Hernia Recovery

I'm still rolling along with my hernia. Don't know if I'm going to get it fixed yet. Updates on your recovery would be nice because I think this is a pretty common issue.

Week1-6 days in after surgery,

June 7th 2014.

For reference my surgeon is a specialist at this type of surgery who came with many strong positive references.

**** Literally was in 15-16 minute 5k shape and today walked 1 mile in 17 minutes. Curious how fast I can get back to this form safely?

Feeling pretty good. Still swollen but range of motion is back for all daily stuff. Still tight and hard to put on socks.

I am taking it easy I don't want to mess this up. I have been doing 30-40 minutes of super easy nordictrack(old school ski machine) & ski erg.

the motion feels simple like walking but I don't have to lift my leg. I Nordic ski so this machine feels normal.. If you don't use one I suggest elliptical. It is awkward.

Again, I am not trying to push it. My hernia was super small and symptom free when running. This week I was on my feet for 3-5 hours each day just walking and standing/ walking dogs. Ending week 1 with some optimism. I am surprised I can't/don't want to do more. At 38 years old and 145pds and in pretty darn good shape...I thought this would be easier.

I have heard people claim they were running at the end of the 1st week? No way for me. I can walk. That is it. If I jogged it would be worthless and certainly not productive for training or the injury.

Goal for week 2 is 1 hour of endurance training each day. (110-120) heart rate. Will try and update each week for reference. I spoke with a medical researcher who interviewed a ton of patients who had my surgery and none of the participants regretted it.... So I have to assume the new mesh and small incision have good results.

Day 8

Feeling good walked 3 miles at 12 minute pace.

Yes this is slow but compared to the 27 minute mile at day 3... feeling pretty good. Thinking of walking a 5K this weekend goal sub 33 minutes. I won't run. What a difference 1 week makes. Week 2 is just endurance and simple stuff. 90% of function is back.... feeling pain free... just a bit stiff in the groin and tight. I could almost run if I wanted. A few days ago... no way... so moving forward.

*I will run a sub-16 5k before the end of the summer. That is the goal...hernia be damned

I had laparoscopic hernia repair in January. Surgery on Monday and first run the Thursday of following week.

No issues ... an occasional "pulling" sensation that sometimes feels like a mild side stitch whuch I think is the mesh.

I am in my late 40's. This a very minor surgery with quick recovery these days.

I had hernia surgery & could barely walk for about a week! The first 3-4 days were pure misery. I tried to go to work, but ended-up taking half days because of the discomfort. I probably didn't even try running for, at least, a month or longer.

It's now been a couple of years since the surgery & I've had no ill effects.

Good luck! Don't rush anything!

2 weeks and 2 days... out... The body is amazing.

Healing ridge is way less swollen. Ran yesterday some track efforts with my wife at 6:45 pace. Felt ok... Nervous. Feeling pretty good. I have been doing 1 hour easy cardio each day...just cross training, I saw my surgeon today and he gave me green light to go for it. I think I will finish week 3 taking it easy. Maybe try a 3-4 mile run at 7 pace... And try riding the bike at tempo...

End of 3rd week:

Ok back running 7 minute pace for 3-4 miles..... Riding the bike hard doesn't bother surgery at all, tried to run 3 miles tempo at 6:20 pace big mistake,.. Needed to take a day off. Overall back to activity and pretty pain free... But can't go max . Overall feel good.... But I am guessing 2-3 more weeks. I think I could bike race, but I couldn't run a race. Curious what 1 more week will do. Still a ton of scar tissue around the insision but normal.

I have also read a lot about hernia on net which makes it a pretty scary disease but I have seen my dad go through it and he never had much trouble. Maybe the symptoms and recovery changes with the different types of hernias, see this http://www.shouldice.com/types-of-hernia.htm. Well I am glad that my dad did not have to suffer much pain. And hope that you recover soon...

I just wanted to bring this thread to the top and let people know that I really appreciate Sam's honest assessment of the recovery. A hernia is more common than I ever thought and any runner with a "minor' hernia needs to take note of his timeline / progression.

FYI - I was probably good for a 10:50 2 mile and 17:45 5K prior to my procedure.

I had surgery on Wed 3/4 and did nothting for seven days. Using the bathroom was a game changer too - until the heavy meds made going nearly impossible - which was a whole different story. After I got through that ordeal I was able to go 4 reps of walking 100m and jogging 400m (VERY, VERY, VERY slowly) on the 8h day. It probably wansn't productive phsysically but it made me feel better. The next days went like this:

Day:

9: 30 mins elliptical

10: 10 x 400m jogs with 100m walks

11: 30 mins elliptical

12: 6 x 800m jogs at 10 min pace with 1 min walks

13: 30 mins elliptical

14: 3 x 1 mile at sub 10 min pace with 1 min walks

15: 40 mins elliptical - harder than other days

16: Follow-up appointment - got the green light - jogged / ran 5 miles at an easy pace - feels awkward - a little tugging

17: Same as day 16 but a little quicker (not much). I'm naturally favoring my stronger side but hoping to work that out mechanically. If I go too deep any one day I will likely hit that darn elliptical again for a day.

I too am anxious, but reserved, in getting back to tempos and a few quicker efforts. I have a goal to run a 5k race on 4/25, which is a little more than a month away, and go at maximum effort for that day. The goal would be to break 6 minute pace, which would be slower than where I was, but I'm thinking it will come back pretty quickly in the weeks and months that follow.

I've run 17 flat before as my PR when I was 22 years old. Prior to the proceducre and now at 31, I was trying to take down that time within the next 6-12 months - then this hernia showed up. I still feel that I can get to my sub-17 goal in late 2015, but spring 2016 at the absolute latest.

I hope this helps others as much as Sam's synopsis helped me!