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Anyone here ever had a hernia?


Quetzalcoatl
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I was recently diagnosed with an inguinal hernia. Anyone else ever have this? Or any type of hernia? If so I would like to hear your story. What kind of hernia did you have? Did it prevent you from doing things you ordinarily did (running, hiking, sports, etc.) Did you get surgery for it? If so, how did that go? Any recurrent problems or adverse effects from the surgery? How long was the recovery time for you? Any hernia experiences you could share here would be much appreciated.

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You should take it easy lifting stuff - although they say lifting something does not necessarily be the causation of the hernia. A change in diet will help (cutting stuff that blocks you up can make it less painful). You can go quite some time without having surgery to help it. 34% never present any symptoms.

 

You do not want diverticulosis though.

 

My brother has had that type of hernia and he's not had surgery. he's had it for about 6 years. but he sits around a lot and plays video games and has not worked in quite some time.

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I had one and let it go for years. It hurt at first because the tear was small and the intestine was trying to push through it. I would push it back and go about my business. After a while the tear got bigger and it hurt less and less. The thing is that it protruded into my scrotum and it looked like I had elephantitis. Thing is with my pants on it looked like I was packing John Holmes style. I got a lot of favorable looks. My wife (fiance at the time) made me get it fixed before the wedding because she didn't want people staring at it the whole ceremony.

 

The surgery itself went longer than it should have because of how big the tear was. A 30 minute surgery took almost 2 hours. I was out of work for 3 and a half weeks because they did a 6 inch incision and it took a while to heal properly. I was still pretty sore when I went back to work. Recovery sucked because I felt blood rush to the area every time I stood up. Going to sample wedding cake should have been fun, but I was in agony sitting there while the chef brought us a crap loaf of samples. There recovery was 10 times as worse as having the hernia.

 

I also had one in my belly button a year later that the first doctor wanted to take care of. But seeing as that was the first time I was ever having surgery I wasn't letting him cut twice. The second one was not bad since they did a laparoscopic procedure. Three incisions and some lasers. I was out of work for a week and was 100% when I went back.

 

Before surgery I was not hampered physically.

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My doctor thought I had a small one earlier this fall that caused pain without noticeably protruding, so I had to take it easy for a bit to try to keep pressure off of the area, but then the sonogram came back negative. We had already scheduled an appointment with a laproscopic surgeon, but I fortunately got the results just in time to cancel that appointment.

 

I hope that your hernia doesn't cause you many issues, regardless of the treatment plan you get set up.

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I've had two. One on each side, but separate occasions. Both inguinal, I think. Definitely go easier on anything that creates abdominal exertion even though you can buy a specific support belt. Besides the few days' recovery feeling like I've been donkey-kicked in the balls, the only complication was necessitating a hydrocelectomy.

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I had one last May and had emergency surgery and now, I have another. I'm losing weight for another surgery because they told me they can only repair one more in my abdomen and then, never again. Mine was ventral so I think it's more of a surgery issue than yours. The first one happened after I had a laparascopic hysterectomy. The doctor didn't tell me BEFORE the surgery that it was almost a 100% chance of herniating again within the following year. That happened 6 days later and my intestines got trapped so they had to operate. They told me I get one more shot at repair but I have to lose at least half my excess weight to make sure it's successful. I don't think yours has this issue, either, but I'd suggest it if you get surgery, just to give your body some 'wiggle room' to heal.

 

It was the toughest surgery I've ever had. I couldn't even suck on ice for 3 days following. That was tough. I was craving water so much. The recovery took quite a long time-the wound didn't completely heal for almost a year, but I carry almost all my fat in that area and I have a lot of it. I wasn't very active before so I can't speak to your questions on activity. I'd suggest anything that uses the muscles anywhere near it would be off limits til you get it fixed. If you all of a sudden feel sick and/or you can't keep food or water down-especially if you start puking-get to an ER IMMEDIATELY.

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Thanks for your replies. My hernia so far hasn't caused any major problems for me. What I feel is more discomfort than pain. I can feel the hernia protruding into my groin, and it feels like I'm heavier on one side of my body. Its not a painful feeling, just...odd. I've always been very active. I like to run and hike. I've been hiking with no problems, but haven't gotten up the nerve to try running yet. I've been told by two surgeons that my henia isn't severe enough as to impair me physically, but I'm always aware of the hernia, and the odd feeling that it creates when I simply walk makes the idea of running downright intimidating. I've been told that I am not in any immediate need for surgery, but part of me wants to go ahead and get it done and behind me just so I can stop obsessing over it. Its a tough call.

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Is this just starting? Like I said I waited YEARS before I got it fixed. After a while it was just there. Not only was I hampered because of the 6" incision, the size of the mesh made it uncomfortable as well. Definitely get it fixed before they absolutely have to cut instead of using laparoscopically.

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I'm not a go under the knife type of person, but get it done sooner than later. Recovery is so much easier.

 

I'm assuming you push it back in. When that becomes difficult that's the sign. I didn't pay attention to that. My surgeon actually yelled at me after the surgery for waiting so long. I was still doped up so I had no idea what was going on lol.

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Here's a question for all the guys who've gotten the surgery for a groin hernia. Did the surgery have an effect on sexual performance at all? Did everything still work okay? This is intended to be a serious question, so no sarcastic responses please. I want to know that I'm reading your responses in the right way.

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Pretty sure one edge of my last cesarean did not close entirely. There's been a few times where I've bent over after a workout to do a deep stretch and it felt like something practically fell out of me. Scary as hell, very uncomfortable (but wouldn't go so far as to call it painful). After it happened the second time I stopped bending past 90 degrees to stretch. Not like I'm super flexible, anyway!

 

I also had diastasis recti from my second pregnancy, did PT to fix it. It's still not perfect but my hernia risk is significantly lower.

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Thankfully no. My surgery was in November of 2009. I never had any problems. I've read about the horror stories.

Going into my second one I asked for enough mesh across my abdomen to stop a cannonball. Haven't tried it out to see if they listened.

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