r/Hernia

27m. Just got done with my open mesh inguinal surgery and plan to take these next 6 weeks very seriously. Is there any recommendations for people that have had the same surgery? Doctors gave me instructions but was still out of it from the anesthesia, I got the basics down on what not to do!

What helped you guys with healing, sleeping and how long will the discomfort last? (Doctors gave me nerv blocking during the operation that can last up to 4 days but we will see.)

Hey I’ve finally been given a date for my mesh surgery… in 8 days. A random phone call saying they’ve had a cancellation one day after receiving a letter saying I’m at the back of a long queue and it could be a year or it could be more… anyway.

I have a long haul flight (Australia to uk) booked and I leave exactly 2 weeks after surgery. Is this a good idea? Any ideas to make it a bit less painful? I was so surprised about being given a date after nearly 2 years of waiting that I just said yes without thinking of anything else now I’m wondering if it will be a good idea…

25M, Hernia issues since I was around 12.

Had my first inguinal hernia surgery at the age of 13. It was an inguinal hernia on the left side. They did not do a mesh since I was still growing. A couple years later, an inguinal hernia on the right side formed. I got surgery for that one when I was 15 and they still did not use a mesh.

Fast forward quite a few more years and the left hernia starts to give me issues again. I stood out of bed and got this extremely unbearable sharp pain on the left side near the original hernia. The pain was so bad that it made me pass out for the first time in my life.

Went to some doctors, got a surgery planned, surgery got postponed because I needed to get heart surgery first. Finally got the surgery for the left inguinal hernia again (laparoscopically). Thought this would maybe finally be the end of all my issues and I can have my life back in my hands. A few weeks go by and I'm still experiencing discomfort in the area. Talked to the doctor and was told I'm fine and it's normal. (This last surgery they used a mesh).

A few more years go by. My girlfriend and I move in with each other, but the hernia is getting very uncomfortable to deal with. There is no visually noticable bulge, but when I apply pressure in the area, I can feel it push back into place, which gives me temporary relief until it comes back. It's getting to the point where I have to constantly take a break at work just to adjust the hernia. I schedule some doctors appointments; they do a CT scan and say everything looks good. So I do my own research and find out that a hernia belt is a thing that exists. So I buy a hernia belt. I am finally able to walk around and be active without having to manually hold my hernia in place.

I schedule more doctors appointments and explain the issue, but we never get anywhere. Doctors seem to be very dismissive of my symptoms and the things I suffer with. I get an ultrasound and they say it looks good. They schedule another type of scan (not the CT) but they cancel it on me because I can't pay $1000 up front (thank you America health care system).

So now, for the past 3 years, I have been purchasing and wearing a hernia belt. The belt has started to cause major irritation around my waist and honestly, at this point, the pain and discomfort from the belt is comparable to the hernia itself.

So I'm at a loss. Not sure why I keep getting hernias. Not sure why the doctors can't fix or help me. I can't exercise, can't swim, can't live my life at all because of this issue. It affects my daily life at work, home. It has affected my relationship. I am suffering daily.

Does anyone have advice? Please...I'm begging all of you reading this. I need help.

Edit: clarified the third surgery used a mesh.

I have an umbilical hernia. I went to see the doctor and he said that I could leave it as is and to come back if it gets worse.

However I’ve been restricting myself on ab workouts. I used to love pushing myself to the max and now that I can’t it’s kind of demotivating me.

I’ve read that some people really regretted the operation, mentioning continuing pain and even getting mesh removed.

I’d like to get some lived experiences here, did you get the operation? Did you leave it as is? Do you work out with it?

 (41 M) I am just shy of 3 months out from my surgery and I’m having infrequent but intense pain and wanted to ask if anyone else had anything similar.

I had a femoral, bilateral inguinal and a naval hernia. At the beginning of March I had surgery and they used a Davinci 5 robot to stitch everything up and installed 2 meshes. They removed a 3 inch, by 1 ½ by ¼ inch ( Or 7.62 by 3.81 by 1.27 CM) mass of fat that had protruded from my right inguinal hernia. It also happened to interfered with some nerves and caused some damage that "should" get better.

The first month was reasonable, post op check up said everything looked fine. However towards the end of the second month, I starting having pain but only in the right side. It is linear from my pubic bone to my belly button. It only lasts 10 or 15 minutes and is like a cramp but with a sharp tingling pain. Then it goes away. I can go a few days without it, other times it hits me 2 or 3 times a day.

Any one else have anything like this post op? I have an appointment in 2 months to look everything over and I will bring it up then but I wanted to ask if any one was in the same boat.

Thanks and good luck to any one out there waiting for their turn to get patched up.

I wanted to share my full recovery story after my inguinal hernia surgery, because the last weeks have been extremely difficult and very different from what I expected. I used AI to translate and structure the notes I wrote myself over the past weeks.

Before the surgery: I had a large visible left inguinal hernia with a clear bulge. During a more detailed ultrasound, a small hernia on the right side was also discovered.
The surgery was done endoscopically.
During the operation, the right hernia could not be found from the inside.

Directly after the surgery: The pain was almost unbearable. I was sent home with only paracetamol, even though in the recovery room only oxycodone had helped.
For half a week I struggled badly until my doctor and I finally found a painkiller combination that worked at least a little: Novalgin, Tilidin and Ibuprofen — all high‑dose.

The first days were terrible because of the CO₂ in my abdomen. I couldn’t pass anything for three days until I finally had success with laxatives.
My bladder also felt uncomfortable and irritated.
I could barely get up without help. Even simple movements were extremely painful.

First weeks – constant pain, big hematoma, slow changes In the early weeks I developed a large hematoma. It caused pressure, burning, pulling, stabbing pain, and the symptoms changed from day to day.
Sitting was often the worst.
Sometimes the pain went up the side of my body toward the ribs — some of that pain had already existed before the surgery.

My stomach skin became very sensitive at times. Even light pressure or clothing felt uncomfortable.

Weeks 3–6 – ups and downs The pain fluctuated constantly. Some days felt like improvement, then suddenly everything came back.
I had burning sensations in the groin, pressure, pulling, and discomfort around the hip area.
The abdominal skin sensitivity came and went.

Week 6 – major setback About two weeks ago I helped my 12 kg child down from a chair to the floor.
It wasn’t heavy lifting, more like guiding the movement — but maybe this action caused a long and intense pain flare that lasted for days.

Week 7–8 – new pain patterns Since that setback, the symptoms have been very inconsistent again.
Burning pressure pain on both sides of the groin, pain around the pelvic bone, burning on the sides of the abdomen, and the stomach skin becoming extremely sensitive again.
Even a waistband feels uncomfortable.

The hematoma still causes a deep pressure feeling.

Ultrasound and blood tests Last week the hematoma was measured at about 2 cm.
Yesterday another doctor measured it at about 2.5 cm — partly solid, partly liquid.

Blood tests were completely normal.
Ultrasound showed no complications.
An MRI is planned, but the waiting time is one month.

Current situation Right now the pain is strong even when lying down.
It burns, pulls, presses, and switches between left and right.
The hematoma still presses painfully.
The skin on my stomach is extremely sensitive again.
The sides of my abdomen burn.
And I also have pain higher up on the abdomen, above the three endoscopic incisions.

Pain medication helps only partially.

I’m sharing this because my recovery has been long, unpredictable, and full of setbacks — even though all tests so far are normal.
If anyone else has gone through something similar, especially with a persistent hematoma and fluctuating pain weeks after surgery, I’d appreciate hearing your experience.

So, I had hernia surgery last week where my intestines were literally going down into my scrotum (yep, fun times), causing swelling. They had to close it up and put in a mesh.

I woke up at 6 a.m. for an 8 a.m. surgery. The team talked me through everything, gave me an IV, checked my blood, and confirmed I was the right patient. Each doctor introduced themselves, and then I had anesthesia for the first time…wild experience! As they rolled me back, they told me to relax, put an oxygen mask on…and then boom, I was out.

They had a heart doctor monitoring me, two camera folks going through my abdomen, the main surgeon doing their thing, and another person making sure everything was smooth. The whole procedure took about 139 minutes.

I woke up around 11 a.m. but couldn’t leave until I managed to pee. They asked about my pain, gave me oxycodone, but honestly, I didn’t really need it so I switched to ibuprofen. Stool softeners were necessary, but the poop situation wasn’t as bad as some say. Peeing burned a little at first but got better. I couldn’t stand fully upright for a bit, but now a week later, I’m feeling pretty good!

I had laprascopic surgery for bilateral inguinal hernias. It's been 2 weeks.

Surgery went well. Recovery felt quick.

I've had a cough throughout this whole period. It started before surgery, I was given antibiotics and it subsided on the day of surgery and the next 6 days or so. The cough has since come back. I'd asked if it would be a problem before the surgery and doc said it was nothing to worry about. They did X-rays and all.

Anyway, I am not sure if it's related but today I had my check-up with the surgeon. He is happy with the hernia repair on the left, but I knew something was off when he asked me to cough so many times when he checked the repair on the right. Says there's a possibility the mesh moved.

There is a hard bulge there (like a stone). It's not like the hernia bulge before surgery though.

Anyway, that's all he did today and said I should come back in a month to see if his concern is valid because there's a possibility that the mesh is just taking it's time to get it on with the surrounding tissue.

I really hope I don't have to do surgery again, but if I do, then hey...it is what it is.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

TLDR: Doc unhappy with one of the repairs he did. Will check again in a month to see if I need to re-do the surgery.

Edit: spelling

I just wanted to post this here in case I can help anyone. I’ve seen many posts about people asking how would they know if anything is wrong. You will know 😩

You will know you have hematoma if you get intense SHARP pains at a 10 pain level you will be doubled over. So very sharp pains def go to ER.

Disclaimer: this is referring to my own recovery and not a generalisation to all hernia recoveries. I just thought I would share my positive experience.

Hi all, I (28/M) just had laparoscopic inguinal hernia.

During the days leading up to my surgery, I made the mistake of reading loads of forums and Reddit posts, which honestly just made me more nervous 😆

I had the procedure done through the NHS and everything went really smoothly. They took my vitals, I spoke with the anaesthetist, got put under, and it genuinely felt like I woke up minutes later in recovery.

When I first woke up, I had quite a bit of pain at the surgery site, so they immediately gave me OxyContin through a drip and it completely took the pain away.

I’m currently three days into recovery and have been prescribed codeine phosphate currently (only one 4 30 mg tabs a day), so the pain has been very manageable, probably around a 2/10. Currently able to move around a fair bit but wouldn’t dare pick something up yet haha

I know everyone’s recovery is different, but I just wanted to share a positive experience in case someone who’s pre-op is doom-scrolling Reddit like I was 😃

Attended a 2nd surgeon appointment today - old for him to say “You need to quit smoking for 3 months before I will operate” and when you do, “Don’t put on any more weight”

Umbilical hernia is about the size of a grapefruit….

I was so so so mad, especially when he still took the $250 consult fee, and yet now when I do quit smoking - yet another appointment and fee just to book me in🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ After originally explaining in my email prior to referral, how short we are on $$

My husband and I are already struggling financially with his work accident which resulted in a left leg amputation….

*Before anyone comments - yes I smoke cigarettes, yes I am 163kg*

And had to spend yet another $800 today on Monjaro and Champix and Nicorette….

I just want this alien out of my tummy!

Im 19 and i discovered it yesterday itself bcoz when i pee my left side in lower abdominal area have a slight bulge coming out and when i searched it..comed out as hernia and also when i cough it moves slightly i have no pain or any uncomfortable feeling tho and im scared bcoz i go to gym ane i dont want to stop that i just started it and i love it bcoz i have never lifted heavy i always do lower weights and high volume and also i cant afford to get a surgery should i just stop working out and dont do any abs workout also to stop it and can i keep the hernia like this if i take precautions?

Does mesh correlate with laproscopic repair and should mesh be used for open hernia surgery repair My thought is that if open hernia surgery repair then they would do a suture repair mesh not required and if using mesh repair should be laproscopic Please advise

hello, my apologies for so many questions. just super worried to have this mesh into my self but don’t see another option.

question: once the surgery is all healed, do I need to worry about things like minor wounds or scrapes or mosquito or honey bee bites while outdoors or gardening, things like minor tooth infections or any future unrelated surgery? or let’s say minor cuts while shaving?

my hope and wish is to live a normal worry free life as before.

thanks

48yo male with inguinal hernia, my left. 155#, reasonably healthy, weekly+ runner, etc. No prior surgery besides dental. Primary physician had a look and referred me to a surgeon. Saw the surgeon, confirmed hernia on left side, but that I don’t need to fix it now. He could fix it I wanted to, he does laparoscopic. He’d written me down as repairing both sides but while my right seems ok I do hear about people fixing both anyway to avoid being out again later. As for the hernia itself, I don’t recall anything going through it, much less getting stuck/incarcerated. But I get a feeling from it that I don’t get on the right side, just dull pain usually. Little tingles (”a fart went past, lol”). There’s coping things I find myself doing, like pushing on my left side during a poop, or during a bad cough/blowing my nose. Lifting and moving around is usually alright, I run almost 10km a week, my back sucks but that’s another issue.

So apparently it’s not bad enough for anyone to make a call but can be proactively fixed if I want. Kind of the thing where it’s not bad now, but I also know hernias don’t get better by themselves.

This part probably belongs in r/advice but I’ve been unemployed since washing out of an IT job, doing therapy, diagnosis/meds, studying/got a cert, maybe I can get this done & recover during downtime. For all I know next job will be manual labor where it’ll be harder to take a week off and four weeks of no lifting.

I guess I’m just asking opinions if I should go ahead with this thing, if someone held off and it was / not a problem, should I fix the side that’s not having trouble? Thanks for any help I’ve made it this far and not been in surgery or around hospitals much.

30 years old male. Had laparoscopic left inguinal hernia repair with mesh in early December and I’m now about 5.5 months out still struggling physically and mentally trying to understand what’s going on.

Idk if I messed something up. I went back to work 3 weeks after I was operated on. I have a job that’s manual labor but it’s on the light side though I was still lifting going about my normal routine. I felt fine the 3 weeks after I returned from work, so idk if I aggregated something lifting heavy or what.

Since late January / early February I’ve been dealing with symptoms that fluctuate constantly. Everything has been on the left side. Some days I feel close to normal and other days I feel like something is seriously wrong again.

Main symptoms have been:

left lower abdominal pain and pressure

groin and pubic area pain/sensitivity

occasional left testicle discomfort

intermittent nausea that seems to come from the sensation in my left lower abdomen

burning or “paper cut” sensations near the groin/lower abdomen

weird nerve sensations into my pelvis and legs

a bulging/ballooning feeling in my left mid to low abdomen beneath and around the surgery scar

gas/fullness/pressure feelings that seem to move around left abdomen

trouble staying asleep because I wake up anxious or uncomfortable from the sensations

The hardest part is nobody seems to have answers. I’ve had CT scans, ER visits, follow ups, surgeon appointments, etc. and my surgeon basically told me he doesn’t think it’s the repair itself and isn’t sure why I’m still feeling this way.

The inconsistency is what really messes with me mentally. I can feel mostly okay for hours or even a day and then symptoms suddenly flare again. It’s made me spiral reading about mesh complications, nerve pain, adhesions, chronic pain, GI issues, occult hernias, and everything else online.

I guess I’m asking:

has anyone had symptoms this long after laparoscopic inguinal repair?

did it eventually calm down with time?

did anyone have symptoms that turned out NOT to be mesh complications?

At this point I just want my normal life back. Before surgery I was active, running, swimming, working out normally, and now I feel hyperaware of every sensation in my body.

Hi all, I've been having some deal of discomfort in the last 5 months. It all started when I moved some furniture (heavy bedframes), and initially I thought it's just some minor muscle strain, so I didn't pay much attention to it. There was no bulge or constant pain, only some discomfort during/after physical activity.

Well, 2 months later, I started feeling confident enough to start going to the gym, but after only 2 sessions, I started feeling some discomfort/dull ache near my V-line, on the inside part of my right side. I did what the responsible person would do and went to both a physiotherapist visit and a general practitioner appointment. The physical therapist said that my muscle balance was okay and they can't find a problem, recommended I should check with a GP. So I did, but the doctor checked for a bulge (there isn't one), and immediately said that it's not a hernia, recommending rest and ice, even saying I can try going back to the gym, just pay attention to warmup before and stretch after. I did so, but the dull ache immediately came back after the first two sessions.

Now the dull ache by itself would be fine, but anytime I go for a longer walk (especially if with a backpack), after several minutes I start feeling a dull ache/discomforting pain in my lower abdomen, near the V-line, and shortly after, some radiating pain and sensitivity in the testicles. Touching or lifting them causes sharp pain behind/above the testicle (sounds like nerve inflammation?), to the point that I sometimes have to stop walking and sit down. Sitting down for a few minutes instantly dissolves the pain, but a bit more time is needed for the discomfort to fully go away and not instantly come back when I start walking again. Sitting down, resting, icing and anti-inflammatory drugs (nurofen) seem to all help.

Do you think it's a muscle (hip flexor/psoas, possibly adductors) issue, or possibly a hidden hernia? The doctors seemed to really dismiss the idea of a hernia, but I am kind of concerned, even though there is no visible bulge.

For reference, I'm a 22 year old male, I was physically very active up until last autumn when I moved to a colder country and stopped doing sports/much activity. My body fat is very low, a bulging hernia would easily be visible on my body. Any help and advice is welcome. Thank you! 🫡