Episiotomy hurts after sex - dd is 16!

[TheWelshDragon]

I tore badly after dd16 and I'm worried they made a mess of stitching it up. It hurts after sex.

Any ideas what might help? Time obviously isn't enough.

It wasn't a problem for years in my marriage but I'm in a relatively new relationship and the sex is great and frequent (sorry tmi ) but the pain is annoying. I sleep without knickers to get air on the area. I wear only cotton knickers. I've been massaging oil into the area but that's not helping either.

I'm early fifties btw.

Sorry for tmi, just really fed up of it.

Are you lubricated enough?

Yes.

High chance it is the start of vaginal atrophy , due to perimenopause.

Can start from mid/late 30s onwards. My scars where not far off splitting , local oestrogen is what is prescribed, but obviously get checked out for anything else , however GPs are not very up to speed re VA.

Thanks. I'm menopausal. I have oestrogen pessaries, do they help? Anything else?

You can get a cream either estriol or ovestin to rub onto the scar , use along side the pessaries , I assume vagifem ?

Yes vagifem. Do I need a prescription for the cream? How likely are they to prescribe it? At the moment it seems impossible to get anything much! It's all too expensive apparently. I'm only allowed a certain amount of vagifem pessaries and then the chemist can't get them very often either ... crazy!

Are you in the U.K. ? You are being told rubbish if that’s the case.

Yes the cream is prescription only

Yes I'm in the UK. My gp told me some things are no longer prescribed at their surgery due to the cost.

What should I say to him as a reason for wanting him to prescribe the cream? IME they hate it when you Google illnesses and tell them what you want ....

Look up the NICE 2015 guidelines on menopause.....I would go armed with information and ask him would he denigh a diabetic , COPD , thyroid or any other patients medications for there conditions?

The NICE guidelines are the most ignored as said by Dr Louise Newson. Look her up and her website.

It is possible to get the cream via one of these online GP / chemist things but expensive and why should you ? We can’t help we are female going through menopause and have sore episiotomies that bought the next generation into the world , really ps me off.

I have had a piece published in a magazine and I am also on Dr Newson’s web page about this problem and another web page.

Thanks that's really helpful.

I don't hold out much hope tbh based on past experience. But I'll read up and go in there informed and hope for the best.

I presume however that no amount of oestrogen is going to undo the damage? When you say your scars were not far off splitting, what was done about it? Did things improve? Or is it going to be a case of just preventing it from getting worse?

No it can’t be undone just trying to stop it getting worse is the goal.

I have had to have laser treatment to improve the condition of the skin , plus I use local
Oestrogen and HRT all due to this problem of menopause.

Thanks. Will anything stop the pain?

I'm wondering if it's possibly infected. I can't even ask for an appointment until monday morning as i missed them all last week, they go immediately. It's still so sore.