When after delivery does it feel better down there?

[Anonymous]

So it's now two weeks after delivery, and I had a labial tear. It feels somewhat better but I'm still in a lot of pain down there. When does it get much better instead of just a little better? I'm cleaning the area regularly, doing sitz baths, using ointment, etc. but nothing's working completely. Ouch.

[Anonymous]

For me it was about 6 or 7 weeks before it was much better. did your doc give you that numbing spray? that worked really well for me. good luck! and congrats

[Anonymous]

I had 4th degree tearing - basically tearing from vagina to anus. Nice! Not at all what I was expecting. I found that I was fairly tender for about 6 weeks. I had some very serious pain and itching at around 4 weeks. Doctor thought I was "overhealing" - whatever that means. One possible remedy was surgery, so I took his advice to soak in hot baths with Epsom salts multiple times a day - as many as you can for as long as you can. This seemed to work and by 6 weeks, I was feeling much better and healing was back-on-track.

I will say that I had throbbing down there for months, especially when I was standing for long periods of time - probably until around 7/8 months. I didn't even think about sex until 9 months. We tried - it was uncomfortable, so we did not complete. Tried again at 10 months and things were much better. Make sure you lubricate WELL! And go slow!

I am now a year and a half post partum and have no lingering issues. One other word of advice - Kegels!

Hope you are feeling better!

[Anonymous]

PP here - my doctor recommended NOT doing the sitz baths in the cheap plastic sitz bath from the hospital. He recommended cleaning the tub well and sitting in it. He said he thought the sitz bath was too hard on women with tearing because it did not support everything down there!

[Anonymous]

To the PPs: do you mind stating whether you had an epidural? I have heard conflicting opinions on this subject, so whenever I hear about tears, I wonder if the numbness combined with pushing may have been a primary (or contributing) factor.

[Anonymous]

I've known plenty of women that had natural births that experienced minor to severe tearing. I think it has more to do with baby size and/or positioning and elasticity of skin. Forceps and vacuums could also be responsible if they were used.

I had minor tearing, they used a vacuum and I had an epi. It took about 3 or 4 weeks to feel much better and another year or two before I could no longer feel tenderness around the scar tissue.

[Anonymous]

I too had a tear (induced with an epi) and ITA with previous posters. It took a good 6 weeks for my labia to feel at all better. Hurt a lot until then and bled too. Continued to be somewhat tender and strange feeling throughout the period during which I breastfed (over a year). The hormones from breastfeeding seem to keep the membranes in one's vulva a little more engorged than they are normally (per my OB). At close to 3 yrs pp, I still feel a bit of a tingle or strangeness in the area of my scar, but no pain.

[Anonymous]

6 weeks and went in for a check-up. Doctor said it was beautifully healed.

[Anonymous]

My 3rd degree tear took a good 8 weeks to feel better (i.e. to the point where I could sit down or roll over in bed without wincing).

[Anonymous]

PP with 4th degree tears here. I ended up with an epidural after having very painful "back labor". I really didn't want one and had considered going natural, but ended up with an epidural. Everything I read indicated that tearing happens more with epidurals. My situation was not helped by the fact that baby's heart started to drop, they had to vacuum her out, vacuum didn't work, needed forceps and then had to have an episiotomy which led to - rip - nice! I feel like it certainly was a downward spiral and am rethinking birth options for next go-round!