This blog is going to be a bit personal without getting into too many details of my sex life. I think its important to talk about because I personally found this to be a strange thing to happen when the vagina was not involved at all. Well I guess for me I did labor for quite a long time and they did try to get my daughter by vacuum for a short time.
I had a burning pain, almost stinging even after I washed off with water. This was so bad I did go see my OB and she did an exam and said I looked like I had a “breastfeeding vagina.” I was so out of sorts after my daughter was born for so long that I didn’t really think to ask what that fully meant.
In my research, I found that a few things can cause painful sex after a C-section.
- Low estrogen levels – I did not get mine tested but I don’t doubt mine was low. Even using some type of oil didn’t help at all. My prolactin was very high for several months after my daughter was born which was really good to help build a great milk supply. Estrogen and Prolactin oppose each other. When one is high it suppresses the other. These two hormones are like a Seesaw, one goes up, the other goes down. http://giftofmilk.com/drjim/the-relationship-between-estrogen-and-prolactin/
- Referring pain from the scar – it makes sense that the scar itself from a C-section would be painful but the pain can actually refer to other places like to nearby muscles and according to bellybelly.com even your clitoris. They recommend scar tissue release therapy. Scar tissue has restricted blood flow and can have adhesions and be very tight. – I do have a very thick scar and I can feel the scar under the top skin on my uterus.
- Pelvic floor problems – pregnancy can put a lot of pressure on this area where muscles and tissues connect. Muscles can spasm anywhere in the body and this can be extremely painful. I did not have this problem but I did have this problem many years ago when I had an anal fistula which was corrected with surgery and after the surgery I had very bad muscle spasms in the anal area.
You can read more details at http://www.bellybelly.com.au/post-natal/painful-sex-after-c-section-what-causes-it/. My pain was caused by the prolactin estrogen imbalance and when I started my cycle again it began to get better.
Please share what you’ve been doing for pain after your C-section and what you’ve discovered about what may have caused the pain for you.