The area between the vagina and the anus is quite elastic, but despite this, your child may need more space in order to be born. If the child’s head is large enough, tears or cuts are possible (for help), as a result of which it is necessary to stitch. How to process the stitches after childbirth, you should definitely explain in the hospital, but if you have not been provided with such information, then you should carefully read this article.
Some statistics
Your obstetrician should examine you very carefully after giving birth to determine the severity of the problem. In the maternity hospital, a medical professional should take care of you and tell you for the future how to process the stitches after childbirth, if they are festering. This problem is extremely rare if you properly monitor your health.
Do not panic, nine out of ten mothers "break" during natural births, but these gaps are insignificant, practically do not require attention. Sixty to seventy percent of the gaps require suturing.
There are four types (degrees) of gaps:
- 1st degree - a small superficial gap that does not affect the muscles. Usually left to heal without suturing.
- 2nd degree - a deeper gap that affects the muscles, requires suturing. If you decide to leave it to heal naturally, it will be more convenient for you, but the rehabilitation will last a little longer than you expected.
- 3rd degree - these gaps without discussion are sutured, because they affect the anal sphincter (the area around the anus). If this damage is not taken seriously, then in the future there will be health problems.
- 4th degree - the most serious damage that can occur as a result of natural childbirth: a gap can go to the intestine.
And now we turn directly to the question of how it is possible to process stitches after childbirth. Proper and gentle care of the intimate area will help to heal all damage faster. Remember, if you have serious injuries, then you can’t sit! If you cannot do without it, then buy a special circle for sitting (it is used during exacerbation of hemorrhoids). You are shown the rest of the next twenty-four hours, try to relax as much as possible and gain strength.
Personal hygiene
Keep your stitches clean to reduce the risk of getting an infection. Before treating stitches after childbirth, be sure to wash your hands. Take a shower at least once a day. Change lining, perform special exercises, do not wear tight-fitting clothes. Drink more water, eat foods rich in vitamins. If the gap was serious, check with the obstetrician about the course of antibiotics, you need it.
Before proceeding directly to the treatment of seams, it is worth determining what injuries you have, where the seams are applied. If the gaps are internal, then they do not require special attention, the main thing is to observe personal hygiene. Self-absorbable threads are used here, which can be natural or synthetic. If the threads are natural, then you will get rid of them in about a month. Another thing, if the seams are synthetic, then you have to wait about three months.
If you have an external rupture, then you should carefully monitor the healing process, otherwise there may be suppuration. You can’t lift weights and sit for two weeks, then begin to slowly sit on hard surfaces.
How to handle stitches after childbirth? Processing Tools
External seams are removed after about a week, if this is not done in the hospital, then be sure to contact the antenatal clinic. If you observe personal hygiene, then the seams do not fester and pass themselves, but you can help them. Remember how to process stitches after childbirth for quick healing:
- antiseptics;
- antibacterial ointments;
- brilliant green;
- hydrogen peroxide;
- potassium permanganate;
- chlorhexidine;
- left-leaner.
The better it is to process stitches after childbirth, you must determine for yourself on the basis of the individual characteristics of your body.
Recommendations for quick healing
How to handle the seams after childbirth at home, figured out, but how to do it? Do not resort to these procedures in a sitting position. Provide your body with air circulation: use breathable pads, wear loose underwear. Night ventilation will be very beneficial, so you have to sleep on a special disposable diaper without laying and underwear.
Cesarean section
It is much more difficult to process sutures after cesarean section than to process sutures on the perineum after childbirth in a natural way. These procedures should be handled by a specialist, while you are in the hospital, the obstetricians will do everything for you there. Sutures are removed after a week, only then you can take a shower for the first time, gently washing the wound.
So, how to handle sutures after childbirth by cesarean section? The methods are simple:
- antiseptic;
- sterile dressing.
In addition to the fact that this method leaves a noticeable mark on the girl’s body, it for a long time reminds of itself with painful sensations.
How to relieve pain
If we are talking about cesarean section, then the pain can be dulled with painkillers, and in the future it will completely disappear, as it will be allowed to wear a bandage. With sutures on the perineum, pain occurs a few days after the birth. How to deal with them? Apply cold to the perineum, take an anesthetic. As a rule, injections are given in the maternity hospital, and at home you can get by with Nurofen, which is allowed by breastfeeding.
If you are worried about itching and quite tolerable pain, then you should not raise a panic, everything will pass soon, but if you notice purulent discharge, consult a doctor immediately, perhaps this is suppuration of sutures.
Seams
Very rarely there is a seam divergence. The reasons why this happens are as follows:
- early sexual intercourse after childbirth;
- weight lifting;
- constipation;
- sharp squats, etc.
In general, everything that can bring pressure on the genitals. How to understand that the seam has been split? You will experience pain, spotting. Do not panic, all you need is to get an appointment with a gynecologist, there he will already determine the severity of the problem. If 1-2 seams are opened, then re-sewing may not be necessary - such small injuries will heal themselves. But if the damage is large, then you will have to resort to surgical contraction of the wound.
Potassium permanganate
Now we will examine in more detail the question of how to process the stitches after childbirth, namely, we will consider each tested tool separately.
The first of them, very effective and time-tested, is potassium permanganate. Powder or a ready-made solution can be found in any home, especially if the family is waiting for the addition. With a solution of potassium permanganate , douching and suture treatment can be done. Please note that for douching, a pale pink solution is used, and for treating seams it is dark and saturated. Although potassium permanganate does not help your wounds heal quickly, however, it will protect against inflammation and infection. Do not douche often, since a solution of manganese kills not only microbes, but also beneficial microorganisms.
To prepare a potassium permanganate solution at home, use warm boiled water, carefully watch that all the grains dissolve well and there are no crystals left. The undissolved elements of potassium permanganate can cause a burn, especially when it comes to the delicate skin of the genitals. To make a solution, use a transparent glass, so you will be sure that there are no granules left. In addition, be sure to strain it through several layers of gauze. Antiseptic preparations should be treated with seams twice a day.
Zelenka
Zelenka promotes healing, prevents suppuration and infection in the wound. Unlike potassium permanganate, a solution of brilliant green greens is sold in pharmacies in a ready-to-use form. Use a cotton swab or a piece of sterile cotton to handle the seam. All that is required of you is to moisten a cotton wool in the solution and process the seam. A solution of brilliant green, as well as potassium permanganate, contributes to the fastest tightening, as it dries the wound.
Hydrogen peroxide
Cuts, abrasions happen in every house, so hydrogen peroxide should be in your home medicine cabinet. If this tool is at your fingertips, then consider that the problem is half solved. For processing, take a small piece of gauze dressing and moisten it with hydrogen peroxide. Attach to the seam, a slight hiss and tingling is a normal reaction. Do not hold the lotion for a long time, otherwise you will get a burn.
Medical alcohol
Use medical 40% alcohol only in extreme cases, if the seam starts to fester in places, only the seam should be treated, the healthy skin around the damage will be overdried, which leads to poor healing. However, if the seams are festering, you should not self-medicate, it is better to consult a specialist.
Before treating wounds, wash your hands thoroughly with soap, preferably at the elbow. If you find white growths on the wound, you should not clean them off - this indicates that a new layer of the epithelium is formed. If they are removed, then later on these places scars form.
Follow personal hygiene, handle seams, are in a positive mood, supporting loved ones is now more than ever needed. Your mood is passed on to the child, give him a happy childhood! Good luck and a speedy recovery!