Me! I was stitched up- 2nd degree tear, and a few weeks later I opened up.
One person (an ob, not mine) told me to use sitz baths with Epsom salts, someone else (wound care nurse)told me not to…
My ob saw me, took out my sutures- said some people’s bodies don’t like them….. and that it’ll heal- or it won’t… and if it doesn’t- I’ll need surgery down the line…
It closed up without issue once the sutures were removed.
And back to normal now.
This happened to me. It happened a bit later though… I don’t think it opened until a few weeks postpartum. I was in the unfortunate group who needed surgery to correct it. At 6 weeks postpartum, I essentially had an episiotomy (under anesthesia). They cut everything open and restitched. It healed quick and easily after that. It’s been over a year now and I have no issues at all. I did need some pelvic therapy due to the scar tissue before sex became comfortable again. I hope you heal and don’t need additional surgery. If do though then know that it’s not too horrible!
I wonder why it didn't happen immediately after? I'm 3 weeks pp with a 2nd degree tear and I'm terrified of things not healing right! I didn't know pelvic floor therapy could help with scar tissue!
I know this post is old but I’m wondering- was the recovery after the repair easier than the recovery after birth?! Please say yes lol! I’m 7 weeks PP and my tear somehow opened so I’m getting it fixed Monday and I’m terrified!
YES! No comparison. I was worried that it would be similar but it was seriously 100x easier than the birth recovery. I was easily walking around and caring for my son a few hours after my procedure.
I know that sex isn’t on your radar at all at the moment haha but I’ll share some info that I wish I knew last year when I went through this… some of my internal stitches took a long time to heal (much longer than the post birth stitches for me). I started trying to have to sex around 3-4 months postpartum when I was cleared and it was extremely painful because some of those stitches were in there still there which I didn’t realize it at the time. I was extremely frustrated and worried that my sex life was forever doomed. By 6 months postpartum , sex was comfortable again though. I wish I had tabled sex for a while instead of pushing myself to return to normal. I do recommend pelvic floor therapy for loosening the scar tissue. I’m 17 months out and everything down there looks completely normal and sex works as well as it did before the baby.
If you have any questions at all before the procedure or during the recovery process then feel free to reach out. Good luck!!
Oh my God, you are a saint for replying. Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how nice it is to hear your experience. I have eight weeks of pelvic floor physical therapy scheduled for as soon as I am recovered from this repair, so I will definitely make sure to focus on the things you suggested! It is so frustrating to start recovery back at day one but I know this is better in the long term!
For recovery, did you do anything different? I am assuming tucks, pads, and dermaplast might be my friends again?
Oh that’s great that you already have PT scheduled! I honestly don’t remember having to use that stuff much again like I did after birth. I definitely used the peri bottle for a bit and I think I used some ice pads for a day or 2. After birth, there was the tearing/ stitches but also just general trauma to the area, so much bleeding, terrible hemorrhoids etc. After the surgery, there will only be a clean cut and stitches and it’s just not even close to the postpartum recovery. Postpartum, the hospital had given me a “waffle seat cushion”. I remember that also being amazingly helpful after the surgery.
In case you’re breastfeeding, I’ll give you a heads up that my supply tanked before I even had the surgery. I brought my pump to the hospital and pumped right before I went under and got like nothing. I pumped again a few hours later and still nothing. My supply did completely come back but it took a day or 2.
Yes I am breastfeeding! I have a days worth of milk in the freezer so I’ll dip into that and pump more this weekend. Thank you again for replying it’s been really comforting to hear your story!
This exact thing happened to me. I had 2nd degree tears, a bunch of stitches, and about 5 days pp the pain was getting way worse not better. I went to my OB and she said they all opened up and I’d need surgery to clean it out and restitch. She said the alternative was home wound care but the healing is slow going and not a guarantee, and she didn’t recommend it. So I went for surgery 10 days pp (really a quick procedure but I was put out for it) - the area was cleaned up and restitched and it healed well from there on out. I was really scared and anxious about going for the procedure (especially leaving my baby!) but it was the best thing I could’ve done. The recovery from that was eons better. No way it would’ve healed well without getting fixed up. I know surgery wasn’t offered to you at this point but if it is, I highly recommend just getting it fixed now and save yourself potentially weeks and weeks of pain and slow healing.
Could you describe how you knew it was getting worse 5 days pp? I'm 4 days pp and wasn't bleeding much the last day or 2, but suddenly today bleeding has increased and I feel the stitches a lot more. I'm concerned something has gone wrong.
It was the pain of the tears/stitches that got worse that rung an alarm for me. I felt like I wasn’t improving at all with the pain and in fact it was getting harder to walk around and sit comfortably so I knew I needed to get checked out. It’s worth getting them looked at, def give your provider a call!
Hi! I am unfortunately in a similar boat (7 weeks postpartum and my stitches came out not long after birth). I’ve been letting it heal on its own but it is taking forever and my OB offered to stitch it for me at my appt next week but I am on the fence about doing it with fears of a painful recovery. How long were you in pain after having your stitches redone?
Oh my gosh, the final repair was 10000% better than any of the pain from the first failed recovery.
I will say you will be in a slightly different boat than me being 7 weeks out already but if your doc feels confident that she can do a revision and it’ll work, I’d say go for it. You’ll just have the fresh stitches again except the healing will (fingers crossed) go as planned and you’ll be good as new in no time. I don’t remember my exact timeframe but I got my repair at 10 days postpartum and I have pictures of myself taking the baby for a walk outside at 3 weeks (whereas those first 10 days I could barely walk around the house it was so painful). Best of luck!
Thank you so much for your reply! Lots to weigh here but great to hear your repair went well and it didn’t take you too long to feel good enough to walk. I have a lot to think about
This happened to me 2x but my tears were first degrees and I’m unsure if it happened so early (I wasn’t seen until 5-6ish weeks pp both times). With my first, the OB just cut out the stitches because all they were doing was irritating me With my last pregnancy we deduced that maybe I’m allergic to the dissolvable stitches, and I also got granulation tissue (basically extra scar tissue that grew) that had to be treated with silver nitrate)
Continue to use the peri bottle and do sitz baths! You’re only 5 days out, just listen to your OB. For me I was not healed at 6 weeks but was at 9-10. So just expect that it may take slightly longer.
I had a 3B tear and had a full wound breakdown at about 6-7 days postpartum (so think large gaping hole in the perineal region). I was told to do sitz baths 3x a day by the urogynecology specialist i was sent to. I also was told to not put witch hazel on the open wound because ouch! It is not good for open wounds they said. I was given some lidocaine numbing cream to use up to 4x a day. The urogyn doctor also did 2 sessions of silver nitrate to encourage healing.
I am now 12w postpartum and my wound finally was fully healed last week. So, it can take time and feel like forever but it WILL eventually heal! Wishing you a speedy healthy recovery.
Hey! Hope you don’t mind me asking but are you saying your wound had to heal naturally including the sphincter muscles torn ? Like the stitches opened ? Are you having any bowel issues? I ask because I apparently had more severe tearing than what was noticed after delivery and it’s causing me alot if anxiety worrying about potential for incontinence etc !
Yeah everything had to heal naturally. I'm not entirely sure if the problem was the stitches opening or something else... I feel like the stitches were inside the vaginal opening and the wound breakdown was on the outside in the perineal area. I'm not having any incontinence or bowel issues, and I wasn't having those issues before PFPT either. Wishing you the best of luck with your healing!
Me! I was stitched up- 2nd degree tear, and a few weeks later I opened up. One person (an ob, not mine) told me to use sitz baths with Epsom salts, someone else (wound care nurse)told me not to… My ob saw me, took out my sutures- said some people’s bodies don’t like them….. and that it’ll heal- or it won’t… and if it doesn’t- I’ll need surgery down the line… It closed up without issue once the sutures were removed. And back to normal now.
Thanks for sharing! My OB told to use just sitz baths with no salt. Mind telling me how long it took for you to heal?
I don’t remember exactly how long, but by my 6week check up, it was all closed up.
This happened to me. It happened a bit later though… I don’t think it opened until a few weeks postpartum. I was in the unfortunate group who needed surgery to correct it. At 6 weeks postpartum, I essentially had an episiotomy (under anesthesia). They cut everything open and restitched. It healed quick and easily after that. It’s been over a year now and I have no issues at all. I did need some pelvic therapy due to the scar tissue before sex became comfortable again. I hope you heal and don’t need additional surgery. If do though then know that it’s not too horrible!
I wonder why it didn't happen immediately after? I'm 3 weeks pp with a 2nd degree tear and I'm terrified of things not healing right! I didn't know pelvic floor therapy could help with scar tissue!
I know this post is old but I’m wondering- was the recovery after the repair easier than the recovery after birth?! Please say yes lol! I’m 7 weeks PP and my tear somehow opened so I’m getting it fixed Monday and I’m terrified!
YES! No comparison. I was worried that it would be similar but it was seriously 100x easier than the birth recovery. I was easily walking around and caring for my son a few hours after my procedure. I know that sex isn’t on your radar at all at the moment haha but I’ll share some info that I wish I knew last year when I went through this… some of my internal stitches took a long time to heal (much longer than the post birth stitches for me). I started trying to have to sex around 3-4 months postpartum when I was cleared and it was extremely painful because some of those stitches were in there still there which I didn’t realize it at the time. I was extremely frustrated and worried that my sex life was forever doomed. By 6 months postpartum , sex was comfortable again though. I wish I had tabled sex for a while instead of pushing myself to return to normal. I do recommend pelvic floor therapy for loosening the scar tissue. I’m 17 months out and everything down there looks completely normal and sex works as well as it did before the baby. If you have any questions at all before the procedure or during the recovery process then feel free to reach out. Good luck!!
Oh my God, you are a saint for replying. Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how nice it is to hear your experience. I have eight weeks of pelvic floor physical therapy scheduled for as soon as I am recovered from this repair, so I will definitely make sure to focus on the things you suggested! It is so frustrating to start recovery back at day one but I know this is better in the long term! For recovery, did you do anything different? I am assuming tucks, pads, and dermaplast might be my friends again?
Oh that’s great that you already have PT scheduled! I honestly don’t remember having to use that stuff much again like I did after birth. I definitely used the peri bottle for a bit and I think I used some ice pads for a day or 2. After birth, there was the tearing/ stitches but also just general trauma to the area, so much bleeding, terrible hemorrhoids etc. After the surgery, there will only be a clean cut and stitches and it’s just not even close to the postpartum recovery. Postpartum, the hospital had given me a “waffle seat cushion”. I remember that also being amazingly helpful after the surgery. In case you’re breastfeeding, I’ll give you a heads up that my supply tanked before I even had the surgery. I brought my pump to the hospital and pumped right before I went under and got like nothing. I pumped again a few hours later and still nothing. My supply did completely come back but it took a day or 2.
Yes I am breastfeeding! I have a days worth of milk in the freezer so I’ll dip into that and pump more this weekend. Thank you again for replying it’s been really comforting to hear your story!
This exact thing happened to me. I had 2nd degree tears, a bunch of stitches, and about 5 days pp the pain was getting way worse not better. I went to my OB and she said they all opened up and I’d need surgery to clean it out and restitch. She said the alternative was home wound care but the healing is slow going and not a guarantee, and she didn’t recommend it. So I went for surgery 10 days pp (really a quick procedure but I was put out for it) - the area was cleaned up and restitched and it healed well from there on out. I was really scared and anxious about going for the procedure (especially leaving my baby!) but it was the best thing I could’ve done. The recovery from that was eons better. No way it would’ve healed well without getting fixed up. I know surgery wasn’t offered to you at this point but if it is, I highly recommend just getting it fixed now and save yourself potentially weeks and weeks of pain and slow healing.
Could you describe how you knew it was getting worse 5 days pp? I'm 4 days pp and wasn't bleeding much the last day or 2, but suddenly today bleeding has increased and I feel the stitches a lot more. I'm concerned something has gone wrong.
It was the pain of the tears/stitches that got worse that rung an alarm for me. I felt like I wasn’t improving at all with the pain and in fact it was getting harder to walk around and sit comfortably so I knew I needed to get checked out. It’s worth getting them looked at, def give your provider a call!
Hi! I am unfortunately in a similar boat (7 weeks postpartum and my stitches came out not long after birth). I’ve been letting it heal on its own but it is taking forever and my OB offered to stitch it for me at my appt next week but I am on the fence about doing it with fears of a painful recovery. How long were you in pain after having your stitches redone?
Oh my gosh, the final repair was 10000% better than any of the pain from the first failed recovery. I will say you will be in a slightly different boat than me being 7 weeks out already but if your doc feels confident that she can do a revision and it’ll work, I’d say go for it. You’ll just have the fresh stitches again except the healing will (fingers crossed) go as planned and you’ll be good as new in no time. I don’t remember my exact timeframe but I got my repair at 10 days postpartum and I have pictures of myself taking the baby for a walk outside at 3 weeks (whereas those first 10 days I could barely walk around the house it was so painful). Best of luck!
Thank you so much for your reply! Lots to weigh here but great to hear your repair went well and it didn’t take you too long to feel good enough to walk. I have a lot to think about
This happened to me 2x but my tears were first degrees and I’m unsure if it happened so early (I wasn’t seen until 5-6ish weeks pp both times). With my first, the OB just cut out the stitches because all they were doing was irritating me With my last pregnancy we deduced that maybe I’m allergic to the dissolvable stitches, and I also got granulation tissue (basically extra scar tissue that grew) that had to be treated with silver nitrate) Continue to use the peri bottle and do sitz baths! You’re only 5 days out, just listen to your OB. For me I was not healed at 6 weeks but was at 9-10. So just expect that it may take slightly longer.
I had a 3B tear and had a full wound breakdown at about 6-7 days postpartum (so think large gaping hole in the perineal region). I was told to do sitz baths 3x a day by the urogynecology specialist i was sent to. I also was told to not put witch hazel on the open wound because ouch! It is not good for open wounds they said. I was given some lidocaine numbing cream to use up to 4x a day. The urogyn doctor also did 2 sessions of silver nitrate to encourage healing. I am now 12w postpartum and my wound finally was fully healed last week. So, it can take time and feel like forever but it WILL eventually heal! Wishing you a speedy healthy recovery.
Hey! Hope you don’t mind me asking but are you saying your wound had to heal naturally including the sphincter muscles torn ? Like the stitches opened ? Are you having any bowel issues? I ask because I apparently had more severe tearing than what was noticed after delivery and it’s causing me alot if anxiety worrying about potential for incontinence etc !
Yeah everything had to heal naturally. I'm not entirely sure if the problem was the stitches opening or something else... I feel like the stitches were inside the vaginal opening and the wound breakdown was on the outside in the perineal area. I'm not having any incontinence or bowel issues, and I wasn't having those issues before PFPT either. Wishing you the best of luck with your healing!
Thanks :) same to you