UC'd 5 days ago.... questions about tearing

[lundaylove]

Things went really well with my UC but i tore. Initially i did not think much of it, there really hasnt been much pain except when peeing which ive always read as "normal" specially if you tear or have any abraisions. Now that my bleeding has significantly slowed i was able to really check things out and i have two tears. The first looks to be a 2nd degree alongside the scarring of my previous episiotomy/tear site from my last birth (4th degree tearing,2.5 yrs ago). The actual scar part is slightly pink and hard and the other is normal colored and soft. It looks pretty bad but there really no pain there now. But what concerns me is that it extends a good inch.

Second is a labial tear. its about an inch long and its roughly 1/3" wide... this burns when peeing so i tend to lean off to the side now to avoid that. Other than that it doesnt bother me.  Should this be something i get checked out or can i leave it be? Is it too late to get stitched up?   I have read in midwifery today about using seaweed for perineal tearing but nothing about labial tears.  Any tips would be great =)

excuse typos, NAK

[junebugmidwife]

If the two sides of the tear line up well and sit together without fiddling with it, then it will probably heal up fine.  If it's gapping, then it may heal more "open" than you might want it--will eventually fill in, but won't be/feel/work the same as it did pre-birth.  A friend chose not to have a labial tear stitched many years ago, thinking the two halves would find each other.  They didn't.  She jokes she now has three labia. ;)  You could still get it stitched up if it seems like it needs it--sooner the better, before it heals funny.

[zoebird]

after my birth, i wasn't sure if i'd torn. It didn't look like it, and it didn't feel like it, but the motion of the muscles there was strange and I was wondering if I had a tear.

so, i looked at pictures online and then called the hospital. the doctor got on the line and told me that as it had been more than 24 hrs, they couldn't do much until it healed and then to a repair surgery later. 

but, that was three years ago, and things might have changed since then.

i would say that you can easily get it checked out -- go to the hospital or make an appointment with your OB and see what your options are, or you can just let it be and see how it heals and talk to an ob about it later when you get your pap smear or some such. 

good luck with it either way!

and congratulations on your baby!

[MeesterMama]

I tore with my UC as well 10 months ago and it took probably a bit longer to heal than if I would have gotten stitches but I was dead set against getting them because it was what made my 3rd birth so horrible.  I read some info I found online and as long as you can rest as much as possible and keep your legs together as much as possible for a couple weeks you should heal fine by yourself with a 1st and 2nd degree tear. 

I did end up healing fine.  I wasnt able to have sex for a good 5-6 months but now (tmi?) its much better than it was before.  The doctors stitched me up so badly with my 3rd that sex hurt until after I had my 4th and tore in the same place and healed naturally.  So I would defiantly let things try to heal naturally and then later if you still think there is a problem to go in and get it checked out.

HTH  Congrats on your UC!!

[Jacquie99]

I've had 2 labial tears, one was stitched, one was not, neither completely healed.  Both look much better now than they did right after the birth.  My case may be the exception, but stitches just don't seem to 'take' with me, and I wanted to throw it out there, that it might not matter whether you get stitched or not.  I did find that the swelling post-birth made the labial tears look severe, but eventually things assumed a relatively normal (unnoticable!) state.  I think labial tears take longer to heal, they definitely did in my experience.  Congrats on the birth!

[Almi]

I tore from my vagina to my labia, so there was actually a notch in my vagina (I have large labia though so didn't tear one in half, but would have had I had small or even normal sized ones).  I didn't really think much of it, just let it heal by itself.  I have a little scar there and a tiny notch, but my husband can't tell the difference during sex.  Though sometimes it feels a little sore there afterwards.

[lundaylove]

Just thought id update this as the thread had new replies.....

Its been almost 5 months since my daughter was born and healing of the tearing went really well. I opted to not use anything and the labial tears healed really fast, within 2wks, thought they were really a mild tearing. The area where i retore along my previous scarring took a bit longer however it never really had a ton of pain. It is still quite open but it does not affect sex or anything like that and my husband hasnt said anything so i assume all is well. We did wait quite awhile before resuming those activities, partly for optimum healing but also because of i had a slight cystocele which has healed since.Im not sure if using seaweed (which i read on midwifery today could help) or getting stitiches would have aided in healing more closed but honestly i hate the OBs and dont quite mind letting it heal as it has. 

thanks for the advice ladies!

[sunshinemoma]

what a sweet picture!

[Almi]

Glad everything healed okay!  I don't regret letting mine heal by itself either.

And what a sweet little girl! <3

[springfever]

what about using superglue? I've heard that can be an option

[Almi]

Originally Posted by springfever 

what about using superglue? I've heard that can be an option

Yep.  But it's really only for perineal tears.

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/tears.html