Munich Bound,
Shouldice Clinic is also half the price of Dr. UM. I was diagnosed with bilateral inguinal hernia by Dr. UM - US$6500 for Shouldice Euro 8800 for Dr. UM. She actually recommended Shouldice to me and sent me their contact info.
Andrei,
Dr. UM is still doing Shouldice technique. Her first choice is her minimially invasive technique, but it depends on the size of the tear and quality of the tissue. If the tear is >2 cm or the tissue is not good enough quality she will do Shouldice technique.
My update:
I had planned to get the inguinal hernias fixed as Dr. UM recommended - she said that would solve my pains. She did say I could resume activity as I felt, but to be aware of the stresses in the muscles in my pubic region due to widening of inguinal canal. I feel fine today and since my hernias are small, there is no bulge, no doctor besides Dr. UM can detect them, and there is no immediate concern I have put off the surgery and will just keep an eye on it with my regular doctor. As soon as I see a bulge though I'm off to Shouldice. Actually, Shouldice required that I bring information from my doctor describing the hernia since I have no visible bulge. They didn't seem to consider the ultrasound images from Dr. UM that I sent them.
I think in the end my problem was just a bad groin strain that took 7 months to heal and that finding these inguinal hernias only happened because I was diagnosed with SH and saw Dr. UM. I'm not totally sure about that because it wasn't like any groin strain I'd had before, but that's what I'm going with for now.