Does Anyone Else Live with Nerve Damage After a C-section??

Updated on July 09, 2016
A.L. asks from Terre Haute, IN
14 answers

I have had 2 C-sections - one in August 2008 and one in September 2010. My first was an emergency C-section (second was scheduled). The first was much worse than the second. It took me a year with the first one to feel how I felt after about 3 months with my second. The problem is my scar is very sensitive, and my entire abdomen is sore. I've asked doctors about it and everything is fine. They say some people heal that way, and that it could very well be nerve damage.

Does anyone else deal with this?? My husband thinks I just need to "work out and strengthen my ab muscles", but I know otherwise. I can feel it all the way thru. I know it is not my muscles. He just doesn't understand, and it frustrates me. His argument is that there are all sorts of women who come thru C-sections with no problems like these, and it is just me not wanting to do ab workouts. Can anyone else back me up on this???

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A.M.

answers from Indianapolis on

I don't have nerve damage but my mom does, she had 2 c-sections and a hysterectomy. When she had the hysterectomy she had spots that she said felt like hot searing needles. She went to a nerve doctor and he fixed most of the spots, she still has 1 or 2 spots that bother her but nothing like before. She also used lydacaine patches on the incision line and it helped numb the pain so she could wear clothes, move etc. I hope you start to feel better soon!

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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

I had a problem after having my baby vaginally where it hurt so bad, especially during sex, and my mom kept telling me I was just being a baby and she had 5 with no problems, blah blah blah. It wasnt normal and I had to have surgery to correct it. Dont let your husband tell you it's fine, if you think something is wrong, especially since you have something to compare it to, dont let people pooh pooh it.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Phoenix on

Is your husband a doctor? Did he have 2 C sections? I would not look to him for advice, and now also not support with this particular issue.

Have you asked for a referral to a Physical Therapist? Ask for one who specializes in post-natal issues. They are there, you just have to search.

I had an emergency 1st C-section, followed by 2 VBACS....anyhow, I was accustomed to doing Yoga...and I could not resume my yoga practice for over a year. The pain and sensitivity and feeling like it all might come undone lasted far too time. I wish now that I would have gotten help back then, but I didn't know any better.

I even point blank asked the nursing staff and my OB if he stitched me back together wrong, due to the internal pain and suffering I was experiencing.

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A.S.

answers from Detroit on

Depends on HOW the Dr did each one. I know of one Dr that separates the muscle, but another (during an emergency) that had to cut through the muscle rather than just separate them.

By what you're saying, the 1st was your emergency. Likely why you took so long to feel 'right' again.

Anytime you have a surgery, it will take a long time to fully heal. When I had surgery on my thumb to repair tendons and ligaments, it took more than a year for my scar to not hurt... Especially in the cold months. It still hurts on occasion and it's been 7yrs.

I don't think your husband is completely right, but I don't think he's completely wrong either. However, it depends on how you FEEL. If you hurt, you probably shouldn't be doing crunches!

You likely wouldn't know for sure if there's nerve damage until well after a year following surgery.

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D.K.

answers from Indianapolis on

I'm not backing you up because it's NOT in your best interest. However, I think you need to understand WHY and what's going on.

Regardless of what is causing the tenderness, you DO need to do ab exercises.There are a zazillion of them........I'm a personal trainer and KNOW that you can do everything in modification. I've worked with all kinds of neurological and neuromuscular disorders. It is a process AND you have to use PROGRESSION.

I've even had one client who had a C section and still had little to no feeling after SEVEN years. WE GOT IT BACK. Muscular contraction evokes neurological stimulation. When the nerves are being regenerated, it is NOT pleasant. I even had one paraplegic who told me her doc told her he would clip the nerves so that she couldn't feel the pain. NOT!!!! That is just part of the regeneration process. If he cut them, then she would NEVER feel anything! We opted NOT to have them clipped and he DID work through the process and the pain subsided.

The human body has an AMAZING capacity to heal itself, but you have to give it the right stimulus. Pain is an indication that something needs to CHANGE. Backing off is MANY TIMES NOT THE SOLULTION, and in many cases the WRONG one.

I am a pain management specialist and see clients all the time who have not done this or that because it hurt. If you re-educate muscles to do their job, strengthen stabilizers and put the body back into proper alignment........VOILA!!! Amazingly, pain goes away!!

The body is in a constant state of regeneration and repair......one of the laws of physical health............but you MUST understand the proper stimuli that HEALS it. Think of it as going through physical therapy.......NOT always a pleasant ordeal, but in the long run, it gets you where you want/need to be.

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C.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

Tell your husband he is correct but so are you. The majority have no problem. I think exercising is always a good idea but I don't think its going to address the problem. Go to your health food store see if there is something you can take for nerve pain. I have three kids and delivered two by c section. My third child I had nerve pain. Also I had nerve pain on my elbow from a spider bite it bothered me for about 4yrs. I could not any fabric touching it was extremely senitive. Now it doesn't bother at all. My nerve pain eith my c section took at least a yr to disapear (sp wr) If you need some kinds words and encouragment let me know and I will send you a happy message.

P.M.

answers from Tampa on

My core muscles have never been the same, and never will be again for most women. You completely sever a portion of the muscle groups that keep your whole body level, stable and able to flex the midsection.

It's been 5 years and I still cannot feel the skin and muscle from just below the belly button to just below the pubic scar. I can be bleeding there from a scratch, pinch or whatever and not know until my daughter or husband ask me what happened.

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L.

answers from Cleveland on

Man your husband sounds like a real jackass! There are all kinds of men who know how to support their spouse without criticising everything they do and you ought to find one and dump this loser!

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L.E.

answers from Toledo on

My first c-section, I felt "it" for about a year. Once in a while, I would bend over with a sharp pain. Each c-section is different, as you have had 2 and know the recovery was different for each. My 4th c-section was 4 years ago. I have 2 "smile" scars. The skin above the c-section does not have all the feeling that it used to. It's not just muscle, but cut nerves. Also, at the end of one of my scars, was a sensitive spot and it would hurt and get sore. I put hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball each day to help the scar be clean and heal. Just wanted to share. I think it's stuff people don't like to talk about, but it happens. Best wishes to you.

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E.F.

answers from Sacramento on

I hope you are not listening to your husband! As if he knows anything about what you just went through and are still going through!
I had my cesarean thirteen years ago this month. I have chronic pelvic pain due to nerve damage from that surgery. And like you mentioned, it is all of the way through. I also have been diagnosed by a specialist. I've been through being poked, prodded, one test after another, chronic pain classes level one and level two, acupuncture, chiropractic, homeopathic, applied kinesiology, supplementation, physical therapy. And guess what? I'm still here with the same chronic pain I started with!
I wish I could say it gets better. I have my good days and my flare up weeks and months. My life is ruled by how I will feel that day. And through it all, my husband and I have had to adjust. He tried to tell me to exercise at first. I would explain to him that this was a different beast and I didn't think that was a good idea until I knew what I was dealing with. He tried to understand. Seeing that he is someone that has been working out for over thirty years, he thought exercise would help strengthen any weaknesses I was having.
its ridiculous for your husband to argue with you about your pain! Who does he think he is being so careless with his words? I hope you have found out more about what you are dealing with?
I will pray for you.
Take care of you!

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C.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

I have nerve damage from an accident. No one understands the amount of pain involved. I am going through that right now. I am waiting my turn for the surgeon and can hardly move.

M.J.

answers from Dover on

You poor thing! I had a c-section with my daughter which was scheduled the day before the surgery due to some complications. While I don't have any pain or sensitivity, I do have numbness at the incision site & my daughter will be 10 years old in a few weeks. Just because your husband, the non-doctor I presume, doesn't personally know anyone who has had this type of issue, why does he think that it's not a possiblity? Has he never heard that there are 'Possibly side effects' with every single medical procedure? You don't need anyone to back you up on this, just stand up for yourself & tell him to ask an actual doctor, read a book or go on webmd about it if he doesn't believe you.

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C.C.

answers from Indianapolis on

Yes, although mine seems to be a lot better than it was. I don't really have feeling on the scar line itself, but it used to be around the area too. Mine has been almost 2 years.

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C.S.

answers from Detroit on

I have nerve damage in my ankle from surgery. It was super bad for the first 4 years. If anyone touch gently my scar I would scream and be in pain for about an hour. I couldn't stand for long or walk on weird angles either. Now it is a bit better. It just took time. But it is not 100%. Just talk to your doctor. Because I went through acupuncture, and physical therapy and that did no good. It is very real and I back you up. Good luck.

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