sharp stinging pain in stitches - how long should this last?

[aberdeenhiker]

My son arrived 8 days ago and I ended up with a second degree tear (he had a very large head so it's not a surprise!). I had an episiotomy with my first and found that my stitches healed slowly, but steadily over the first two weeks. This time I'm not seeing any improvement. Sometimes the stitches feel sore but okay, and other times when I try to spray water on them to clean them I end up with the most incredibly painful sharp stinging pain that practically floors me. I had my community midwife take a look last week and she said they were fine but I'm not confident as I'm really not seeing any improvement. Has anyone else had something similar where their stitches didn't improve at all for days/weeks? Should I be phoning the maternity hospital and going back in for them to look at it?

Oh hon poor you. Firstly congratulations on your new son! I'd head back for another check up just to put your mind at rest. Try a warm bath or shower instead of directly trying to clean the area. Hope it gets better soon.

Try a salt bath. Then tomorrow morning go and get it checked out again. It could be that you have a stitch in an inopportune place and it's pulling as it heals.

It's hard enough coping with newborns without having a sore fanjo as well You have my sympathy!