Recovering from an Episiotomy - advise please.

FallFabulous · November 2011

My October baby turned into a November son! But not without a little assistance of forceps and an episiotomy!

Any it's been 6 days and I still feel awful and I'm hoping to see my ob tomorrow. Ive been routinely taking my meds, doing my Perry care and soaking in Epsom salt baths. Anyone have any other tips or advise on how to help with the recovery?

I would also appreciate it if you could tell me the degree of your cut and how long it took until you could actually say you were feeling better.

LindsayB0505 · November 2011

I don't want to scare you, but I had a 3rd degree tear and at 6 weeks postpartum I am just now finally starting to feel a bit better. I think you can expect to be sore for awhile.

I just stopped using my peri bottle this week. Keep taking the meds, epsom salt baths are supposed to help. I found changing my pad/panty liner frequently helped keep the area "drier" therefore aiding the healing a bit.

10kris · November 2011

I had an episiotomy and I tore due to a forcep delivery also. I'm not sure what degree because I never asked but the doctor said he had to do a lot of repair. it took awhile for me to be comfortable again. I also had enormous external hemorrhoids. I sat on a pillow for at least 2 weeks. I took Tylenol, advil, or aleve daily for 3 weeks. I also took a stool softener every other day. I used flushable wipes after I urinated and just dabbed, not wiped. It helped to cool it down. I also used a hemorrhoid cream on my pad and put tucks wipe on my pad as well. Anything to cool it down. In the shower i ysd my handheld shower to rinse with warm water and that was amazing! I felt tightness after the pain subsided. This went away about a week ago. You will be sore for sometime. I am now 4 weeks 5 days pp and still feel uncomfortable going to the bathroom occasionally. I have my 6 week appt on the 22 so I hope all is good. Hang in there and try not to over exert yourself. I realized the more I did the more sore I was the next day. Don't be afraid to ask for help! Feel better. Sorry for the long paragraph, I'm on the iPad.

shannykay · November 2011

I used the witch pads which were AWESOME!!!! I also used a spray that I got from Walgreens, that they used on me while i was in the hospital. Its a spray that is made with lanolin that helps reduce pain. It took me 2 weeks to stop bleeding, but my pain didn't last long.

Ginny0211 · November 2011

Ice packs are awesome! I brought a lot of those home from the hospital and they helped a lot. I also try to lean to the side whenever I sit down. Putting preasure there is not good while healing. I just got a little tear and it hasn't bothered me in days (unless I try to pick something heavy up or sit for a long time) It's been 2 weeks since I delivered.

Last time I got a 3 degree tear and it HURT. I don't remember exactly when my tear stopped hurting, but I know that I healed a lot faster this time and I was not feeling this good by this point last time. I do remember that I was feeling pretty good by my 6 week apt. though.

Miananderson · November 2011

I had an episiotomy and for me ice packs and tucks were a life saver during the first couple weeks. I'm almost 5 weeks postpartum and feeling much better. Still not fully healed though

renogaw · November 2011

I had a 3rd degree tear the first time and it took about 4-5 weeks for the pain to stop. Thankfully things got noticeably better each day. I just tried to do as many sitz baths as I could in addition to the pain meds and cream they gave me. I was also extremely careful to be super gentle when patting dry after using the squirt bottle. I hope you feel better soon!

ludicrous · November 2011

With my first I had pain at least 3-5 weeks and only had a first degree tear. I thought surely I would never feel right again but I did.

kaustin2010 · November 2011

I had a second degree tear and it took me about three weeks to feel mostly back to normal. Change your pad often, use your peri bottle, give it a good rinse in the shower. Motrin or Advil helped. It just takes time, but you will go back to normal.

FallFabulous · November 2011

Thank you ladies! At least I know I'm heading into the right direction. I know it can take several weeks to feel much better. My ob is on vacation and so I spoke to her nurse who also recommended tucks pads, and to keep doing what I've been doing.

For those who are worried they are not healing well: there would be yellowish discharge, a foul odour and you'd have a fever. As awful as I feel, I have none of those symptoms.

jwls84 · November 2011

I had a 3rd degree tear and I also had an episiotomy, I healed really quick and I am 3w 1d right now and feel fine, however I noticed that if I sat for too long it would cause me to feel more pain so I tried to sit on my breastfeeding pillow or laying on my side and it worked wonders as well as using the peri bottle everytime I went to the washroom and doing daily sitz baths. It'll get better, for me it is the hemorrhoid that is still giving me trouble!

memo9 · November 2011

Ditto the ice packs! After I stopped bleeding heavily, I soaked my overnight pads with water and froze them.

I think day 6 or 7 pp I had a peak day of pain and from there on it has gotten so much better. At 3 weeks pp, I feel normal 90% of the time.

butterflynola · November 2011

I also had an episiotomy but no forceps and it took me a good 4 weeks to feel better. Everytime I did too much, like housework etc it got really sore so my ob told me to let someone else do that stuff for awhile and put my feet up as much as possible so I did that for a could of weeks and I feel great. GL!

forensicmama · November 2011

How well you recover and how quickly depends on the degree of the tear/episiotomy and the direction/depth of the tear or episiotomy. I had a 4th degree episiotomy with DD and it took a couple of weeks to feel somewhat normal, but things like sex were put off for a full 3-4 months!

I had a 2nd degree tear this time around and I feel pretty great so far.

The main advice I have is to absolutely keep up on the stool softeners and wean yourself off the pain meds as soon as you can, or start using Ibuprofen instead of narcotics as soon as possible. Alternate heat and cold. That should help increase blood flow and aid in healing. Good luck!

sah1012 · November 2011

I am not sure what damage I had(I did not want to know:/, but the doctor had to do a good bit of repairing. The nurses in the hospital showed me the diaper ice pack trick. Cut a diaper either on the top or bottom, then pull apart the lining and the absorbent material and put some ice in there, you might have to crush it up to fit it in. I used medical tape to tape the end i cut so nothing would leak out. I loved it b/c it was absorbent and fit nicely in my undies. They also gave me dermoplast spray which seemed to cool and numb the area a little bit.

Good luck with the healing just take it easy:) And remember that it is temporary and soon you will just feel better and forget all about it:)

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