u/Wooden-Question-1965

I’m a 24-year-old male, currently 5 weeks after laparoscopic TAPP inguinal hernia repair.
My main problem, however, actually started BEFORE the surgery.
The original injury happened while carrying a \~270 kg piano upstairs with one other person. Because of the shape of the piano, I had to lean significantly backwards while carrying it, so my abdominal wall was stretched while under a huge load. I was also wearing a lifting belt tightened extremely hard and bracing as hard as possible.
After this event I developed an inguinal hernia, but also something that has bothered me even more: a diffuse, deep, dull ache/pressure across my lower abdomen and extreme sensitivity to increases in intra-abdominal pressure.
Even relatively small loads can aggravate it. For example, lifting only around 5–6 kg can make my lower abdomen feel pressured/overworked, sometimes with the symptoms becoming worse several hours later or the following morning.
I eventually had the inguinal hernia repaired with TAPP. My surgeon recently examined the repair and found no signs of recurrence. However, 5 weeks after surgery, the same diffuse lower abdominal symptom that existed before surgery is still there and is currently more sensitive than it was pre-op.
Walking actually seems to help me. I’ve gradually managed around 10k steps and recently tried a very light 500 m jog, but the lower abdominal wall still feels unusually sensitive to pressure/load.
I’m starting to wonder whether the original piano incident caused something in addition to the inguinal hernia — for example an abdominal wall/core muscle or aponeurotic injury.

**Has anyone experienced something similar after very heavy lifting — especially diffuse lower abdominal pain/pressure without necessarily having a visible bulge?**
**Did you eventually get a diagnosis (abdominal strain, core muscle injury/athletic pubalgia, rectus-adductor injury, etc.)?**
**Did MRI or dynamic ultrasound show anything?**
**Most importantly, did you recover and eventually regain tolerance to heavy lifting? What kind of rehabilitation helped and how long did it take?**
I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit — I’d mainly like to hear from people who experienced a similar pattern and how their recovery progressed.

I’m a 24-year-old male, currently 5 weeks after laparoscopic TAPP inguinal hernia repair.
My main problem, however, actually started BEFORE the surgery.
The original injury happened while carrying a ~270 kg piano upstairs with one other person. Because of the shape of the piano, I had to lean significantly backwards while carrying it, so my abdominal wall was stretched while under a huge load. I was also wearing a lifting belt tightened extremely hard and bracing as hard as possible.
After this event I developed an inguinal hernia, but also something that has bothered me even more: a diffuse, deep, dull ache/pressure across my lower abdomen and extreme sensitivity to increases in intra-abdominal pressure.
Even relatively small loads can aggravate it. For example, lifting only around 5–6 kg can make my lower abdomen feel pressured/overworked, sometimes with the symptoms becoming worse several hours later or the following morning.
I eventually had the inguinal hernia repaired with TAPP. My surgeon recently examined the repair and found no signs of recurrence. However, 5 weeks after surgery, the same diffuse lower abdominal symptom that existed before surgery is still there and is currently more sensitive than it was pre-op.
Walking actually seems to help me. I’ve gradually managed around 10k steps and recently tried a very light 500 m jog, but the lower abdominal wall still feels unusually sensitive to pressure/load.
I’m starting to wonder whether the original piano incident caused something in addition to the inguinal hernia — for example an abdominal wall/core muscle or aponeurotic injury.
Has anyone experienced something similar after very heavy lifting — especially diffuse lower abdominal pain/pressure without necessarily having a visible bulge?
Did you eventually get a diagnosis (abdominal strain, core muscle injury/athletic pubalgia, rectus-adductor injury, etc.)?
Did MRI or dynamic ultrasound show anything?
Most importantly, did you recover and eventually regain tolerance to heavy lifting? What kind of rehabilitation helped and how long did it take?
I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit — I’d mainly like to hear from people who experienced a similar pattern and how their recovery progressed.

I’m a 24-year-old male, currently 5 weeks after laparoscopic TAPP inguinal hernia repair.
My main problem, however, actually started BEFORE the surgery.
The original injury happened while carrying a ~270 kg piano upstairs with one other person. Because of the shape of the piano, I had to lean significantly backwards while carrying it, so my abdominal wall was stretched while under a huge load. I was also wearing a lifting belt tightened extremely hard and bracing as hard as possible.
After this event I developed an inguinal hernia, but also something that has bothered me even more: a diffuse, deep, dull ache/pressure across my lower abdomen and extreme sensitivity to increases in intra-abdominal pressure.
Even relatively small loads can aggravate it. For example, lifting only around 5–6 kg can make my lower abdomen feel pressured/overworked, sometimes with the symptoms becoming worse several hours later or the following morning.
I eventually had the inguinal hernia repaired with TAPP. My surgeon recently examined the repair and found no signs of recurrence. However, 5 weeks after surgery, the same diffuse lower abdominal symptom that existed before surgery is still there and is currently more sensitive than it was pre-op.
Walking actually seems to help me. I’ve gradually managed around 10k steps and recently tried a very light 500 m jog, but the lower abdominal wall still feels unusually sensitive to pressure/load.
I’m starting to wonder whether the original piano incident caused something in addition to the inguinal hernia — for example an abdominal wall/core muscle or aponeurotic injury.

Has anyone experienced something similar after very heavy lifting — especially diffuse lower abdominal pain/pressure without necessarily having a visible bulge?
Did you eventually get a diagnosis (abdominal strain, core muscle injury/athletic pubalgia, rectus-adductor injury, etc.)?
Did MRI or dynamic ultrasound show anything?
Most importantly, did you recover and eventually regain tolerance to heavy lifting? What kind of rehabilitation helped and how long did it take?
I’m not looking for a diagnosis from Reddit — I’d mainly like to hear from people who experienced a similar pattern and how their recovery progressed.

Hi everyone, 24m 6ft2 skinny body.
I’m about one month after laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair with mesh and I’m getting increasingly worried about how slowly my recovery seems to be going. Hernia was 8mm.
Before surgery, my main problem wasn’t actually a visible bulge. My hernia was small and difficult to feel manually. One of my most annoying symptoms was a diffuse, dull/pressure-like pain across my lower abdominal wall and groin area, especially after lifting, straining or putting pressure on my abdomen.
I had the hernia repaired laparoscopically with mesh. My surgeon told me that after around two weeks I could gradually return to the gym, and I expected that after a month I would be functioning relatively normally.
Unfortunately, I’m nowhere near that yet.
At around one month post-op:
I still experience lower abdominal pain even at rest on some days.
Walking can still irritate the lower abdomen/groin area.
I can currently manage around 6,000–10,000 steps, but this can feel like an actual workout and sometimes I feel exhausted afterward.
Interestingly, walking sometimes actually reduces the diffuse lower abdominal pain, especially compared with sitting at home all day.
On other days, faster walking causes a mild dull ache throughout the walk.
I sometimes get sharp/stabbing sensations around the operated groin/mesh area.
My symptoms are often delayed — I can do something and feel relatively fine at the time, but several hours later or the following morning the lower abdomen feels irritated.
I recently tried a couple of very light biceps sets with a 6.5 kg dumbbell. I could do them, but I could feel pressure/strain in my lower abdomen, and the following morning the area felt more irritated.
I have tried extremely short periods of very light jogging. Surprisingly, that felt okay at the time, but I’m hesitant to progress because of the delayed symptoms.
Standing on one leg for 30–40 seconds is easy, although I can feel my groin/glutes working.
Another thing complicating the situation is the opposite groin. There was previously some suspicion of weakness/a very early hernia on the other side, although apparently not a developed defect requiring surgery at the time. That side now sometimes hurts as well, particularly after walking.
What worries me most is that I keep reading stories from people who were jogging 10–14 days after surgery or were basically back to normal after four weeks. Meanwhile, at approximately one month, walking is still part of my rehabilitation rather than something I can completely take for granted.
I was very physically active before all of this and I ultimately want to return to heavy strength training and physically demanding work involving heavy lifting. Right now that feels very far away.
I would really appreciate hearing from people who had a slower recovery after laparoscopic mesh repair, particularly if you experienced diffuse lower abdominal pain rather than just pain directly at the hernia site.
My questions are:
Was anyone still having significant discomfort with walking at 4–6 weeks but eventually made a full recovery?
Did anyone have the same dull, diffuse lower abdominal pressure/ache that they had before surgery, even after the hernia was repaired?
Did your symptoms sometimes appear hours after activity or the following morning, rather than during the activity itself?
How long did it take before walking stopped feeling like exercise or rehabilitation?
When were you able to start lifting weights again without feeling pressure in the lower abdomen?
Did gradually increasing walking help you? In my case, sitting around seems to make things worse, while moderate walking sometimes noticeably reduces the pain.
Did anyone experience pain in the opposite, non-operated groin during recovery? If so, was it muscular/compensation-related, or did you eventually develop a hernia on that side?
Has anyone had persistent lower abdominal/groin pain like this despite the mesh and repair being completely fine on examination/imaging?
Did physical therapy/core rehabilitation eventually make a major difference?
Most importantly: if you were in a similar position at one month, where were you at 2–3 months, 6 months and one year? Were you eventually able to return to heavy lifting, running and unrestricted exercise?
I’m not expecting medical advice or a diagnosis — I mainly want to hear real recovery timelines from people who were still struggling around the one-month mark but eventually recovered.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice or experiences from people who went through something similar.

I work in a moving company and regularly carry extremely heavy objects like safes, pianos, industrial machines etc. Sometimes they weigh 300–400 kg (660–880 lbs). We carry them using lifting straps, and during heavy lifts I also used a very tight weightlifting belt that compressed my whole abdomen.

About 2 weeks ago, after carrying a very heavy piano, I started feeling stabbing pain mainly in my left groin. I got an ultrasound and was diagnosed with a small left inguinal hernia (~7–8 mm, fat-containing, reducible).

The thing that worries me is that the hernia itself is maybe not even my biggest problem right now.

Since then I’ve developed this constant feeling of pressure, tightness, stretching and “fullness” in the entire lower abdomen. It honestly feels like I overstretched or strained my whole lower abdominal wall. I also sometimes feel mild stabbing pain on the right side too, even though nothing was found there on ultrasound.

The weirdest symptom is that my lower abdomen constantly feels almost like I have a bladder infection or bladder pressure, even though:
- I urinate normally
- no fever
- no burning while peeing

The discomfort gets worse when standing/walking and feels much better when lying down.

What scares me is that instead of improving over the last 2 weeks, it seems to be getting slightly worse day by day, even though I stopped lifting completely.

Did anyone here experience:
- this “inflamed/overstretched lower abdomen” feeling?
- bladder-pressure-like symptoms from abdominal/groin injuries or hernias?
- pain on both sides even though only one hernia was diagnosed?

Could this be:
- severe abdominal wall strain?
- pelvic floor tension?
- sports hernia/core muscle injury?
- nerve irritation?
- early hernia on the other side missed on ultrasound?

Also, if you had surgery:
- what method did you choose?
- mesh or non-mesh?
- were you able to return to heavy lifting?

Thanks a lot.

Hi everyone. I hope I can get some reasonable advice here.

I work for a moving company and I often lift and carry very heavy specialized equipment such as safes, pianos, and other machines that sometimes weigh 300–400 kg (660–880 lbs). We usually carry them using lifting straps, and during this kind of heavy lifting I also used a very tight weightlifting belt that compressed my entire abdomen very strongly.

After the last time I carried a piano, I started feeling stabbing pain mainly in my left groin, and I was diagnosed with an 8 mm inguinal hernia.

What worries me is that I also feel slight stabbing pain on the right side, even though nothing was found there on ultrasound. In addition, my entire lower abdomen feels swollen and strained. It honestly feels like I stretched or overloaded the entire lower abdominal wall. I constantly have pain in the lower abdomen, almost like I have a bladder infection, even though I don’t.

Instead of improving, the situation seems to be getting slightly worse day by day. The pain is becoming more noticeable. It has already been two weeks since the last heavy lifting incident. Right now I’m trying not to do anything physical until surgery.

Could you also share your own experiences and advice on what type of surgery to choose? In my country, the most common method is laparoscopic repair with mesh.

Please let me know if any of you experienced this feeling of the entire lower abdomen being strained or overstretched, what it turned out to be, and whether it eventually improved.

Thanks for every advice!