after a month a half of of testing and finding a doctor that knew what they were doing i found out i have a hernia, finally today which makes it the 2 month mark, it was confirmed. i have to go back in in 3 weeks for surgery which im not looking forward to. it sounds easy but then again it sounds difficult especially since ive never had surgery before. anyone else had to do this before? hopefully someones had good experierences with this since im kinda paranoid about it.

 

Not personally, but I know a guy who had it done a couple of years ago. Had it done by keyhole surgery. Into hospital in the morning and out again the next day. A bit sore for a few days and no heavy lifting for a few weeks and has had no trouble with it since even though he has a tough job on a farm.
He always said it was one of his better dicisions to have it done.
Hope this helps and good luck.

 

I worked with a guy who had the surgery about four years ago. Everything went well with his surgery. I think he stayed home for a couple of weeks, then back to work with limited lifting etc. Good Luck.

 

i had hernia surgery last year, it was also my first surgery. i went in at 11am and i believe i was home by 6 or 7 that night. for me the hardest thing was not eating or even drinking water for 24 hours before. everything went fine, except i was too tall for the damn operating table. i went backpacking two months later, which was a mistake, but i didn't damage anything and i was obviously capable of it. so you should have no worries...for any competent surgeon hernia surgery is a bread and butter operation. i was lucky in that i went to the surgeon that my urologist was going to the next month to have HIS hernia fixed. so i obviously knew he was competent. hope that helps to calm your nerves some.

-jason

 

I had one repaired in 1991. It was done as an outpatient under a local anaesthetic. I was off work for three weeks and it went very well. I wish I would have planned a vacation because after the first week I felt well enough to walk around.

 

I had it done almost 5 years ago. My wife had passed a few months before and I was alone with a then 3 year old boy. I did things I was not supposed to do in the first week after surgery such as pick up a 30 pound child(a no-no), put him in the truck and drive, another no-no. Depending on what I do, it can bother me to this day.

As for the surgery itself, nothing to it. Just follow doctor's orders!

 

I had hernia surgery a few months ago...the toughest thing was not eating or drinking for 24 hours! That part sucked, but the surgery went fine...waking up the day after I was pretty sore - the meds wore off....just make sure you take your vicadine!

In about a week you should be fine...just take it easy for a while (3 weeks or so) then you can ease back into physical activities.

 

What kind of hernia, and what surgical method is being recommended?



I had an inguinal hernia that was repaired using mesh via laproscopic surgery. Fast, easy, fairly painless, back in action very quickly. That's a couple of years back. Being over 50, I have started to be much more careful about what and how I lift. But I still lift a lot of stuff, and no issues to date.

There are several on-line medical sites, just google "hernia".

Good luck.

 

Yep, back in '96, I had an umbilical hernia, which was repaired with the mesh on outpatient basis; I have a 1.5" scar at my belly button that is barely noticeable. Walking around hurt a bit for a few days, and then I went camping for 10 days. Every once in a while, I can feel 'something' probably the mesh, but it doesn't affect my functionality at all.

 

I had umbilical hernia surgery as well.......about a 1.5 inch incision....no mesh.....surgeon said I do not have a lot of fatty tissue and he though mesh would of been a "cosmetic" issue if he put it in me.

Before Surgery...I was hating the pain and discomfort associated with the hernia...I had it for over 3 years before I had a chance to do something about it.

After Surgery...Everything feels fine...

 

I too had an umbilical hernia, and had it taken care of several years ago.

But I guess the mess tore away from the meat, because the hernia is back and bigger than ever. I think it's called an incisional hernia.

I guess I should have taken care of.

 

Yea, you want to move asap on that one, as it will get bigger. You're in for a larger carve job on a repeat. My doc told me the laproscopic thing is a one-timer. Rebuilds have to be conventional open you up surgery. Plan for 6 weeks of recovery.

 

I had an inguinal hernia repaired this past July. They used mesh, local anesthesia. I checked in at 8:00, home by 1:00.

My surgeon does about 90 of these a year. Knowing the type of work I do, he wanted to give me a month off, most people get two weeks. To close me up he used dissolving stitches under the skin, tape on top, no antibiotics. I BOGOd on the deal. Doc opened me up, fixed the tear, checked another spot-the most common spot to have a hernia and found another to repair. So yeah, I had a Buy One Get One deal

They wanted me awake, played the most excellent rock 'n roll, I hardly noticed the time in surgery. I forget what they were waiting for to release me, but I made it home before the anesthesia wore off. I think the quick turnaround time was due to not being put under for the procedure. If you have stairs between the car and the bed, making it home quick is really helpful.

The next couple days were filled with ice packs, percocetts, and tylenols. I'm a cheap date, one percocett and it's nap time, two and it's bed time. I woke up a couple times because I rolled over in my sleep. I was soooo glad there are no stairs in my home. After three weeks I was begging to go back to work: I think my wife decided where she was going to hide my body. The Doc compromised and gave me three more weeks light duty, my employer put me back to work.

Today, most of the lump from the incision is gone, most of the numbness is gone, I get the healing itch for a second and it's gone, my stride is back to normal, I can sprint without painful consequence. Oh yeah, I've been lugging my 70 lb test equipment like it's nothing.

Honestly, I think the pocketbook got hurt worse on this deal.

Good luck, Mike

 

thanks for all the input.

i have inguinal hernia, possibly 2 of them, one on both sides of the groin. they're recommending the laproscoptic surgery with the mesh stuff. i guess what im paranoid of is feeling even worse, even if it is just briefly. i felt like crap every day for 2 months now, from either panic attacks or what they think might be gall stones, ill find out thursday. what sucks more is im only 20 and have been in perfect health all my life. when people first suggested i had a hernia i denied it, i always thought i was too young to get that but i guess i was wrong. but i do alot of heavy lifting at work since i work in a machine shop and i build demo cars in my free time so im sure it came from all that. anyways, thanks again.

 

I had one repaired about 30 years ago. The doc got inside and found the tissue kept tearing open further and further between my pelvic and hip bones. He couldn't use mesh, as he thought he could, so he manually stitched the "home-made mesh" in place with over 500 stitches. He said if they ever exhume my body, somebody is going to wonder what all those stitches were about! Back then, they knocked you out, kept you in the hospital for a week, then sent you home for another six to recuperate. When I woke up from the operation, I thought the doc had made a mistake and stitched my kneecap to the top of my head. The operation is much different today, though, and several people I know have been sent home within 24 hours of their surgery. You'll just have to avoid lifting anything, or pulling on something like trying to open a heavy patio sliding door. At your age, though, your recovery should be pretty fast.

The danger with a hernia in the groin area is you can develop a strangulated intestine, if it pops out through the hole in the abdominal wall and you can't push it back in. That problem is life-threatening within a matter of hours. My grandfather had a double hernia (one on each side) and chose to wear a truss - a terrible device that is worn under your shorts with a spring-loaded pad that keeps pressure on the opening. The problem with this is that within a very short time the muscles atrophy in the area, and then surgery is no longer an option.

Rebel, you say you're only 20 and obviously thought you couldn't have a hernia. Many hernias are a result of failure of both sides of the sac or pouch to naturally fuse back together when the ******** descends to the ******* in childhood. It's a fairly common genetic defect among men, and you have absolutely no control over it happening. Lifting heavy objects will cause a tearing of those fused surfaces if they didn't completely grow back together. That's why people think lifting "causes" a hernia, but the real cause is of a genetic nature.

At your age, don't put it off - get the operation done and don't look back. You really don't have any viable options. And don't worry about it, everything will be fine.