Your Body After Baby

Pain Below the Belt

The female body may have been designed for delivery, but you'll still need to deal with some discomfort from all that stretching and pushing, especially if you tear or have an episiotomy (a surgical cut to the perineum, which is the technical term for the area between the anus and the vagina).

HANDLE IT AT HOME
"Ice is your friend," Beard says. Crush a few cubes in a baggie, lie down, and apply it while you're resting to ease inflammation and pain. Or buy a bottle of witch hazel at the drugstore, saturate a wet washcloth with some, freeze it, then sit on it. For hemorrhoids, try medicated pads such as Tucks to clean the area, and apply a dollop of Preparation H (for healing) mixed with cortisone cream (for itching). You might need to stay off your feet for long stretches...or bottom (a doughnut pillow should help). Finally, take measures to prevent constipation; straining can make 'rhoids even worse.

DIAL YOUR DOC
If the area becomes red, swollen, increasingly painful, or has an unpleasant odor, you could have an infection.

Related Features: