Anyone had a inguinal hernia? Advice appreciated

[BeaverHunter]

Kind of weird to post this but based on how common it sounds like it is I thought I would ask my fellow roksliders.
I just got diagnosed with an inguinal hernia and am meeting with the surgeon in a couple days. My main questions are: how long were you guys/gals out of commission for? How soon after the surgery were you able to start working out again? Do you have any long term issues(like not being able to lift weights heavy, weight limit on packing weight)? Anybody have surgery and not get put under? (It looks like for some cases that’s an option) I’m not a huge fan of being “knocked out”.
Obviously the Dr. will answer some of these questions but i figured I’d ask some people that have had the procedure done. Thanks in advance.

 

[Billinsd]

I had it done 2 months ago. I stayed at home for about 3 days, then I was able to drive to work and walk around etc. I wasn't supposed to lift more than 15 lbs for 2 or 3 weeks, then I was able to lift 20 lbs. After 4 weeks I was back to myself able to do whatever I could before. My hernia was 2 cm, not very big. They put me into "twighlight" mostly out of it, but not knocked out. It was really wonderful after the anesthesiologist gave me a "margarita". The room was very, very cold and the blankets real warm from an oven. It gets real black and blue down below, which looked scary as hell to me, like the boys had been used as punching bags!!!!, but was normal and went away.

It is painful after the numbing wears off from surgery. It depends how well you can handle pain. I'm pretty tolerant, and it was not too bad. My doctor said he used a lot of numbing medicine and numbed the hell out of the area, which helps.

Bill

 

[EastMT]

I had it done 3 years ago, used the new mesh, not supposed to be like the old stuff. I was released to full duty in 2 weeks. Zero issues, heavy lifting right away. The guy who did it said he had done army rangers for 25 years and they were jumping again in 2 weeks.


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[BeaverHunter]

Sounds like it wont derail my workout schedule too much then? Either of you have any long term issues?

 

[EastMT]

I have zero pain, the mesh deal scared me. I asked my Doc about it and he said that was a different type, usually used on women. I would def find the best dr you can, do it early and you’ll be fine for hunting season. I did mine in June, hunted goat and sheep in August. I told him straight up, if I can’t hunt it will have to wait until October haha


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[BeaverHunter]

I have zero pain, the mesh deal scared me. I asked my Doc about it and he said that was a different type, usually used on women. I would def find the best dr you can, do it early and you’ll be fine for hunting season. I did mine in June, hunted goat and sheep in August. I told him straight up, if I can’t hunt it will have to wait until October haha


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Good to hear that the recovery is quick. Don't want it to disrupt my hunting plans at all. I guess I'll try and schedule it ASAP(Maybe the Thursday of March Madness so I have something to be entertained by while I'm iceing the boys). Thanks for the responses.

 

[go4thegusto]

Different story here...had mine done by a surgeon our family trusts in a conventional way with about a 3 inch incision. Pretty rough recovery. Was bent over like I was 95 years old for a week and sore for a month. It has been 18 months and I can still lean back and pull at the scar tissue and feel some pain. Also gets a little sore working hard. lifting etc. I have numbness along that area down to pubic bone which they tell you can happen.

My good friend had both sides done about the same time as me with the Devinci robot. Phenomenally quick and easy recovery. I would explore that or at least a scope method and not full incision.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Different story here...had mine done by a surgeon our family trusts in a conventional way with about a 3 inch incision. Pretty rough recovery. Was bent over like I was 95 years old for a week and sore for a month. It has been 18 months and I can still lean back and pull at the scar tissue and feel some pain. Also gets a little sore working hard. lifting etc. I have numbness along that area down to pubic bone which they tell you can happen.

My good friend had both sides done about the same time as me with the Devinci robot. Phenomenally quick and easy recovery. I would explore that or at least a scope method and not full incision.

Preach it brother. Conventional recovery sucks balls. I had one years ago and it was about the same as above. My recovery was months and it tweaked me for years. My brother had the new non invasive stuff a little while ago. He was back to 100% in a couple of weeks. Talk to your doctor. If he isn’t using new school techniques get another doc.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Different story here...had mine done by a surgeon our family trusts in a conventional way with about a 3 inch incision. Pretty rough recovery. Was bent over like I was 95 years old for a week and sore for a month. It has been 18 months and I can still lean back and pull at the scar tissue and feel some pain. Also gets a little sore working hard. lifting etc. I have numbness along that area down to pubic bone which they tell you can happen.

My good friend had both sides done about the same time as me with the Devinci robot. Phenomenally quick and easy recovery. I would explore that or at least a scope method and not full incision.

Damn that sounds rough. I'll have to investigate that method.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Preach it brother. Conventional recovery sucks balls. I had one years ago and it was about the same as above. My recovery was months and it tweaked me for years. My brother had the new non invasive stuff a little while ago. He was back to 100% in a couple of weeks. Talk to your doctor. If he isn’t using new school techniques get another doc.

Good idea. I'll definitely be asking for the non invasive method or be finding somebody that will. I'm hopeful as mine is a very small tear at the moment.

 

[go4thegusto]

Preach it brother. Conventional recovery sucks balls. I had one years ago and it was about the same as above. My recovery was months and it tweaked me for years. My brother had the new non invasive stuff a little while ago. He was back to 100% in a couple of weeks. Talk to your doctor. If he isn’t using new school techniques get another doc.

I second that. If I ever have to do the other side I would never get cut.

 

[BeaverHunter]

I second that. If I ever have to do the other side I would never get cut.

So when you say that, do you mean get it done lathroscopic?

 

[go4thegusto]

So when you say that, do you mean get it done lathroscopic?

Yes, that or robot which is another scope technique. My buddy had 3) 1/2 inch incisions and recovered very quickly.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I had 2 of them repaired back in 2013, I healed pretty fast and was back in the gym within a few weeks. It hasn’t caused me any issues ever since and I lift heavy and pack heavy.

 

[BeaverHunter]

I had 2 of them repaired back in 2013, I healed pretty fast and was back in the gym within a few weeks. It hasn’t caused me any issues ever since and I lift heavy and pack heavy.

What kind of surgery did they do?

 

[Billinsd]

Sounds like it wont derail my workout schedule too much then? Either of you have any long term issues?

Long term after 2 month, it's still a little hard at the incision if I touch it. Otherwise I feel like I completely recovered. The hardness is the slowest thing to completely heal, but I don't notice it.

Mine was 2 cm long, about 3/4 of an inch. I talked to guys who had a rough time and it seemed they had a lot sticking through, more than an inch. The more that is sticking out the rougher and longer the recovery will be.

I talked to my doctor about laproscopic and he said, no your incision will only be a couple of inches. He said he does it for double hernias.

The sooner you do it the quicker. Whatever you do, make sure you have a good surgeon and do what he tells you to do.
Bill

 

[thinhorn_AK]

What kind of surgery did they do?

I was given a choice between laproscopic and the standard open surgery, as it was explained to me, the recovery time is faster for the laproscopic but for whatever reason, the standard version has less of a chance of re-injury so I had the standard open surgery.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

As for the "not going under" part.....F that. being operated on while concious is probably me deepest phobia.

 

[handwerk]

I had 2 done last year via robot, went pretty well. Had another done 12 years ago, that one was laproscopic that went went poorly and I was back in the ER next day cause the doc nicked a blood vessel and I filled up with blood....sucked big time.

 

[BeaverHunter]

As for the "not going under" part.....F that. being operated on while concious is probably me deepest phobia.

I gotcha. Going under and never coming back is mine so i get what you're saying. I'm also the type of guy that finds it interesting to watch myself get stitches.
I also read that about the laproscopic being more likely to tear again. Thanks for the heads up.