How painful is a hysterectomy and how long after the operation does the pain last?
I had an abdominal hysterectomy (the “bikini” cut). It hurt a lot for the first couple of days. They give you morphine via a drip in your arm and usually you get a button to press to control how much you have, upto a maximum amount. The day after the op they got me up for about 5 mins in the morning while they made the bed, and that was pretty bad because your stomach muscles are useless to begin with. The same evening they got me up again and made me go for a walk up and down the corridor, and by that time it was a bit easier. The next day I was taken off the drip and able to walk to the bathroom to shower, and the following day I went home. They wouldn’t let me home until I’d had a poo! So although it’s pretty painful for a few days, it soon gets better. Within a week I wasn’t in pain unless I tried to lift something. I was off work for about 12 weeks, but I had a job which involved a lot of lifting. If I’d had a desk job I’d probably have gone back after about 8 or 9 weeks as I felt
