Hysterectomy can cause some short-term and long-term effects that may affect your physical and emotional wellbeing.
Everyone’s recovery is different and not everyone gets all these side effects, but it can help to be prepared. Your healthcare team will explain potential side effects to you in more detail.
Read about recovering from treatment >
On this page:
- Problems during surgery >
- Pain >
- Vaginal bleeding and surgery >
- Bladder and bowel changes >
- Changes to your sex life >
- Menopause >
- Lymphocysts or lymphoceles >
- Lymphoedema >
- More information and support >
In this section:
Problems during surgery
During a hysterectomy, there is a risk of complications such as:
- bleeding
- cuts made to the tubes connecting your bladder and kidneys (ureters), bladder, bowel or blood vessels.
These complications can normally be treated during the surgery.
Pain
After a hysterectomy, you can expect some pain where your surgeon made the cut. This can last for about 4 to 8 weeks, although it should get better day-by-day.
The level of pain varies from person to person. If you are in a lot of pain or find it is affecting your day-to-day life, talk to your healthcare team. They can advise on prescribed pain medication or over-the-counter pain medication, offer reassurance based on your medical history and, if needed, will be able to check you are healing properly.
Vaginal bleeding and discharge
You will probably have some light bleeding from your vagina and more discharge than usual. This can last for up to 6 weeks after surgery. It is best to avoid tampons while this is happening – use a period pad instead.
You must tell your healthcare team straight away if you:
- notice heavy bleeding – are soaking through a period pad every hour
- start passing blood clots
- have vaginal discharge that smells badly.
These may be signs of an infection, which your healthcare team can treat.
Bladder and bowel changes
You may have bladder or bowel problems after a hysterectomy. This is because the surgery can damage them.
Research has shown that in women and people who have a hysterectomy, the risk of damage to:
- the tubes that wee passes through (ureters) is about 1 in 100 (about 1%)
- the bladder is about 1 in 100 (about 1%) – this is slightly more common in keyhole surgery than open surgery.
Some symptoms of this damage tend to get better on their own between 6 to 12 months after surgery, such as a lack of sensation in your bladder. Others might last for longer, including needing to go for a wee more often or a feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied properly.
We also know that between 7 and 9 in 100 (7% to 9%) women and people who have had a hysterectomy still have bowel problems, including constipation, 1 year after surgery.
It’s important to let your healthcare team know about any side effects so you can get treatment.
We have more detailed information about bowel and bladder changes on another page. The information is about these changes after pelvic radiotherapy, but some of the suggestions for managing the changes may be useful for you too.
Read about bladder and bowel changes >
Changes to your sex life
You may find that your sex life is affected after a hysterectomy. This may be because of the surgery itself, or the emotional impact of being diagnosed with cancer and having treatment. This is common and it can take some time to recover, but things usually do get better.
You might worry about whether sex will feel the same after hysterectomy. If you were able to have orgasms before, you should be able to have them again. Your vagina will be shorter after the operation, but it can stretch using dilation therapy or during penetrative sex. You could try vaginal lubrication – this can be prescribed by your GP, or you can buy it at a chemist, supermarket or order online.
It can help to start off gently. If you find things uncomfortable, wait a week and then try again. Any discomfort or pain should get better over time. If it does not, tell your healthcare team so they can support you.
