I go in for hernia repair surgery in about 10 days. Does anyone out there have any experience as far as recovery? How long before you were back to training? Any resistance exercises you were comfortable performing while still in the early stages of recovery?
Obviously, I’m going to listen to my body. I am just wondering if anyone has any advice.
Thanks
endoscopic or the butcher version?
i had the butcher job last year, 3" cut through my ab
no lifting for a month, then anything unilateral was out for another 6 weeks or so
but i could deadlift fine, squatting was harder/more painful. all fixed now, but still get occasional twinges
That’s about what I fugured as far as down time. I’m on day 2 of recovery. It was the butcher job. I have a nice slice in my lower abdomen. Doc put some mesh in there to hold my gut in. I guess I’ll just enjoy the painkillers and plan a new training routine. Thanks for the post.
I had the non-mesh version done for an umbilical hernia- only a small incision under belly button. I took 6 weeks off, and then, a week into squatting and it failed - all that wasted time!
I’m getting mesh put in at the end of November - hopefully this works better. Should have used mesh the first time around, but I was trying to avoid having synthetic stuff in me.
Anyway, enjoy the painkillers. Lol!
I’m with you on not wanting the mesh put in. However, the surgeon explained the failure rate of each procedure: One in fourteen for sutures versus one in one-thousand for the mesh. I couldn’t really deny the statistics.
yeah, I’m betting that strictly among althletes & weightlifters that “1 out of 14” failure rate is even higher. But i should have thought of that before. lol!
Hernias… what exactly do they feel like? I’ve been asking, but to no avail. Maybe someone can give shed some light.
Last Dec I felt something “pull” while I was sprinting. It sourced in the lower right side about an inch or two above the base of my johnson. I would guess that it is contained in the abdominal muscle insertion into the hip. It was never nor is now, at all painful, just annoying to know that “something” is there.
It got much better over time, and by this I mean I feel it less. I only really feel it if I am doing something like leg raises, bringing straight legs up toward my head - but if I spread my knees a little, I feel nothing. I don’t feel it when I squat, deadlift or otherwise use abdominal pressure under a heavy load.
Any guesses or experiences? Thanks in advance.
I had similar and was diagnosed with a inguinal hernia on the right hand side and possible left hand side also.
I left it for a long time until I finally got an umbilical hernia too. I went for an MRI on the groin and they found nothing, the specialist said it was possibly a tear of the muscle without actually becoming a hernia and may have repaired itself. the umbilical hernia is real, it’s visible and a little painful at times.
I’m not keen on getting it fixed but for some reason neither is the specialist. he said it could stay the way it is for years before repair is needed. So I guess it needs to be bigger, it’s about the size of a pea now, right in the belly button.
About 18 months ago, I pulled my lower abdomen doing some leg raises. I cut back on the ab work and monitored the area. In 4 or 5 weeks, the dull pain subided and I resumed my normal routine.
In late August of this year, I was in the shower, coughed and felt a tug in my groin. Further inspection revealed a tender area to the right of my scrotum. I would “bear down” and notice a bulge protruding from the same area. It wasn’t painful, but I could definitely feel the action.
A visit to my primary physician comfirmed the hernia. He referred me to a surgeon who re-confirmed that I had an inguinal hernia.
The surgeon suspected that the damage had started with the lower abdomen pull. In my situation, it took some time to open the inguinal canal enough that my intestine would begin to protrude. While my hernia was small, it would definitely grow, possibly moving down into my scrotum and wreaking havoc with my testicles!
I’ve learned that inguinal hernias are fairly common. I’ve also been surprised at how many people have them and opt to live with the condition.
I’m now 4 days out of surgery and really feel pretty good (probably the meds)! Hopefully I can resume training in 4 weeks or so. The doctor says to listen to the body and take the time to recoup. The iron isn’t going anywhere.
Good attitude, you’ll do fine.
So the online diagnosis is that I have a inguinal hernia that is small - not large enough to allow for intestinal protrusion?
[quote]rjake wrote:
About 18 months ago, I pulled my lower abdomen doing some leg raises. I cut back on the ab work and monitored the area. In 4 or 5 weeks, the dull pain subided and I resumed my normal routine.
In late August of this year, I was in the shower, coughed and felt a tug in my groin. Further inspection revealed a tender area to the right of my scrodum. I would “bear down” and notice a bulge protruding from the same area. It wasn’t painful, but I could definitely feel the action.
A visit to my primary physician comfirmed the hernia. He referred me to a surgeon who re-confirmed that I had an inguinal hernia.
The surgeon suspected that the damage had started with the lower abdomen pull. In my situation, it took some time to open the inguinal canal enough that my intestine would begin to protrude. While my hernia was small, it would definitely grow, possibly moving down into my scrodum and wreaking havoc with my testicles!
I’ve learned that inguinal hernias are fairly common. I’ve also been surprised at how many people have them and opt to live with the condition.
I’m now 4 days out of surgery and really feel pretty good (probably the meds)! Hopefully I can resume training in 4 weeks or so. The doctor says to listen to the body and take the time to recoup. The iron isn’t going anywhere.
[/quote]
[quote]sifuinkorea wrote:
So the online diagnosis is that I have a inguinal hernia that is small - not large enough to allow for intestinal protrusion?
[/quote]
I think that’s merely a suggestion or possibility, go and see someone to confirm, you won’t be comfortable until you do.
I know, I know… Just choosing to ignore it for as long as I can.
Thanks.
I had a double inguinal (mesh) in June of 2006. I didn’t push trying to do anything for 2 weeks, after 3 weeks I started basketball again, and started back on weights after 4 weeks. I did miss almost all of softball that summer though.
My hernias were found in a routine yearly physical. For about 4-5 years, I kept having “tightness” in that area, and I thought I had tight hip-flexors. Since the surgery, no tightness, I’m assuming now it was the hernia’s all along.
Nice to hear a positive story on this repair… seeing I may need one 
i had mine repaired using a 3d mesh by the local expert. i was doing partial deadlifts in 2 weeks and back to over 600 lbs in about 3 months. stronger now than before and no problems in over 4 years.
i am a big fan of the mesh repair. make sure the dr does many repairs.
Yesterday, I got my umbilical hernia repaired for the second time.
This time went with the mesh rather than the suture method.
I’ve never been “put under” - even with my ACL recon - anethesia is a scary thing, man. Lived through it though 
It’s VERY painful today, even with the percocet. Hopefully, this time it holds - lol!
I’ll keep an eye and ear out for your progress katz
Thanks Duke. I’m feeling a little better today - don’t need the drugs as much.
It’ll be about 6 weeks until I can get back to serious lifting/sprinting.
Until then, I’m going to do some light shoulder and hamstring rehab - as well as a lot of walking & general tissue work/foam rolling.
I had to check into the hospital here in boston last night. The long and short and disgusting of it is, after some help from a nurse, I have birth to a 7 pound alien at 2 AM EST.
It turns out that anesthesia & especially percocet, can totally shut down your intestines. Apparently, (I have now learned since having spoken with quite a few people and doctors about it), this happens quite a lot.
Given this, you might think that - to save money and time at the very least - doctors and nurses might warn you about this, perhaps even give you some fiber (instead of pepsi?) when you get out of the operating room.
They might even prescribe any one of numerous compounds which counter these effects of the painkillers.
Of course, I called the surgeon earlier in the evening and he was quite the opposite of helpful.
If any of you are anticipating surgery, I thought my story might be of help.
Now that I think of it, I believe KSman warned me about percocet side effects.
Perhaps the moral of the story is, listen to KSman.