safe to breast feed on. There is no need to reduce paracetamol because of breast feeding either. Drugs really help. Don't take any crap off doctors who question why you are still in pain. Any tear or cut can be extremely painful. Ten days is often the turning point but it can take more than two weeks sometimes before it begins to feel better. Although I wouldn't try to dissuade you from using any natural remedies; there is no evidence for the benefits of salt baths. Other things such as arnica may speed up healing but are likely to have no imediate inpact on pain. Bathing just in ordinary water though is great. It obviously helps you to keep clean (and it gets you to lie down!) I know that you are probably desperate to be out of the house and active but just concentrate on your baby and your recovery. In the olden days you would barely have left hospital - and there was some merit in that system! Congratulations and all the best.

Haven't read all posts but I also took co-codemol from Tesco whilst breastfeeding and used lavendar oil in a bath twice a day and took arnica from holland and barret.

Took 2 weeks to be able to sit down in less than a minute and 4 weeks until I really started to feel much better.

I found the maternity pads cushioned a bit but that was just me. Moved onto sanitary towels after 2 weeks.

Also I found sitting in one position for too long wasn't very good.

Definitely felt uncomfortable and bruised for a while after, especially when standing for long periods of time.

It's hard to know if something is not right or you are just healing as you should be considering the major trauma you have been through but if you are concerned you can always speak to another midwife or a health visitor (mine were always available on the phone).

One more thing! I found sitting forward on the toilet when weeing stops it getting on the sore bits and stinging, tried using water with little success!

Don't get me started!

After my first baby - natural birth, I was in absolute agony. Literally could not walk. I had torn in 3 separate directions and suffered every time I sat down, got dressed, walked, slept and the toilet felt like a daily torture chamber.
I used to fill a bowl with walm water and lavender oil - sit on it, and pee whilst sponging water down the front to help dilute the urine.

I used the rolled up towel in the shape of a ring to sit on etc.

I used heavy Always pads as they didn't press the area as much.

I spoke to the midwife everytime she came and described the pain. She would knowingly say 'it will get better soon' and after examining the area would say...'I have seen worse you know'....which used to make me feel incompetent and a moaner.

4 weeks post birth I plucked up the courage to check the area out myself using a mirror. It was then I found an inch long open wound that hadn't been stitched . So much for the midwife.

I then went straight to the DR. who advised it was too late as it had already started to granulate, however she did give me some lovely cold clear gel like cream with mild anaesthetic properties, this helped a bit.

As the weeks went by, the stitched area became manageable. There was the issue of not being able to walk, sit, sleep properly still continuing, with my midwife saying 'It's your first baby, things will take a while to strengthen and get back to normal'.

4.5months later, I was referred to a physio-therapist who kindly advised me I had dislocated my coccyx during birth....
I then had to visit him for several months treatment to get the bone back in place and strengthen the area.

Moral of the story....don't wait. Keep on to them. You have a newborn baby and need to get repaired/rested and as close to 'well' as possible as the fun has just begun.

All the best, and good luck.

Yes - and make them look at it - my health visitor didn't seem to want to look (can't say I blame her but it was her job and I did always shower before she arrived ) and when I did I could see it was infected.
I touched the floor with my hands I lent so far forwards on the toilet - that helped after a few of the higher bits had healed.
I always dried myself with the hairdryer after bath/shower etc - had it permenently outside the bathroom.
Lie down and 'air it' that finally healed mine up - overhealed apparently as i need some bits taking off.....

Sorry to be so late coming to this thread. You can get arnica in Holland and Barret. You take 2 tiny tabs 4 times a day. I also can recommend pourning salt water over the area as many times as you can during the day. I had an episiotomy and emergency forceps as I had an eclamptic seizure, so they cut all the way through. My stitches got infected 4 weeks after birth and I had to take antibiotics. All well now - mind you I wont be going near a g-string for a while.

Witch hazel is very good. I put it in a spray bottle with a drop or 2 of Tea Tree and lavender oils and used it after using the loo. You can put lavender and salt together in the bath. (was store for 10 days to 2 weeks I think, but I still get little twinges every now and then, when stretching. Good luck, it doesn't last forever. Nicky.

when i was in hospital after i had dd i was in for 3 days as they do over here in Spain and every night they would bring....no joke a condom filled with water, frozen and wrapped in gauze stuff to hold "down there" to help the pain.it was good, numbed it a bit and helped the swelling

my fabulous homeopath sister in law gave me the following which worked really well- I put drops of Hypercal (she gave me this not sure where you get it) and Rescue Remedy (you can get this at health shops or boots or even supermarkets these days)into a warm bath with a big handful of sea salt every day. I also soaked some folded up pieces of muslin in diluted hypercal and put them inside my maternity pads. both of these things were fantastically soothing. I did have internal soreness that continued for a few moinths- I went to the gp who did a smear to check for infection. nothing was detected but she prescribed me antibiotics anyway- I really didn't want to take them as I was still breastfeeding (even though she said it was fine) so my homeopath suggested taking a course of probiotics instead- I was better within days! good luck helensian x p.s. I also took arnica tablets during and after labour which really helped

Hello

It does get better - had BIG episiotomy with bubs no 1 and HUGE (muscular whisker short of a 3rd degree) 2nd degree tear with bubs no 2, lots of different layers and stitches, boy doc who did the stitches was a whizz with a needle (LOL) - 8 months on and all's well and relations are even back on with DH...

I used a handful of sea salt in a bath as often as I could, took arnica pills and used arnica cream (from boots) directly on the wounds + stitches, took paracetamol as nec (but like you don't like to when bf)tried not to wear trousers as everything tended to get caught up, shuffled and sat to one side a lot, although a rubber ring would have been good, held everything together (I used loo roll, never thought of an extra st)when going to the loo, kept area as clean as pos (rinsed with water, not hard brave enough for savlon!) if sleeping on side, pillow between the legs to support and ease squashing of bits helped too...

Make sure you drink LOADS of water, especially if you are BF, as constipation can be the result of too little H20 and that's the LAST thing you want - I generally drink a pint a feed, but we're all different!

If you are still really sore at 6 week check or don't feel as though you are healing (we usually have a reasonable awareness of our bodies after birth), do get checked - I'm sure you don't, but SIL had an ongoing infection which quickly cleared up after she got her doc to check it and got medicated.

Hospital exp sympathies - with no 1 I felt hospital didn't act in the way that I wanted them to, but usually they are just trying to get best outcome for you and bubs and get everyone into the world safely (bleurgh) - do feel you can speak up and 'let them know' if things aren't comfortable - also you could get examined at the docs or take a (good) friend in as a chaperon for any exams.

Good luck and hope all's well sooner rather than later.

You poor thing, hope it's feeling a bit better now. I was in absolute agony following DD's birth, couldn't sit down or pee without crying for weeks. With hindsight, the reasons were...
1.episiotomy and tear weren't healing properly - the stitches had started gaping the day after I had DD but noone seemed to think this was a problem. I was too squeamish to look, and didn't want to push it as the thought of having to be stitched again was too awful to contemplate. If you haven't already, please bite the bullet and get checked - I had to have surgery 6 months on, not good.
2.I'd had SPD during my pregnancy and had been told this would vanish after the birth - not true! If you've had any pelvic/pubic pain when pregnant you need to be extra careful not to do too much lifting, carrying etc.
3.I wasn't drinking much as I was scared of having to pee! All this meant was that my pee was concentrated and stingy, so make sure you drink loads.

1. I was taking rakes of cocodamol for the pain, which is a super constipator - not good with sore bits.

Really hope you feel better soon, I feel so so sorry for you. They don't tell you do they???

Haven't had a chance to read all of the posts, but I REALLY sympathise (I had many, many stitches of my nethers after a rapid delivery of a swollen DD)!

I had lots of baths with tea tree and lavender oils. I was advised by my MW that salt is no good, as you have to add sacks of it for any effect. I also took arnica tablets. And keep taking painkillers.

As for maternity pads, I quite liked the thicker kind. I'm sure that when I started using Always Ultra Night, the woven top sheet set back my recovery by irritating my stitches.

And the mistake I made was generally doing too much, too quickly. I know that it is virtually impossible with a newborn, but take care of yourself and don't get up/sit down etc too quickly - I'll certainly take more care to slow my movements next time IYKWIM...