Pelvic floor bruised in birth - in agony

[Elsy]

Gave birth to my daughter last night and in absolute agony. Can't walk, sit or move without pain. Consultant has diagnosed as bruised pelvic floor. Am struggling to cope with toddler and newborn. Anyone got any tips to reduce pain and how long did it take to improve?

Congratulations :-)
I am pretty sure i had this last time around. Could hardly move the day after and even getting out of bed was hell (3-4hr 2nd stage was the culprit i think). It didn't last long though - a few days before things got alot better. I remember taking arnica.

Oh you poor thing.
Congratulations on dd's birth though!

Here's what will help:

warm/hot sitz baths with a large handful of table salt or Epsom salt thrown in

once out of the bath, pat dry or blow-dry

apply ice pack to bits

lie on your side with ice pack on and nurse dd o your side

ibuprofen and paracetamol (safe while nursing)

apply Arnica gel (keep in fridge, feels good to apply chilled) or homeopathic arnica tablets or both (best)

xxx

Depending on degree of bruising and whether you tore at all, can last a few days (bruising) to a few weeks (tearing).

What about sitting on a bag of frozen peas? Wrap them in a tea towel and mould them into a good shape. I just looked on the breastfeedingnetwork website and it says ibuprofen is ok even if you're bf. I would take as many as you can.

Arnica will help hugely. Get some good ones from a homeopath.

it will heal over time, take care

xx

Bag of frozen peas great idea, I should have done that. Much better shape than flat ice pack.

Have you got help with you? Make sure you're waited on so you can rest!!

If too sore/ tired to get into sitz bath, you can also do alternating ice and heat on your bits - heat up a microwaveable bean bag (not too hot, or wrap in a towel), apply for 20 min, then apply frozen peas. Alternate like that as long as you want. This increases circulation and helps your body reabsorb the bruising.

I had the same after dd2, a lovely midwife filled a surgical glove with ice and put it on the effected area, i was like heaven . I was ok after 3 or 4 days.