# Fix a bad repair of epi and labial tears?



## wrappedupmama (Dec 4, 2007)

I had an episiotomy with my first child in a hospital birth. The OB repaired it improperly. Now there is extra skin that folds up over the scar unless my legs are really spread apart. The bottom edge of my hymenal ring is now attached directly to the beginning of the perineum where my episiotomy was. I was in horrible pain for a year. Even just my pants brushing up against it hurt. My husband and I worked on stretching out the scar tissue and a little after a year or so I was pretty much able to function without pain.

3 1/2 years after my first birth I gave birth unassisted in the water. I had a tear in the skin right up the middle of my clitoral head and good 2 labial tears. 1 1/2 hours after the birth I transferred to the hospital to perhaps repair the tears, but mostly to control the hemorrhage I was having. The ER staff was in the hallway deciding which OB to call to manage my case. They so kindly saw my old OB's name in my hospital records and called her in to help. I really didn't want her again after what she put me through last time, but didn't have time to wait for another OB to show up since I had already waited 30+ minutes for the first OB and I was feeling really unwell with the hemorrhaging. She did a D&C and repaired the 2 labial tears. 7 weeks after the repair, 1 tear is good enough looking and not causing much pain. The clitoral tear is healing up on it's own very nicely. But the 2nd labial tear looks bad and is causing me some discomfort. My labia was folded in and the very edge of it was sewn about 1/2 inch inside my labia. An edge of my hymenal ring is now attached to the edge of my labia that was sewn in. Now my labia is shorter on that side, in mild discomfort, and looks odd since the darker edge is sewn directly to the lighter inside.

I'm considering getting my botched repairs fixed sometime in the future. My question is who would I get to do that? A gynecologist, urogynecologist, a plastic surgeon that typically does labialplasty, someone else? What type of doctor would you recommend for this type of repair?

Sorry that description was so long and thanks for any input that's offered!


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## nancynance (Mar 30, 2007)

Sorry - don't know the answer to your question. Just wanted to say I feel for you and hope you can get this resolved.

Nancy


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## mommyminer (Aug 20, 2006)

I would start with a gynecologist (and not the same one).


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## onelilguysmommy (May 11, 2005)

No way should that person be stitchin women up. After 3.5 years, it is still badly sewn on the same person then it causes you problems, then there is an issue that needs addressing.







s:
Id start by calling another gyno if you can find one with a good reputation and ask them about a referral or a plastic surgeon who is experienced in those type of things.


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## mwherbs (Oct 24, 2004)

yep find someone else who can fix the repair a different GYN in a different practice-- and I think it would be a good idea to give this provider some feedback-about her terrible sewing skills


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## nashvillemidwife (Dec 2, 2007)

Sometimes tears can be tricky to repair and to heal, especially labial tears. Just because they didn't heal correctly doesn't mean someone did a terrible job trying to repair it.


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## mwherbs (Oct 24, 2004)

that could be true but the results were not ok 2x feed back of some kind should be given- providers may not even know that there is something wrong unless you give them a clue that it is something that they have done you are not satisfied with


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## wrappedupmama (Dec 4, 2007)

Well I really hate to talk bad about care providers for many reasons. I can completely understand trying and making a mistake with a repair, but..... what are the odds she would have made a mistake with both of my births. Not to mention I think she simply didn't put any effort into it and just did "good enough" work. I say this because she repaired my 2 labial tears, and did a D&C in less than 30 minutes, maybe in under 20 minutes. From getting the mask put on my face to knock me out until I woke up being wheeled into the recovery room was only 30 minutes. If you ask me that doesn't seem like she spent a lot of time trying to match edges up to the best of her ability and more like she just wanted to get everything done and over with.


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## Jane (May 15, 2002)

In my area, there are doctors that specialize in these types of repairs. Sometimes it's due to poor stitching, infection during healing, repair after cancer removal, injury, or other reasons. Some are general surgeons. Some are gynecologist/oncologists. Some are plastic surgeons. Some mostly do obstetrics. You really need an awesome referral to help you find that person.


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## beep (Aug 18, 2009)

At the hospital where I work, the best people to do this are actually the urogynecologists.


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## seeing_stars (May 3, 2005)

I had a labial and clitoral hood tear that did not heal well fixed (surgery 15 months PP) by my OB. She did a good job, but if I had it to do over again, I would have a urogynecologist do it. My surgery was extremely painful to heal from and it still does not look perfect, just much improved. I have about 1/4 the sensitivity that I had before I had children and it (loss of feeling) has caused problems.


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## phatchristy (Jul 6, 2005)

First, I would give that scar some time to heal...it's still immature at this point.

Secondly, I think when it comes to the genitals we need to think primarily of function, not aesthetics. If after many more months, the scar tissue discomfort hasn't subsided, and you've gotten help to reduce the scar/pain but it hasn't worked then that is a different matter.

However, what people often will not bring up that going through and redoing these surgical repairs involved MORE cutting, often excising more tissue to get things to the right 'appearance'. In the area that we're talking about, more cutting is not usually a good thing. As in, reduced sensation. You don't really want more nerves cut, and more nerve dense tissue removed.

A friend of mine, a while back, had some 'repair work done' in a similar area. Yes, the area 'looked better' aesthetically, however did not function better. The healing time/pain associated with it actually was worse than the initial tear and now as a horrible consequence she tells me there is noticably less sensation there sexually than there was before the surgery.


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## Surfacing (Jul 19, 2005)

subbing to come back later and read

i had a repair job that wasn't great

baby needs me

best wishes to you


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## ocean13 (Aug 23, 2012)

I tore in my right labia with my second child. Still waiting on records to see if it was repaired or not at birth. After 6 weeks i was still in pain and decided to try repair. The repair did not hold and it ripped again. Now it is worse and more skin is gone but i still have sensation. But it has been like 3 months since my surgery and it still hurts to wipe and have sex. I was wondering if anyone knows how long it takes for a deep labia tear to heal and to not have anymore pain during intercoarse?


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