Episiotomy (sp?) - how long did it take you to recover?

[Mirry71]

Sorry if TMI, but two weeks on from giving birth, I'm still in some pain. Consider this is normal, still have to sit on cushins, but particularly painful when walking about, rocking DC standing up. The midwife said on Sunday that if I was still in pain 2 weeks on I should go to the doctor but she said I shouldnt if merely uncomfortable. I'm somewhere in between the two! What are other people's expereince?

I felt like I was sitting on a pincushion for about 3 or 4 weeks IIRC, and some of the stitches were still feeling like they were "tweaking" when I moved for about that long. Does anything feel itchy or hot or inflamed? If so, you should probably go to the doc. But if it all seems to be healing up cleanly I'd give it a bit longer.

It took probably around 7 or 8 weeks before I could comfortably sit / walk without a valley cushion and painkillers, but I was very unlucky in that my scar developed a haematoma, which then got infected. I couldn't sit or walk for more than a few minutes for about the first 3 weeks, so that shows you how extreme my case was. Is your midwife still checking regularly to make sure that your scar is healing properly? It might be that your stitches are too tight, which can make it very uncomfortable for you, but this is easily resolved.

I think that you are the best judge of how much discomfort warrants a trip to your GP - it's far better for you to be over cautious and make sure that everything is healing as it should.

The first two visits the midwives who came checked (the second one said 'oh my god' when she saw my scar because of its size - hmm really reassuring!) The third visit the midwife I saw then didnt bother to inspect me - i think she was really under the cosh and I was having a bit of a moment when I wasnt feeling strong enough to say 'will you look at my bits please?'
TattyCatty my case is not as extreme as yours - can sit fine. Its just standing and moving around when it tends to be more painful.
AMumInScotland - it does feel itchy, but not sure whether thats just the stitches knitting together or inflammation. Am afraid I am not someone who regularly looked at her bits in the mirror before birth to see how different they look now IYSWIM....

I think it would be worth getting someone to take a look - either the midwife if she's due to visit again soon or else the GP. It will itch a bit as it heals, it's just whether it feels "odd" to you. But then everything will feel very odd for quite a while anyway! I wasn't one to look before either, but between the bruising and the scarring everything looked very peculiar when I did look afterwards, so I'm not sure I'd have been able to tell. I'd guess a midwife would be the best person, as they've seen enough of them to know what to expect! Your average GP may not see them as often...

Episiotomy, haematoma, and infection with DD's birth.

Three weeks of sheer agony before I could even put on real clothes and sit.

If your episiotomy is still painful after two weeks, definitely have it checked out. It may be infected.

In fact, knowing what I know now, I would take antibiotics just in case. Amoxicillin does not harm baby if you are breastfeeding.

I don't know if it was the episiotomy or the tear, but I was uncomfortable for a long time after having dd; still getting twinges after a year.

Get someone to have a look.

On reflection, I would second what Cote says about antibiotics as a precaution. Ask your midwife to take a swab though so that they are able to prescribe the right ones - it took 3 different types and a re-admission to hospital for me before they found the right spectrum to sort out my infection. Agony is the right word

I don't know if this will help but I had what one midwife called a 'generous' (ie large!) episiotomy with my DD. It was amazingly painful to sit for the first week, then in the second weeks rapidly got a lot better. So I would say perhaps best to get someone to have a look.

Have had 2 episiotomies,following 2 forceps births.Could not sit comfortably for 2-3 weeks each time.(Was convinced with my 1st that I'd read that it would heal within a week,MW laughed when I said this to her!)

MW suggested mixing tea tree oil with water in mini spray bottle (can get from Boots or other chemist). I sprayed this each time went to the toilet,and quite often in between for a few weeks, this definitely soothed things. Also had salt in bath night and morning, which also seemed to help. Oh, and also sitting on a bag of frozen peas (just be sure you're not expecting visitors first!!)

Was advised by MW that as long as pain/discomfort didnt feel worse that I was safe to assume no infection/complications. Hope this helps, am due in June and am dreading chasing round after my 2 and 3 yr old if have stitches again!

mine hurt for about a month. i took antibiotics after about 10 days because it seemed to be oozing a bit. (sorry.)

It healed badly as well and I couldn't have sex, so have just had it redone.

It's been 4 weeks since the surgery and it's still a bit tender.

i am also certain things used to look quite different down there.

6 weeks after having DS1 after an ep. and ventouse I still couldn't sit down - I don't think my midwife believed me when I told her I was still in pain. About a year later I had to have the scar tissue removed, which probably explained why things were so sore.

That being said, my sister had an episiotomy and forceps and she was fine after a few days

I was ok about a week after an ep and forceps.

Mine wasn't too bad (sore but not agony) after 2 weeks but i used tea tree oil in the bath and this helped alot. I also had a generous epsiotomy!

Still aches a tiny bit now and then 8 mths later but usually when i'm due on. Not painful though.

I would get it checked out just in case.

A top tip that really worked for me after my 'bumgina' repair job........ fill up one of those sports drink bottles with water & tea tree oil, every hour I'd squirt the entire bottle around the stitched up area whilst sitting on the loo and it really aided with the healing. Plus it's very dark and damp down there which doesn't help so my doctor recommended lots of 'nappy off time' so the fresh air could also help the mending of it. Not ideal when you've got guests around to have your flange hanging out though!!!!!

Having bath after bath after bath, constant spritzing and keeping it clean and dry helped a lot.

I really recommend frequent (2 or 3) baths every day. I used to add a good handful of sea salt, few drops of lavender oil (relaxing and antiseptic), few drops of tea tree oil (antiseptic) and just have five minutes wind down time. Music wafting through from the other room, it was such a mental and physical relief. I would bring the carry cot bed into the bathroom with me and my DD2 would sleep on the bathroom floor in the carry cot enjoying the warm lavender fumes. She was a snuffly baby and benefitted from the steamy atmosphere so we were both happy!

I got fed up with my mw being a bit cavalier about the pain of my episiotomy site. Her "oh I am sure it will settle soon" and reluctance to take a look with "no need, I am sure if it were really bad you would know about it" so I went to my GP at about 8 weeks. He gave me novacaine (sp?) in a cream tube to rub over the site of the stitched and massage the site. The anaesthetic cream was wonderful and gave a lot of relief. Not sure my amateur and rather overly careful massaging did any good - kept making my fingertips too numb

Go to your GP if your mw doesn?t seem to offer any specific help or you are worried about slow improvement. There are treatments to help if it is infected or looking like it is slow to heal. One ten minute GP appt. and you could be on your way to having this problem sorted

The only thing that helped my episiotomy while healing was a spray of talcum powder. Not sure what it's called, but it was great. Helped keep it dry, which somehow helped a lot with the pain.