Healing time? (tmi)

I had to have an episiotomy (sp?) and then when the registrar went to stitch me up she found that I had a 2nd degree tear on the inside. She took about 30 mins stitching me up and I have been too scared to look at what has happened down there. I'm still quite sore and was wondering how long it has taken other ladies to heal when they have had that much damage?
I'm taking voltaren at the moment but only have 2 days worth left, can you buy voltaren or is it a script only med?

Yeah I don't see my mw again until monday and she is on holiday otherwise I would phone her. She did give me the contact for another mw but I didn't want to bother her just for a script. I might get DH to ask the pharmacy what I can have, he loves going and talking to them for me

I didn't have an episiotomy, but did have a 2nd degree tear. The stitches got worst about day 7-10 when they tightened up before coming out. Something i have noticed (tmi...) is that i still have some numbness in that area, but def not sore. voltaren and lactulose were my friends!

I had a large tear and 2 smaller ones and an episiotomy as well. The epi siches healed very quickly and had no problems, the tears on the other hand took 4-5 weeks to heal and a couple of the stiches were digging in and I could feel them with every breath I took and every step as well.......not pleasant. All good now though.

I was taking panadol and brufen for the pain.

I had a very extensive episiotomy, not sure what degree it got too but it was very bad; was cut three times.
I took a very long time to heal totally, but only about a month or two before it stopped being sore when going about every day activities. Please don't get freaked out by this though, sounds like mine was much worse than yours, lucky you!
My advice though is to take the voltaren and panadol as and when you need it ; your midwife should be able to get you some more, otherwise you can get it from the chemist without a script i think. You havn't said if you are using lactulose but in case you are, one thing they didnt tell me at the hospital was not to be on it for too long, as your system can start to rely on it. After a week or so you should try to come off it.
Ring cushions are great - i used a round breastfeeding pillow EVERYWHERE! took it with me all the time.
I also recommend salt baths - have two a day, with a rough palm full of sea salt to a bath. I also put a couple of drops of tea tree oil in.
I did look at myself, and it freaked me out a bit! If you are squeamish I wouldn't recommend it! It looked very gapey and wide.
Another pointer, and if you are still be looked after by your midwife then Im sure she will be checking you anyway, but just in case ... and this may be tmi, sorry if it is, but if you start to notice that it smells funny downstairs, just get her to check it out as it could be an infection. I had this and i didn't have a very good postnatal mw (my prenatal was excellent, but wasn't local) and she didn't pick up on it - discovered 6m down the track I had had endometrisis or however you spell it. Again, I don't want you to worry, just passing on pointers that I wish I had been told!
Good luck

It took around 6-8 weeks for my epi's to heal up enough not to bother me so much when walking/sitting, etc. But I was still getting pain occasionally around 5 months after, until I got pregnant and now it doesn't seem to bother me. Apparently pregnancy hormones can soften the scar tissue and help correct some probs, so that's a bonus!

I never looked down there, just didn't want to face it! Lol.

I relied on voltaren too, which the MW prescribed once the stuff from the OB ran out. Also lived on Kiwi Crush (I hate lactulose ). And as someone else said, have lots of salt baths... my MW told me to use about half a cup of salt (plain cheap table salt is fine) in the bath, to soften up the tissue and keep it clean.

If you are still having a fair amount of pain around 6-8 weeks, I would mention it to your MW (or GP if you have been discharged).

jack_&_charli wrote: geez maybe i AM glad i had 2 c/s

LOL thats what I was thinking after my VBAC.......why did I try so damn hard not to have another cs, at least I would have been able to sit down, or wiggle across the bed without thinking I was ripping something open again. (I ripped one of my epi stitches getting out of the car on a slope, so watch that!!!)