eye mask as icing option

[April]

Hi all:

I thought I’d post about this just in case someone would find it useful. I found an ice device that fits perfectly in your underwear. It’s the Walgreens Hot & Cold Bead Eye Mask (I’m sure there are other brands too). It has a cloth snap-on strap that you can use to strap it around the underside of your underwear if you are in public and want total assurance that it won’t fall out! (I did this and it worked). But, I think the main advantage is its convenience: it’s easy to wash and reuse and pop in. The downside is that it doesn’t stay cold very long. So, it is not what I use when I’m in intense pain at home. But I’m glad to have it in my freezer as one of my options.

April

[Rosemary]

I have tried using childrens ice packs which are to reduce bruise swelling for children - they have beads in as well and the cold does not last long 10 to 15 mins maybe - using two together wrapped in a cloth keeps some coldness for longer. I have two oval shaped frog ones which are fine for on outside of one vulva area where i am bad and have inflammation.
The other icepacks stay frozen for longer but i find can be too strong an icing at times especially if left on too long.

Rosemary

[Dusty_in_Hope]

I've just sent for some SmartChoices Feme pads from amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smartchoices-Wo ... B000UX52Z0 They sell them on amazon.com too. They're meant for post-natal pain due to bruising and stitches etc; I'll report back once I've received them and tried them out. (They're still only gel pads, but I thought they might stay put better in my underwear and they come with gauze covers.)

Dusty

[April]

Rosemary and Dusty:
Great ideas. I love the shape of those Feme Pads. That's even better than the ice mask.
April

[Rosemary]

Dusty

Thanks for the link - they look like just the right sort of gel packs - i might try them - wish i'd got them instead of the long wider gel packs i bought at first - will wait to see what you think as they are a bit more expensive than ordinary cool packs. Have read that mums using them find putting them in the fridge better than the freezer for use.
Rosemary X

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Hi April and Rosemary,

The feme pads are due to arrive tomorrow, according to the postal tracking information - I will try them out as soon as I get them and let you know - fridge first (thanks for the advice, Rosemary) and then the freezer...will compare the cold with the ice cold, and see how I fare.

Just a thought: if they turn out to be any good, you might be able to get them cheaper on ebay; could set yourself up an alert for when anyone lists a pack, I think. (I believe some new mums end up not needing to use them and sell them on there.)

Dusty

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Feme pads arrived - but damaged in transit by courier! Will have to send them back; will let you know how I get on with them as promised....i.e. after I've received a replacement.

Dusty

P.S. I just saw that someone on another thread said they'd tried them - and apparently they don't stay cool for very long, but they found them otherwise good. (I guess I might therefore need to put them in the freezer - for at least a while - after all.)

[Rosemary]

Dusty

the cool packs i have go very hard in the freezer if left in there for over two hours - i keep two in there and grab one when things are bad. I expect you know to only ice for about 15mins at a time and then remove.

i bend the cool packs so that they are curved when frozen and then easier to apply to the region but the Feme ones may bend anyway.

i don't use ice all the time - my reading up on it says that it stops any healing that the inflammation is trying to do but there are times when the burning pain is just too much and i'm back opening the freezer door.

Shhhh - there are some mothercare feme pads on Ebay at the moment !

i am postmeno Dusty and have irritated vulva nerves - burning pain for about 5 years now - imho we are a bit vulnerable postmeno - i have been reading your post on rectocele repair - not an easy decision. i had to have a trapped anal polyp removed before all my trouble started and i still can't be sure that it didn't contribute to some misfiring nerves down there as i felt a funny spike sensation while healing.

Rosemary

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Thanks, Rosemary...

After you said about bending the gel packs, I decided (when it was room temp and soft) to bend the gel pack that I currently use in half lengthways (as it's too wide) and I held it in position like that with some rubber/elastic bands and then shoved it in the freezer...and it made it much more 'ergonomically' comfortable to use

Ha ha ha - no, I won't say anything about those feme pads on ebay...don't want to start a bidding war!

It is indeed a difficult decision re getting my rectocele repaired. I guess though it will get to a point where, just as you had no choice about your trapped anal polyp op, I will have have to go under the knife. Other than a colostomy - which would be difficult to live with for obvious reasons and might also causing long-term pain/discomfort and other complications - I don't know that there will be any alternative. I will avoid mesh if I can - and now have two surgeons in mind that others have recommended for pelvic floor repairs - but I shall have to do even more homework on this, so that I can ask all the right questions when I go for my consults. My head spins with it all though...Stop the world, I want to get off!

Take care,

Dusty X

[Dusty_in_Hope]

Have now tried out the feme pads...And I would say that they are quite good for someone like me with more central pain from vagina to clitoris, but if your pain includes being in the outer labia they might not be all that good as they aren't all that wide.

Dusty