Stitches 'down there'

Hi all,

With the birth of my daughter I endured a 2nd degree tear around the perinium area. I've noticed for the past few days that something felt like it was 'hanging' in the area so I had a lil looksey this morning with a mirror (gross! :lol: ) and I noticed that my stitches were starting to come away and that some bits of my perinium were joined together but others werent. I think the parts that werent joined together is where the stitches has come away from..

Is this the normal way for it to heal? I got no idea! How long did it take for your stitches to come away? I was under the impression it would take up to 6wks! Its only been 2 weeks for me.

Also, for those that had stitches, when did you start DTD again? Once the stitches were totally gone or before?

Hi there,

I had a 4th degree tear and the stitches just kind of dissolved away really. I remember the ones at the entrance to the vagina seemed to stay the longest but that might just be because they were the only ones I could really see. They most have been gone by the 6 week check up as my GP told me to jump straight back on the horse!!! so I did, but we took it very gently.

Are you in any pain? The areas where the stitches have come away - is the skin sealed? If you are worried you should get your GP to have a check.

Veronica, have you been able to get a proper look at them or just a quick one? Do you feel that they wound has opened again (I loathe calling it a 'wound' though). with Lindsay they would come away sometimes when I wiped after going to the toilet, and that was around the 2nd week too. There was one little bit that became 'ingrown' and caused a big pimple to form, but I got DH to get it with tweezers and after that everything sorted itself out. We DTD jsut over 3wks afterwards and the stitches were all long gone by then.

if they start to feel sore, run a warm bath and put a fair amount of salt in it and jsut give the area a bit of a splash, it will help sooth the area and also combat any issues that may arrise from having it open before you can have it looked at (if you're going to the DR).

Hi Veronica!

I don't know if that's normal for it to heal that way. My stitches were gone in about 3 weeks. I wasn't game enough to have a "looksey" with a mirror though! LOL - I think as long as there's no infection, you should be fine.

As far as DTD, we tried at about 5 weeks. I could feel pressure on the scar from my tear and from where I was cut. We tried again a week later and it was... okay. I think it just takes some time though.

If I were you, I'd wait till the stitches are totally gone before you try... just in case. :)

Good luck!

Celsie. xoxox

Well I had another looksey, this time in a better position (lol - the things I do!). I dont think it has reopened, but it does look a lil odd, maybe because the partsd havent fully joined back together yet??? and it isnt sore or real red looking either. I think the part that is annoying is the actual knot in the stitches.

I'll keep an eye on it and if it gets any worse, I will go and see the dr.

The knot parts annoyed the hell out of me too. Once that bit drops out then it will be much less irritating for you.

I think that mine looked kinda similar to what you are describing. And some were definitely disappearing in the second week- which is normal.
It does look so strange down there, but mine have healed ok in the end.

(I was paranoid about getting an infection- err yuck! lol)

Veronica, the knot bit was the part that became ingrown for me. It doens't look very pretty for a while, but they do heal quite nicely over time

Phew! I was a bit worried that the knot bit wasnt meant to be felt. I cant wait til it goes away. Just came back from a walk and it was rather annoying!!

Sherie - I will watch out that the knot bit doesnt become ingrown, I dont think DF will be too keen to sort it out for me if that does happen!

I had some stitches on the perineum area also. It took more thn 6 weeks for mine to dissolve. I dont remember how long but i do remember they were still there when I had my 6 week checkup. We didnt DTD until after the stitches has dissolved as I was worried about pulling the stiches out and having the area become infected.

I had stitches and they were all gone by about day 12 or so... and was DTD around day 18