Recovering from third degree tears

[Mrs P]

Ok next question - wind control... Or lack of it! DS is now four weeks old and I still have NO control over passing wind. It's very embarrassing. I'm doing pelvic floor work but no improvement yet. And when I say passing wind, it's like full on trumpeting! Noisy and long!! Please someone tell me this gets better? My six week checkup is soon so I'm hoping to get some answers then too.

[Pholi]

This should get better as your pelvic floor gets stronger... If you're not losing control of your bowels as well (ie, leaking poo unintentionally as well as wind) then your pelvic floor must be working to some extent at least. It's harder to control wind than solids. For the amount of damage you had, it's early days for you pelvic floor's recovery. One common issue is that many, many women don't actually perform pelvic floor exercises correctly, so it is definitely worth telling your Dr at the 6 week check about the lack of wind control, and asking him/her to check your pelvic floor contraction to check your technique. Either way, it may well be worth your while getting a referral to a women's health physio for further advice and treatment. These things are often best dealt with sooner, rather than later, and for a lot of women, a couple of sessions can make the difference between effective, useful exercises, and a frustrating waste of time and effort.

Also, if you;re still on some kind of stool softener or laxative, and eating a high fibre diet, lots of dried fruit, etc, that may be making you much windier than usual, so that will be contributing too.