ladies who have had labial stitches what would you do?

[biggreypants]

Hi I suffered a tear during my last birth, my labia has torn where it joins the clitorol hood, the tear is about 3mm long and would have only needed one stitch my dr said, but at the time the resistar who was supposed to do it just stood gazing at my nethers yawning her head off so I dont think she could be arsed as she was so tired bless!
Anyway have seen gynea about it who said they would do it but there are risks such as infection, and possible keloid scarring (not had that before though)
I'm just not sure what to do at the mo it feels like a wound not sexy and is a funny shape it catches when I wipe and feels like it could tear further.
This really is causing me alot of distress and anxiety can think of nothing else and just feel disfigured.
So has anyone else split their labia? How well did it heal?
What do I do? Oh for that darn crystal ball.

You don't say how long post-birth you are but tbh if it's causing you distress, anxiety and you feel disfigured then I'd get it fixed. The risks (whilst I'm not discounting them) don't seem enough to weigh against it. It's a risk/benefit thing.

Good luck.

Thanks am 5 months post natal now so it has healed just not together. It just feels and looks all wrong it has stretched a bit so I dont think it would ever look the same again but then I dont look often (well never used to!)

Hedgepig can you feel where you were stitched now? does the scar pull at all?

ooh sorry I meant ThehedgeWitch!
Have just seen the mess my hedgepig has made of my bin bag outside obviously have them on my mind

Sorry should have said I've had stitches. 3 times now I can't feel them at all now, the scars don't pull or anything, never given me a moment's trouble Never felt them after the initial healing phase.

I hope that doesn't sound like boasting, just clearly I was lucky and three separate people all did a decent job, or maybe small tears (though they never said). Just want to tell you what it's like after a decent job, so you know how it might be for you if you had it redone.

Thanks seems like its worth getting it done I think a scar in that area would pull less than the tear.
The problem is there is scar tissue in that area now that they would have to remove so it would join well, wish they had done it at the time and I was nt so off my head on pethidine to care!

From a midwifery perspective, although I am quite quick to stitch any tear on the perineum, Ive always been a bit more reluctant to stitch labial tears unless there is a lot of tearing, or if the labia has split. This is mainly because the labia often dont bleed much and it can be quite painful having stitches there and generally labia do heal well on their own. (probably half of all primips do have some labial tearing which the midwives optimistically refer to as grazes and they are not stitched.)

In the damage that you describe, I wouldnt have stitched it either - 3mm is pretty tiny and if not bleeding and up at the clitoris, it would have been very uncomfortable with a stitch.

However, if you dont feel right down there you should probably have the surgery to fix it - it will probably only take a few minutes and, unless there is more to repair than you describe, Id imagine they would do it under local anaesthtic, so its probably worth doing. Risks as described are really minimal.

Good luck.

Thanks mintpurple they were going to stitch they said it definitely needed it but registrar was called away for a couple of hours when she came back it had stopped bleeding so left it. My midwife and gynea said it should have been done.
It really does bother me and always will feel like a wound so I am thinking I should go for it.

I agree 100% with mintpurple. 3mm is really small and in most cases would actually be difficult to stitch as it is too small. Labial tears can be anything up to 30 or poss even 40 mm. Def get it sorted if it is bothering you as may change slightly with time, but if it feels as though it has healed but incorrectly, prob won't change all that much.

bumping for the night crew, the tear I'm talking about is a split it is partially separated from the clitoris (nice image eh!) so it has a v shape in it which catches.

I had a tear on pretty much the exact spot you describe biggreypants, right next to my clitoris.In fact I had a few labial tears. Mine were stitched at he time along with my episiotomy. The stiching of the labia was excrutiating.

Apart from the immediate aftermath which was pretty grim, it has all recovered well. In fact, I can't detect where the labial tears were (not that I root around my labs that much!).

Don't know what to advise you, but if you're experiencing discomfort, I would get it sorted. I would think a gynae would do a better job than a midwife could have done(sorry midwives).

I tore the other way - towards the perineum (which from reading this thread sounds like a mercy) so can't really help. My baby was delivered by a MW but a ob/gynae stitched me (a woman, a very young one, using microscopic stitches. I loved her).

If you're still having problems, I would defo get it sorted, this could have long term effects on your health otherwise.

thanks for answering me ladies I need to get a good idea of how people healed to make this decision.
The split doesn't hurt at all now, never really did to be honest so I'm hoping it would heal as well again. But I just hate the look, feel of it.
I thought the stitches would hurt when they wheeled in the gas and air to give me a local, but then they changed their minds, by this time I was too off my head again to ask questions!

hi biggreypants, i see this is quite an old post but i have exactly the same problem as you and was wondering what happened with you after this?

Basically I had my baby 10 weeks ago and had a labial tear. After I'd given birth (it was a water birth) when the midwife was checking me, she said that I didn't have any perinuim tears or anything but there was a slight tear on my labia and that if I wanted it stitched then I could otherwise I could leave it to heal on it's own. At the time I thought since it's only a small tear and I don't need stitches then why go through extra pain??
I think if there was more information about it, and I had been aware then I may have been better informed about making my decision about stitches at the time. My problem now is that after 10 weeks, I'm still in pain. And now that I can see what's happened there - I see that my labia has completely split into two. I have gone back to see my doctor and now I am being refered to see a gynocologist.

It's not the look of the labia that bothers me (which my doctor thinks! - she thinks the pain is just in my mind!) but it's the fact that after 10 weeks, I'm still getting pain down there. And there is one piece on the left which hangs outside my outer labia which is uncomfortable as it rubs against my underwear etc.

sounds absolutely awful - i have no advice but wanted to offer sympathy - 2 x cs for me - if you don't mind me asking, did it tear because of the size of the baby? I've never heard of this before

My bits are ridiculous- I have a little flap that at first I felt was like a tiny little penis, but I'm past caring now.

I also have a 'graze' behind my clit and it really hurts when I pee or orgasm.

But I'm used to it- after about 6-7 months I didn't care so much.

I'm due another baby now and I dread to think what state I'll be in afterwards but I'll deal with it then and I assume I'll just take that attitude of 'yeah I've got kids, it happens'. I'm more bothered about my hideous stretched tummy and saggy boobs.

skymoo - no my baby weighed just under 6lbs and he had a small head. i'd never heard of it before until it happened to me so i have no idea why it happened to me .

TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied - you are very brave! i can't imagine getting pregnant again. don't get me wrong, i loved my pregnancy and apart from my labia tear the birth went really well and i love my son to bits but it's just taking so long for me to heal . when are you due? good luck with this one. x

I too tore, at least 4-5mm on my labia close to my clotoris, during the birth of my first born in 2005 who weighed 7lbs 3 oz. I found that its very rare and I don't know anyone personally that has torn this way. It's so uncomfortable. Sometimes when I'm walking the skin gets caught between the inseam in my pants and my leg, twisting and rolling the droopy skin.....disgusting an painful. I noticed it the first time I got up to use the bathroom after delivery. Pointed it out to the nurse who said to speak with my dr about it. Spoke to my dr who said we'll see how things look at my six week check-up and that "things" we're swollen and wouldn't look right. Then at my check-up I was told that fixing it would be "cosmetic." I know I'll get it fixed but I wish I didn't have to pay for it. Seems like it would've been easy/fast to do right after delivery. :-/

I know I'm late to the party but I too ahve a labial tear ...from 18 years ago. I am sure it has affected me sensation wise, and it looks silly, flapping in the wind! Did anyone get it repaired? Doctor said "Cosmetic" and that amde me fell I was making a fuss about nothing, but I am sure if she had the same she would feel differently

I had my labial tear repaired today, 6 months after my baby was born. I got mine repaired on the nhs as it was causing me to feel deformed and was so embarrassing I started to not want sex as I felt like a freak.. go to your doctor and ask for a referral to gyno. They tried putting me off the idea at the pointless but I was insistent that I just didn't feel right.. my inner labia had separated and it made it look like I was missing half my bits.. they did it under General anaestetic and couldn't have taken more than 20 mins.. pretty gutted the midwife didn't just fix the problem at the time. She referred to it as a graze and like a little thing

Hi, just wondering if the surgery worked OK, or were there any side effects? As my situation sounds similar and thinking about surgery.

Many thanks