Page 2 | Episiotomy breakdown not healing

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Notaflippinclue · 04/12/2024 22:48

Yes Vicks its a counterirritant and somehow works on the pain receptors - marvellous as the burn makes you forget the original pain - give it a try nothing ventured as they say

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Fayeandarlie · 04/12/2024 23:05

addictedtotheflats · 04/12/2024 19:42

Mine completely broke down and all the stitches came undone 4 days post partum, multiple infections and the worse pain I have ever felt to this day. Having said that it had completely healed by my 12 week perineal clinic appointment and luckily i have had no lasting effects, apart from a bit of bulging scar tissue but its painless. It was awful at the time though, wouldn't wish that pain on anyone

Ohhh I’m sorry to hear this, but this is promising for me 🤞🏼 thank you for sharing x

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Fayeandarlie · 04/12/2024 23:05

Thank you for your advice ! ☺️

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Fayeandarlie · 04/12/2024 23:08

9YearsOfPain · 04/12/2024 19:52

Mine never healed. Turns out the doctor cut down between the muscles instead of across one muscle. The muscles went into spasm and held the wound apart.

At 18 months my GP (female) said I should just “do whatever I could to keep my husband happy - grit your teeth and get on with it.

After 3 years of being unable to climb stairs or wear clothing with hard seams I was referred.

At 4.5 years I had Botox injections. After 2 more (annual) goes they said there was nothing else they could do.

At 7 years they said the scar tissue was too significant and removing it would risk it all being too tight now, and excruciatingly painful after menopause.

At about 8.5 years I slipped and it tore along the scar. After 6 hours in a+e I was offered surgical stitching or to leave it and see what it did, with a month’s worth of 2 heavy duty antibiotics. I took the second option. It healed well, with a new bridge of skin forming which gave me more flexibility. My lovely female GP took good care of me for 3+ months as by this point my mental health was in absolute tatters.

It robbed me of so much. The (mainly male) gynaes could not havee cared less. My daughter is an only child. It took years of therapy to stop being terrified of sex (pain/risk of pregnancy).

I’m glad to hear others were supported with help. Don’t let anyone fob you off, OP.

Oh wow, you really did go through the mill! I’m sorry to hear all that happened to you. I’m glad Finally in the end it started to feel a bit better. But that’s such a long time you never should’ve gone through that.
thank you for sharing x

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Fayeandarlie · 04/12/2024 23:10

zebranotzeebra · 04/12/2024 19:38

Not sure I can add much to the advice above but didn't want to read and run as I can well remember feeling like this! The postpartum care for episiotomy is shocking. I can't remember exactly when I started feeling better but I think by 12 -14 ish weeks I was more or less back to normal. My midwife recommended cool baths with Epsom salts and a drop of tea tree oil. I also liked freezing maternity pads and holding them on as the cold brought some relief. I'm two years down the line now and forget I've even had it. You will feel normal again!

This gives me hope!!! As I’ve said in some other comments luckily I don’t feel much pain with it. I’m just extra careful. ( I have an aunty and a friend that didn’t recover well from theirs so I really don’t want to end up like that ) which is an awful thing to say but they’ve been so supportive making sure I check it & get it checked out etc. hopefully within a couple more months I feels more ‘ normal ‘ again,
thank you for sharing x

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Buffysoldersister · 04/12/2024 23:15

I also had a bad experience, the stitches broke down and wound was left to heal by secondary intention which took ages and was still painful afterwards. (Female) Gyne was incredibly unsympathetic and told me to have sex and it would 'stop hurting eventually'. One thing that really helped me was a referral to physio - they were amazing helping the discomfort after things healed up 'wrong' and I was still in pain, and actually seemed to care. I'm not sure if you will have to wait til after it has healed but something to ask your GP about. You should have this as standard after an assisted delivery apparently but they 'forgot' to refer me. Sorry I can't be more accurate - it was a long time ago for me but I'm still mad as hell about the shoddy treatment and the 'what do you expect, you've had a baby, constant pain is a given' attitude. Keep pushing for the help you deserve.

Duckinglunacy · 04/12/2024 23:17

Mine took a while to heal, I can’t remember how long but I do recall being at a family wedding 7 weeks postpartum and it being horribly sore. I saw a GP at around 6 months PP and she commented on how well healed it was by then and how she could barely see it - she said this gave her hope and something to say to other patients.

it continued to be tender though, and sex was painful, but I would sometimes get shooting pains.

then during my second delivery it tore all along the scar. The midwives opted for a more ‘natural’ piecing together of the edges which really did seem to result in a much better overall outcome, I do still feel it sometimes but very rarely.

MrsHelenHuntingdon · 04/12/2024 23:25

If I had this at 8 weeks post partum I would turn up at the maternity triage and wait until they see you. There will be multiple obstetricians on duty and they will know far more than the GP.

Hope it’s getting better soon.

Crispynoodle · 05/12/2024 00:09

Eating lots of good quality protein will help

Original poster

Fayeandarlie · 13/12/2024 08:40

Buffysoldersister · 04/12/2024 23:15

I also had a bad experience, the stitches broke down and wound was left to heal by secondary intention which took ages and was still painful afterwards. (Female) Gyne was incredibly unsympathetic and told me to have sex and it would 'stop hurting eventually'. One thing that really helped me was a referral to physio - they were amazing helping the discomfort after things healed up 'wrong' and I was still in pain, and actually seemed to care. I'm not sure if you will have to wait til after it has healed but something to ask your GP about. You should have this as standard after an assisted delivery apparently but they 'forgot' to refer me. Sorry I can't be more accurate - it was a long time ago for me but I'm still mad as hell about the shoddy treatment and the 'what do you expect, you've had a baby, constant pain is a given' attitude. Keep pushing for the help you deserve.

Oh I’m sorry to hear about your experience too.
im not in pain with it which is a good thing, I. Just very aware that there is still an opening where the episiotomy is done. Yes my health visitor said ‘ you can’t expect to look the same down there after giving birth ‘ . That’s not what I’m expecting, I’m just wanting my cut to knit together, I don’t care if it looks a bit different. Yeah I feel they don’t really care too much 🙈

im sorry you had all that pain j thank you for sharing.

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Fayeandarlie · 13/12/2024 08:41

Crispynoodle · 05/12/2024 00:09

Eating lots of good quality protein will help

yes protein is good for healing isn’t it ? Thank you

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Original poster

Fayeandarlie · 13/12/2024 08:41

MrsHelenHuntingdon · 04/12/2024 23:25

If I had this at 8 weeks post partum I would turn up at the maternity triage and wait until they see you. There will be multiple obstetricians on duty and they will know far more than the GP.

Hope it’s getting better soon.

Thank you

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Original poster

Fayeandarlie · 13/12/2024 08:43

Duckinglunacy · 04/12/2024 23:17

Mine took a while to heal, I can’t remember how long but I do recall being at a family wedding 7 weeks postpartum and it being horribly sore. I saw a GP at around 6 months PP and she commented on how well healed it was by then and how she could barely see it - she said this gave her hope and something to say to other patients.

it continued to be tender though, and sex was painful, but I would sometimes get shooting pains.

then during my second delivery it tore all along the scar. The midwives opted for a more ‘natural’ piecing together of the edges which really did seem to result in a much better overall outcome, I do still feel it sometimes but very rarely.

thank you for sharing your experience & I’m sorry that you were so sore. Fingers crossed mine will just take some time to heal too. X

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Original poster

Fayeandarlie · 13/12/2024 08:45

Buffysoldersister · 04/12/2024 23:15

I also had a bad experience, the stitches broke down and wound was left to heal by secondary intention which took ages and was still painful afterwards. (Female) Gyne was incredibly unsympathetic and told me to have sex and it would 'stop hurting eventually'. One thing that really helped me was a referral to physio - they were amazing helping the discomfort after things healed up 'wrong' and I was still in pain, and actually seemed to care. I'm not sure if you will have to wait til after it has healed but something to ask your GP about. You should have this as standard after an assisted delivery apparently but they 'forgot' to refer me. Sorry I can't be more accurate - it was a long time ago for me but I'm still mad as hell about the shoddy treatment and the 'what do you expect, you've had a baby, constant pain is a given' attitude. Keep pushing for the help you deserve.

Thank you for sharing your experience, I’m sorry you were in pain afterwards with yours. Yes I think you have to push for the help. Baby had her ‘8 week jabs’ next week at 10 weeks 🙄, so I’m going to bring it up again then.
thanks again

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ClarebaldingforPM · 13/12/2024 09:09

I had a third degree tear repaired many years ago where the stitches broke down and was extremely painful. Reported to GP( male, pompous and accompanied by a couple of medical students) at 8 week check. He didn’t take any notice and went on to ask about contraception at which point I lost my shit and told the medical students that it was a learning experience in listening to your patient ( I’m also a doctor!!!) I did eventually get referred to a wound healing team and had laser therapy which was very effective and cleared the problem up really quickly.

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 13/12/2024 09:13

Fayeandarlie · 03/12/2024 06:31

Hi ladies, I hope you’re all okay.
I gave birth 8 weeks ago and my episiotomy doesn’t seem to be healing ( more on the inside of my foof ) ive been back and forth to the drs, had it looked at numerous times. They have just said ‘ it should heal on its own ‘ I’ve been on antibiotics twice incase of infection. The smell isn’t that nice. They have referred me back to obstetricians, who have said it could be up to a year before I’m seen.

has anyone else had similar ? If so did it heal? And how long did it take please ? X

Mine didn't ... sign up like a kipper, operated 6 months pp, then stitches came apart. GP said just leave it. Doesn't impact sex at all but not pretty.

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 13/12/2024 09:14

ByQuaintAzureWasp · 13/12/2024 09:13

Mine didn't ... sign up like a kipper, operated 6 months pp, then stitches came apart. GP said just leave it. Doesn't impact sex at all but not pretty.

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Sewn not sign

Original poster

Fayeandarlie · 13/12/2024 19:10

ClarebaldingforPM · 13/12/2024 09:09

I had a third degree tear repaired many years ago where the stitches broke down and was extremely painful. Reported to GP( male, pompous and accompanied by a couple of medical students) at 8 week check. He didn’t take any notice and went on to ask about contraception at which point I lost my shit and told the medical students that it was a learning experience in listening to your patient ( I’m also a doctor!!!) I did eventually get referred to a wound healing team and had laser therapy which was very effective and cleared the problem up really quickly.

I’m glad you stuck up for yourself and pushed for the treatment that you needed! Sorry you went through this. Also thank you for sharing. I’m feeling a bit more positive about it now. As everything I read on Google said should be healed in 3-4 weeks.
im glad laser worked for you also ☺️ xx

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