Painful 2nd degree tear stitches

[DobbyForever]

Hi all! My boy is only 4 days old, and I had a second degree tear. It didn't hurt at first, but the last two days it really hurts. Keeping on my pain meds schddule is hard as I often forget when to take what or get distracted, so that may have something to do with it, but the burn. They burn when I pee, they burn when I do the spray bottle. Should it still be hurting this much? I thought the warm water was supposed to help not hurt? . And how much longer can I expect it to go on hurting?

Thanks!

 

[Cariad_x]

I had a second degree tear with my son and an episiotomy with my daughter. I've found the episiotomy much more difficult with healing. I never took pain killers because I kept forgetting though I did get strong ones at the hospital post birth.

I discovered that it was burning them when I urinated because I wasn't drinking NEARLY enough. As long as I drank loads of water I was fine. Your urine is acidic so water helps. So does going in the shower tbh as gross as that sounds.

Don't over do it (I did!). Put on two pairs of pants and put an ice pack between the two of them. Lavender oil and witch hazel on your maternity pads. Bathe every day. My tear was healed in 10 days. My episiotomy was nearly 3 weeks!

Congrats on your little bundle enjoy every minute, it goes too fast x

 

[maryanne1987]

I remember feeling like that after my first. It's tough because it's all the unknown. And it bloody hurts and there's this new little person to look after too who doesn't make allowances for you being in pain. I had a second degree tear on my first and then a third degree on my second and third. I gave up on pain meds when I left hospital but they only thing I found that actually helped was drinking lots of water to make sure my urine was diluted. I always found it takes at least 7-10 days though for it to start to feel better. Congratulations.

 

[DobbyForever]

Thank you ladies! I haven't been resting or drinking water. My partner is essentially useless. My swelling has gotten so bad it's spread to my calves and I weigh more now than I died before I gave birth! I'll try to be better about the water and definitely give the ice pack a try. I don't have witch hazel at home and while SO says he'll go to the store... he's there playing video games and stimulating my sleeping son so I can't take a nap even though this is the first time all day I finally laid down and got my feet up and have 30m before A wakes up

 

[sarah1980]

I hadn't an episiotomy and took ages to heal, for the first couple of weeks I pee'd in the shower too! It was the only way I could actually go! Then I'd dry my lady bits with a cool hairdryer afterwards, this was recommended to me by an older midwife though she said it was no longer "official" advice!

 

[second.time]

It's only 4-5 days after your body went through something pretty serious! If you had stitches on another body part, you'd probably expect them to still hurt a bit after five days, so be patient with yourself. I think it's normal to be sore/swollen/tender down there for at least a week. I've also heard that the pain affects people differently based on where the tearing happens ... some women say a graze hurt more than a deep tear just because of where it was. I second the recommendation to pour lots of witch hazel on a big maxi pad, freeze it, and then wear it for a while. The combination of the cold and the witch hazel brings down swelling and pain a lot. There's also a numbing spray, Dermoplast, which the hospital sent me home with. You can find a non-hospital strength version of it at drugstores or online. Maybe keep a notebook nearby to mark down your pain meds and try to stay on top of them for a day or two, see if that helps? And if not you shouldn't feel shy about calling your doctor to double-check.

I hope you feel better quickly! It's hard to be in pain and taking care of a new baby.

 

[DobbyForever]

Ty ladies! I'm being more diligent about the meds and water. If baby ears, I have a glass. It's s thousand times better. Still sore of course but like y'all said it takes time

 

[IchigoMewMew]

I agree definitely drink plenty to dilute the pee. Have you had the area checked for infection? That can cause pain to start up later on. At my 10 day check one of my stitches had fallen out and the area was just a bit red and a little sore rather than the symptoms you'd expect from an infection, just a day or so of antibiotics stopped the pain (uncluding the sting whilst peeing)

 

[DobbyForever]

I haven't and I do sorry I messed up my stitches or got infected in one spot that consistently hurts. Everything else is fine. But I don't get check until 8/28