I am visting with Dr. Muschaweck right now. I arrived on Friday and she diagnosed me as having a sports hernia on both sides. From the moment you walk into her office you get the feeling that these people are the best in the world. Her office is plastered with pictures of professional atheltes that she has treated (soccer, hockey, track and field.....).
In addition, I was only scheduled to have my left side done. Since I am from Canada she has agreed to cut her vacation short and come back tomorrow just to do my right side - unbelievable! Her office is jammed with people lining up to get this done - her guest house/hotel which is attached to the clinic is also full of people that she is doing.
Couple of points I would make on the last few postings:
1) I clearly do not understand the biology as well as Johnny or some other guys on this site. However, if you take the time to read through this thread you will know by the end of it whether you have a sports hernia - if you are convinced you do - do not let a doctor talk you out of it. Take actions. I was luck enough that my doctor diagnised it right away. However, he had me rest. 3+ months and 15 pounds later he decided to requisition me to a surgeon. Unfortunately the wait time are ridiculous in Canada. I am able to have the surgery done in Germany before I can even get an intial consultation in Canada.
2) Rest is not an option. The doctor told me yesterday that if you have a sports hernia, the pain will not go away unless you have surgery. You could say that it may be a little self-serving for her to say that. However, she told me that after the surgery. In addition, when you talk to her you will get the impression that she is a genuine person. Also, she has no shortage of business - she is packed and it is a private clinic.
3) Many doctors say you cannot diagnose it. Both her and her assistant diagnosed it within 1 minute. They use their finger and push the scrotum up the hole where the testi's go when it is cold. You can instantly tell what she is basing her diagnoses on (Sorry for the lack of medical temrinology but that is the best way I can describe it).
4) Yesterday when I had my right side done I went for a 15 minute walk 45 minutes after I got back to my room. I then had a snack and went to sleep. I woke up maybe an hour later and then went for a 30 minute walk (slow walk). I am absolutely shocked at how well I felt. Today I am stiff around the wound and coughing hurts (tight) - the pain in my testi's is no longer. I believe the discomfort I am feeling is simply a function of the incesion. They say that will take 4 - 6 weeks to heal into a smooth scar.
5) She believes that the condition is genetic.
6) She says the frequency of occurrence is 0.2% - almost non-existent
7) I told her I was nervous yesterday. In a heavy German accent she laughed and told me to relax - she had done it 14,000 times. If that does not bring credibility I don't know what would.
8) The actual surgery took about 30 minutes - I left my room at 10 and was back in it before 11:45 - the other time is spent waiting/getting prepped.
9) The clinic is top notch. All of the medical staff and facilities are fantastic.
10) She tries to avoid the use of mesh. I asked her in an earlier e-mail why she does it this way. She believes that it reduces the risk of permanent injury on surrounding tissue that is damaged as a result of using mesh. In addition, she says that it assists in the recovery time. If the tear is large she may have no choice but to use mesh. She said my hernia was not big - 3cm. From my reaseach of other North American doctors it appears as though they all use mesh. In talking to a colleague of mine they described defaulting to the use of mesh as a lazy approach. Again I will reiterate that I do not have a medical background and some of the comments I just made may not be factually correct - however, it is what I was told and based my decision to come over here on.
11) She said that if the non-mesh procedure did not work that it could be redone using mesh. However, she said she has never had to do this.
12) The cost is 4,100 Euro's per side. I think I am paying 100 Euro's per night for my hotel room. I had to buy drugs (don't remember exact cost - less than 100 Euro).
13) There is a doctor brown in Montreal who will do it for $2,700 (not sure if that includes a kick in by the Canadian goernmen i.e. whether non-CDN residents would have to pay more because they are not covered by Canada's health care system). I elected not to use him because he uses mesh.
Some of this info is just my recount/expereince and adds very little in helping people determine if they have a sports hernia. However, I just wanted to pass on some general observations that I have nocticed/experiecned to assist you in reasearch on what to do.
Certainly the proof is in the pudding....being how fast I recover and whether I recover to 100%. It is way too early to tell and I still have my left side to be done. However, so far she gets top marks.
Thanks to everyone who posted on this site (particularily the guys who had it done in Germany). It was incredibly helpful in assisting me with my decisions as well as helping me identify the right person to do it.
If you want more info let me know. Either post a question on this site or I can be reached at scott @sandvine.com (no space between scott and @ - just trying to cut down on spam). Please put HERNIA as the subject line. Otherwise best of luck to everyone. I will post my recovery experience at some point in the future.