Anyone ever had a "Sports Hernia" aka: "Sportsman's hernia", "Gilmore's groin", or &quot

Carpenter,

I don't know your situation. But I went in for an inguinal inguinal laparoscopy and the surgery showed that I didn't have an inguinal hernia. That did nothing for me. I don't know why they don't see it during that operation... perhaps inexperience. If you think you have a sports hernia, then you need to see a specialist or surgeon who specializes in sports hernias. Here is something I wrote for another website this week... It is tongue and cheek to a degree, but you might want to read it before considering a run of the mill hernia surgery.

http://dencotton.nationalsportsreview.com/2008/04/22/a-sports-herniated-tale-of-groinal-melancholy/

Den,I have read your text,it was funny but not so informative...

My question to you is; Did the surgeon put in a mesh in you. When you do a Lap the doctor cant fix it whitout mesh,so maybe your doctor went in and didnt find anything and therfor decided to dont do anything(no mesh),my doctor says that SH dont show even during operation but they put in the mesh anyway and it seems to work,and I cant argue with him,it seems locic to me..

Hi Carpenter,

I had laparoscopic mesh bilaterally. The Dr. found significant tearing of the transversalis fascia. This is typical etiology for SH, however, not the only etiology. Now whether placing mesh on this area is the correct procedure is debatable.

Carpenter,

The surgeon did nothing for me. He did not put mesh in there nor did he notice any problem. Your surgeon might put mesh in there, but I would question whether or not that addresses your concerns. Unless your doctor specializes in sports hernias, I think you are taking your chances.

As noted in some other posts, an experienced sports hernia surgeon will sometimes notice a tearing of the transversalis fascia. If your surgeon could not notice something of that nature, I would certainly question whether or not he is qualified to do it. As noted by many others, Dr. Meyers apparently notices this during many surgeries. I have not seen Meyers nor have I had surgery. But there is absolutely NO WAY that I will go see a standard hernia surgeon after what I went through in getting a laparoscopy for an inguinal hernia - which in fact, I did not have.

While you are correct in that my text was not informative medically speaking, the poignancy of it is that general hernia surgeons are mostly inexperienced in sports hernias - as with mine. I'm sure your doctor would love to do a bilateral hernia operation and collect lots of cash from you in the process.

Do some more research and heed some advice from other folks here before making a decision. Best of luck!

carpenter,

you would do yourself great justice by flying to munich and seeing dr muschaweck.

Hi guys! I really want to thank you for your answers and you can be sure that I read them with great interest!

Johnny, I’m going to Munich in June, not for the surgery but for a consultation and to get a full explanation to my problems. From what I have heard in this thread from you and others, she is the one to see if you want an accurate diagnose.

But as you have heard me say earlier I don’t want to get operated there because she doesn’t use mesh in her repairs. I have a great article here that shows what I feel regarding this issue:

http://hernia.tripod.com/mpo.html

This is something that I think you should all read and discuss about.

Den, As I understand it you did not have a complete operation, the doctor just went in and looked around.. That didn’t mean that the “hernia operation” failed because you didn’t have a “hernia operation” just a “exploration and look around surgery”

And once again I want to thank Johnny and all of you others for your advice, it was you Johnny that convinced me to contact the German Doctor.

Hi guys! I really want to thank you for your answers and you can be sure that I read them with great interest!

Johnny, I’m going to Munich in June, not for the surgery but for a consultation and to get a full explanation to my problems. From what I have heard in this thread from you and others, she is the one to see if you want an accurate diagnose.

But as you have heard me say earlier I don’t want to get operated there because she doesn’t use mesh in her repairs. I have a great article here that shows what I feel regarding this issue:

http://hernia.tripod.com/mpo.html

Take special notice to the "thin-ice theory"

This is something that I think you should all read and discuss about.

Den, As I understand it you did not have a complete operation, the doctor just went in and looked around.. That didn’t mean that the “hernia operation” failed because you didn’t have a “hernia operation” just a “exploration and look around surgery”

And once again I want to thank Johnny and all of you others for your advice, it was you Johnny that convinced me to contact the German Doctor.

Carpenter,

I wasn't saying that the hernia operation failed. I'm saying that my surgeon was not familiar with sports hernias and therefore I was no better off because he was looking for an inguinal hernia. I had explained to my doctor that I thought I had a sports hernia and I was diagnosed with a possible inguinal hernia. If I would have gone to a sports hernia specialist, I might be jogging or riding my bike today.

Inguinal hernias and athletic pubalgia/sports hernias are two different things. If you are seeing a surgeon who understands sports hernias and how to properly address them, then I would say you are on the right track. All I'm saying is I would not go to a general hernia surgeon in the hopes that he will fix your problem properly -- if in fact you have a sports hernia. You don't want to wake up and your problem is not taken care of...

Hey joe! SO i've been reading this blog and it seems like you're a tennis player that had a sports hernia surgery with Meyers?? SO i'm about to have that on May 21st and I was wondering how long the recovery process is? How long it took you til you started exercises? All of the above...how you would advise me getting back home (6 hour drive). I've had this injury for a year and a half and I haven't been able to do ANY sort of exercise...will that make my recovery longer??

pam

Pam,

Everyone has a different recovery period...I'm an example of someone who took a lot longer than what Meyers predicted. Even at a year out, which is where I am now, I am still not 100%. I may have other issues, like a labral tear (hip), but I am able to do core work and hit some tennis balls. Now I'm not running around like Nadal (which is what I used to do), and to a degree it's better because I'm more aware of my body and conscious that if I push myself too hard there was really no purpose other than being overly competitive. And at a 4.5 level, you know, what's it really worth? So this injury has slowed me down on the court, but my rehab has made me stronger and my strokes are better

Back to your question, having not exercised in over a year, I'd say your recovery might be slower than someone who found the tear quickly and addressed it right away.

Meyer's is into this "grit through it" type of regimen, where you push through the pain post-surgery. I don't agree, nor did any of my trusted rolfers, chiropractors, doctors, etc...if you have muscle atrophy, you need to start really slowly to get back into it all. I walked for a couple of weeks to start, swam a bit, biked a bit, used tubing, and then started slowly with pilates. I didn't hit tennis balls until about my 4th month, with pain. We can talk more about this just email me at joebshoe at hotmail.com

In terms of your ride home, someone is driving you back, right? That would be optimal. You could take a train back, that would be good too. Flying is not really that ideal with all the walking to the gate, standing in line, bags on your back...it honestly was a horrible experience for me...my wife said I looked like I had seen a ghost when I got off the plane.

Just remember to ask Meyers for a protocol for someone who hasn't exercised in years. It should not be the same thing he gives to most people. If it's too rigid, let me know, I have a better program.

Good luck.

Joe

Carpenter,

That link was the single best description of transversalis fascia pathology that I have encountered. The Dr. who operated on me stated exactly the same thing and placed an oversized piece of mesh to account for the weakened tissue around the perimeter of the tear...

i also agree with the article as being great in description...

but

why wouldn't dr muschaweck nor dr meyers, the 2 most experienced in this injury, use mesh?

keep in mind, also, that no bulge is felt in the sh injury because the tearing/stretching is on the posterior side and not the anterior side. that is a major difference and is the reason that the sports hernia is in fact not a hernia.

That is a good informational tool. I think I understand what Carpenter is getting at with the mesh questions. I'm wondering if you have the mesh applied for a sports hernia that it would also prevent any future problems with an inguinal hernia? It seems like a few people ended up having surgeries for both conditions.

Jeff, for whatever it's worth, one thing Meyers said to me post op was 'don't ride a bike'. He didn't say "ever again" and I didn't ask but I got the sense that he meant permanently, as if the squashing of the bike seat on your already once torn groin/lower ab, etc. muscles and nerves was asking for it.

So I scheduled an appt. with Meyers for the 13th of May, but unfortunately just found this (see March 21):

http://www.aetna.com/cpb/changes.html

$3k, no real problem. $30k...that's depressing.

there is a bike seat called the easy seat that is great for issues with the perineum...

it's expensive but prolly worth it if you love to bike

Thanks for posting that.

So to summarize Aentna: the surgery seems to work for professional athletes - but we don't see it as necessarily working for non-professional athletes. We think that non-professionals who benefit from surgery are possibly cured by a placebo effect.

Translation: thanks for paying your medical insurance premium, but we aren't going to pay for your surgery - which is classified as a "medical" condition. Also, not sure how to fix it, try some placebo pills, and some ice 3x per day for 20-30 minutes (we're sure you haven't tried that yet).

Maybe they'll pay for it if I show my huge cash winnings from local road races (couple hundred bucks)?????????

this is for those who have been following my posts and baseing their treatments on my experience...

so here i am about 19 mos post op and getting better. but it has been slow!

that is normal for someone who was totally inactive and deconditioned for an extended period while he/she waited for the diagnosis and surgery. as stated earlier, the average recovery time for the average person is about 1 to 1.5 years.

but-

i was just diagnosed with lyme disease last week. i am almost 99% positive i got it last september. that is when i got bit by several ticks and other symptoms began. i was totally undertreated with only 2 weeks doxycycline by a doctor who now i would like to punch in the teeth. lyme disease is one of those things that exacerbates inflammation! so here i am working with healing inflamed tissues and irritated nerves and wondering why things were not getting better fast enough- as a matter of fact, i slowed down in my exercise starting in the fall cuz my shoulders started to hurt. thus i could not go forward with all the exercise that i was just ramping up.

i feel that it is necessary for me to post about this so people don't regard my case as the norm.

sports hernia plus undiagnosed lyme disease= tough recovery.

so don't think that if you still hve pains post op then you might have lyme, that shouldn't be the case at all.

i tend to have bad luck, and this proves it.

so my story has been missing an important link in the chain.

but the groin has still been improving all thte while. the muscle imbalances and pain were exacerbated by the tick disease.

so don't be misled by my story at all.