Any experience healing post-partum vaginal issues at home??

[ContentMama]

I've been checking the threads about vaginal conditions after birth and I feel good that I am not the only one who has had some damage. Just went to the midwife today (9 mos postpartem) and I have nerve damage and scar tissue in the lower part of my yoni. She also mentioned spasms. This has made sex unbearable and indeed, not happening, for me/us. She recommended physical therapy but since I don't have health insurance am looking into ways to heal myself.

Any experience with this? Or, what sorts of things did you do if you went to pt?

I am thinking some herbal oil massage, using St. John's Wort and comfrey.

[ContentMama]

No experiences out there??

[Jaimee]

Sorry you're dealing with this and that no one has responded. You might have better luck in the Healing Birth Trauma forum where there are support threads for prolapsed organs and other birth damage. 

There may be medications you can take for nerve damage and biofeedback type PT can help, but you said that you don't have insurance for that now.  Another thought would be dilation to deal with the scar tissue in combination with massaging the tissue.  You can purchase medical grade plastic vaginal dilators online and they can be very effective.

Good luck!

[ContentMama]

Thank you for the ideas. I just contacted a moderator to see about moving this over.

I will look into dilators and indeed, vaginal dilation altogether as it is a new subject for me!

[mamaboots]

I'm almost 7 weeks pp and had a home birth. Had a first degree perineal tear that my midwife did not believe needed to be sutured. She used dermabond and instructed me to stay in bed with my legs together for 3 days, I did exactly that. The tear did not come together fully and I am terrified of sex right now. I'm not really sure what the heck else happened down there but I now have quite a bit of urethra pain, this is gross but it's like it stretched out and doesn't even seem to be where it was before, like it came down lower. I seem to also have pelvic floor problems as well. It's a mess and I just had a tiny tear :(

[Smurfy]

mamaboots your story scares me a little.  I'm just over 2 weeks pp and I had a second degree tear, my midwife also opted against suturing and advised me to move very little and keep my legs together for 3 days, I think I did at least 5, maybe more.  Even now I try not to run up and down stairs too much.  Pain has diminished, though I'm suffering from severe eczema, I always get it when using pads, I think everything is healing quite well, or at least in a mirror it almost looks all back to normal.  They haven't checked me yet, they said they would a 6 weeks but they were pretty sure it would heal well on it's own.  I haven't had any other problems yet, sex isn't even a consideration at this point, when I attempt kegals they feel the same so I hope that means everything is ok.  I guess I'll find out at the 6 week appointment. 

Contentmama a friend of mine had some extreme trauma after her first child.  Not sure if she had tearing or anything but same type issues, extreme pain during sex, nothing seemed right.  She ended up going to accupuncture, yep for down there, and it helped, a lot, so much so that she accidentally got pregnant again!  I think it was a different story after her second child was born, I don't believe she had the same problems. 

[RabbitMomma]

I had a 3rd degree tear and felt horrible for a long time. I stayed in bed for 2 weeks after the birth and did my pelvic floor exercises like a good girl, but I'm 5 months pp and still healing. I've been trying to massage my perineum with oil when I shower and there's so much scar tissue down there, it feels horrible and I'm so afraid to have sex- we haven't tried yet. I feel abandoned by my drs, no one ever checked to make sure I was healing okay and I've been in 3 separate times about concerns over if the wound was healing okay. Really wish we could afford private health care.

Anyway no real advice for you other than to say you're not alone. Massaging with oils should help as well as pelvic floor exercises. My yoga instructor told me its really important to focus on breathing when doing pelvic floor exercises to get oxygen down there and help with healing.

[ContentMama]

I am now 16 months post partum and still healing! Admittedly I put it off for a long time as my ex and I broke up.

Anyways I have been going to physical therapy (got insurance!) and she does different massage techniques. So keep doing that! Much of it has to do with stretching the scarred areas (perineum and inside vagina) delicately and then building up. It hurts but definitely improving. We have just started practicing internally and that hurts more.

We also did some ultrasound for the scar tissue in perineum. Supposedly the deep heat (really only like 1/4 inch) helps to break down and reassemble scar tissue. Also have used plain old heating pads too.

Oh and homeopathic St J's is for nerve damage. The PT says the burning feeling (that I have) is indicative of nerve damage. Clearly by now all my skin is healed but the feeling is like it's a fresh wound.

So low tech stuff to do:

heat pads

massage with oils

gentle stretching once the skin is healed completely

[ContentMama]

Just to update for others who may be dealing with this issue. I have made up an oil blend that has worked wonders. I use it to do the massage techniques suggested by the physical therapist. I actually feel normal again, no pain or anything! Here is the recipe:

Rose hip seed oil  1 part

Castor oil  1 part

St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) infused oil  1 part

Just mix these together and shake well.

[HappyHappyMommy]

ContentMama, I'm very happy for you that you're feeling better and have no pain.

Thanks for sharing what helped you as I think hearing your story will be of help to others.
 

[sassyfirechick]

So 16mos?  I guess my hubby will have to wait then lol! I'm 9mos pp and while I feel 100% normal in every way - sex is sooooo not an option.  I had a 2nd degree tear - 25hr labor, 2.5hrs pushing, no pain meds, but I did have pitocin (holy hell did that intensify things!) and I think that's the main reason for the tear in the first place - I pushed so hard (and didn't feel much like I could control it what with the pitocin induced shock waves) that DD shot out like a cannon ball!  I had my hypno CD going and did everything I could to breathe slow....HA!  So I haven't been back to my MW since I got an IUD in Feb (3mo pp - and actually I was supposed to have this done at 2mos pp but my uterus was measuring weird and she pulled out the IUD and had the Dr do an unltrasound to be sure she didn't perforate my uterus, which she didn't).  Anyways, poor DH, I've never had painful sex, but I think we've tried maybe 4x and no amount of lube or numbing gel has made it happen.  Initially I thought it was lack of fluids from BFing (which I'm still doing) but i've been assured the fluids are fine, it's just me :-P  I'm guessing the scar tissue has no desire to strech for me and I guess it was pointless to get the IUD since clearly this is the perfect form of birth control!  But good to know I can potentialy fix things. 

[MamaLor]

Mamaboots, did you ever heal properly or did you have to seek out a gyno to repair it? I am currently in that situation now and want to know if there is hope for me.

I had a homebirth 6 wks ago. Mw said it was a tiny tear and did not need sutures. It hurt and kept bleeding for two wks. After constantly bugging the mw about this, she finally had me go see an ob/gyn, but that ob/gyn won't stitch me up. He says it's too late for it (although I've heard of many other women getting repaired where they get trimmed then stitched).

I'm supposed to go back to work next week but don't think I am able to due to the nature of my job, and I just want to be healed back to normal.