Why We Should Look at Our Postpartum Vagina

Why We Should Look at Our Postpartum Vagina

I looked at my vagina for the first time since giving birth the week before my 6-week postpartum checkup.

I'm so glad I did.

I won’t lie, this scared me a little. I had a third degree tear and many stitches along my perineum. They eventually dissolved but turned into bumpy granulation tissue. When I touched my perineum during showers, it felt swollen, tight, and irritated.

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Finding a Pelvic Physical Therapist: Where Do I Even Start?

Finding a Pelvic Physical Therapist: Where Do I Even Start?

It took me seven months after giving birth to get myself to see a pelvic physical therapist (PT). But I should have gone much sooner. Perhaps around the six-week postpartum mark.

Instead I suffered more than half a year with a wobbly back, unstable-feeling hips, back and shoulder pain, vaginal heaviness, and incontinence (urinary, gas, and ocassionally fecal). I hoped it would all go away on its own since, well you know, childbirth is natural.

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