What You Need to Know About Postpartum Vaginal Health Care
Although women are aware of the pains and trials of childbirth, a surprising number still don't put enough time into learning about this event to prepare themselves for their chance to experience it.
During birth, not only are you going through physical trauma, but your body and hormones are going through massive changes as well, leading to hormonal imbalance. When this happens, you need to ensure that your vagina stays healthy and that your vaginal pH balance is in check.
Since childbirth has traumatic effects on your vagina, it pays to know what you can do to ease the discomfort. In this article, we'll share what you can expect regarding your vagina after giving birth and some helpful tips to help relieve you from postpartum pain.
The Vagina After Childbirth
Your vagina will go through so much physical trauma during childbirth and will most likely tear as you try to squeeze your baby's head out of your womb. However, you shouldn't worry since vaginal tears are incredibly common and happen to 95% of first-time moms.
Depending on the severity of your vaginal tears, you may need some stitches, and it could take a few weeks to months before you can fully recover. During the recovery process, you may feel discomfort when you cough, sneeze or have a bowel movement.
And when you start to feel itchiness in your vaginal area, that means that your scars are healing. For this reason, it's best to use mild and safe intimate care products to ensure that the area is clean to avoid any infections.
Besides vaginal tears, you may also experience lochia. Lochia is a vaginal discharge of blood, mucus, and uterine tissue, which often lasts six to eight weeks. Usually, the discharge may start as bright red, brown and then eventually yellow. If you're experiencing any foul odour, it's best to seek medical assistance immediately.
Other unpleasant side effects include swelling, dryness and weak vaginal muscles.
How to Soothe Your Vagina Postpartum
1. Take a Sitz Bath
Tearing the perineum is common for first-time mommies during vaginal birth. A great way to relieve yourself from the pain is to fill a sitz bath with warm water. The warm water increases the blood flow in the area, which aids the healing of the damaged tissues quicker.
2. Spray Bottle and Water
Your new best friend during your postpartum journey is a spritz bottle with warm water. When you pee, you may experience stinging. To aid this, you can fill up a tiny spray bottle with warm water, spray the bottled water near the area to dilute the sting of the urine.
3. Soothing Sprays
Thankfully, there are over-the-counter products you can buy to help relieve pain associated with tearing or haemorrhoids. When your vaginal area is painful, you can use lidocaine spray to quickly cool and numb your sore, intimate area.
4. Ice Packs
Ice packs are an easy and affordable way to get immediate pain relief. Ice the area for 15 to 20 minutes every hour to reduce the pain. Just make sure that the ice packs you're using are clean and sanitized; you don't want to deal with further infections down the line.
The Bottom Line: Childbirth Is Beautiful, but You Need to Take Extra Steps to Help Your Vaginal Area Recover
As mentioned earlier, childbirth can bring so much trauma to your vaginal area. For this reason, it's best to be aware of various techniques that would help bring your vagina back to its healthy form. By following these tips, using safe, intimate care products, and getting doctor visits, you'll recover much quicker and feel less pain in no time.
Are You Looking for High-Quality Intimate Care Products?
You must not sleep on your vaginal health. Having a personal care routine and incorporating natural and safe intimate care products will help keep your vagina healthy.
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