Has anybody had a GOOD hernia repair?

Most people do and the younger you are the shorter the recovery time should be. Very few people aren't able to get back to all pre-repair activities. I wouldn't be worried about hernia surgery. Backs are a completely different story.

I had laparoscopic hernia repair on both sides about 6 years ago. Tension free mesh, general anaesthesia. Both sides repaired at the same time. Both sides were causing me discomfort and needed to be repaired asap.

I was running about 40mpw and playing soccer before the surgery.

Recovery was about 14 days before I could run again. Played soccer with no problems 3 weeks post-surgery.

Since the surgery, the highest mileage I've run is around 60mpw and I still play soccer.

Have never had any pain or ill-affects from the surgery. Really glad I had the surgery.

My surgeon had done around 400 of these repairs at the time.

One thing to keep in mind with hernia repair is that it is a very, very common surgery. Yes, some people have ones that don't work out so great and they post about that on the internet. But there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people who have had successful surgeries and those don't find their way to the internet very often. The amount of successful ones is huge compared to much smaller percentage of ones that get posted on the internet.

If you are on letsrun, you are probably someone in good shape who will recover from a hernia surgery very quickly with no problems whatsoever.

Needless to say, finding a surgeon who has done a lot of hernia repairs for active people is very important.

If you have any follow-up questions, ask away. Good luck!

I'm really looking for details about the surgery, like materials used and method. There's a ton of vague stories out there, many from 8-10 years ago. But many new materials and methods have been introduced over those years and there seem to be more problems. Many more lawsuits cropping up, you've probably seen the commercials.

Trying to sift out the new stuff that causes problems from the proven methods.

Thanks for the reply though.

To Donnie (didn't realize these replies are just listed by time and you can't tell who is being replied to).

I actually had the same general procedure as you and am very similar in activity. I'm trying find the details about why mine is bad and people like yours is good. I expected to be like you. I'm on a different forum and there are people considering surgery. All I can tell is a bad story. But your details might offer a path forward.

Do you know any details of the type of mesh used and how much?

Sorry for a bad story but here's one.

I had a buddy who had the surgery (standard hernia not sport hernia) last November. He's as fit as anyone you would know. Guy NEVER got sick. Anyway, he had a horrible recovery and it seemed like everything went wrong. Lots of post op pain that lingered and wouldn't go away and then he was having pain in his lungs and back...turned out he had developed some clots from the surgery. Then shortly thereafter he developed shingles.

For the clots, he was on Coumadin for 6 months and had to constantly get his blood checked for his INR numbers. Meanwhile, the surgery pain just lingered and lingered and he wasn't able to be active for all this time. I could just see his fitness disappearing from day to day. After about ten months, he was finally at the point where he could start a regular exercise routine. We've been to the track a few times.....the guy had crazy fast sprinter speed (he'd race all the HS football players at our track and could always beat just about every one even though he was 52 years old) and I was smoking him in short sprints for a few weeks. He can beat me now, but nothing like he used to.

I remember right before the surgery he was talking about it and telling me how the doc was saying the surgery was a piece of cake and he'd be fine in a few weeks.

Good luck with the surgery. Even though his was bad, he was REALLY miserable the last month before he had it and at this point, I'd say he'd tell you it was worth it even though he had all the complications.

One more to Donnie -

I think that main problem is that there are also a multitude of combinations of materials (light weight, standard weight, polypropylene, polyester, self-adhering, 3D, etc) and technique, but everything gets categorized as "mesh" and open or laparoscopic. There must be me simple details that have meaning. Hard to believe that it's just luck.

Any details you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

soccer+ wrote:

To Donnie (didn't realize these replies are just listed by time and you can't tell who is being replied to).

I actually had the same general procedure as you and am very similar in activity. I'm trying find the details about why mine is bad and people like yours is good. I expected to be like you. I'm on a different forum and there are people considering surgery. All I can tell is a bad story. But your details might offer a path forward.

Do you know any details of the type of mesh used and how much?

Soccer:

So you have already had a repair done? When? What are the general problems you've had?

Tension free mesh is what was used in my surgery. The exact amount, I don't know. That is probably a question for a surgeon.

I forgot to add in my original post, I know at least 5 other people who have had this sort of surgery over the last few years and all were very happy with the results.

Thanks Old Timey. Sounds like he had more actual surgery complications than actual hernia repair. I hope he gets back to speed. He sounds like my doppelganger, except with different problems.

soccer+ wrote:

One more to Donnie -

I think that main problem is that there are also a multitude of combinations of materials (light weight, standard weight, polypropylene, polyester, self-adhering, 3D, etc) and technique, but everything gets categorized as "mesh" and open or laparoscopic. There must be me simple details that have meaning. Hard to believe that it's just luck.

Any details you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Soccer -

I couldn't tell you the exact materials that were used in my surgery. A type of tension free mesh is all I know.

Having an "open" repair v. a laparoscopic repair was a choice I discussed with my surgeon. From memory, some medical data says that open repairs have a slightly lower "failure" rate than laparoscopic. But my surgeon said she personally had not witnessed any failure difference between the two procedures, and recommended the laparoscopic repair.

Boom. Great post, and as succinct as it gets.

Donnie wrote:

Soccer:

So you have already had a repair done? When? What are the general problems you've had?

Tension free mesh is what was used in my surgery. The exact amount, I don't know. That is probably a question for a surgeon.

I forgot to add in my original post, I know at least 5 other people who have had this sort of surgery over the last few years and all were very happy with the results.

Yes, I had the same general surgery that you had, even to the number of surgeries of my surgeon. I was you, just three years later.

Your comment about the five people kind of exemplifies the problem. No details. There really are many many materials out there and without the details we're just telling people to roll the dice.

I had Bard Soft Mesh implanted for a direct hernia on one side a small one on the left. It's been shrinking and pulling and causing soreness and other problems ever since t was implanted. I should have had results just like you.

But I don't want to start complaining. I'm really hoping to get details that I can pass on to. I have not found anyone who has had my combination and success, but I have seen others report that ProGrip from Covidien has worked well. But they were only months in, not years.

29029 wrote:

Boom. Great post, and as succinct as it gets.

That's one. Donnie

And one against. Me

Without details though, it's just a contest. Don't really want to make it a contest. Looking for useful information.

Thanks.

Soccer -

Sorry to hear about your post surgery problems. I hope you recover well.

Other than knowing that "tension free mesh" was used in my surgery, I am not going to be any help when it comes to the brand or type of materials used in my surgery.

The 5 other people I cited were examples of others who I personally know have had successful hernia repairs. Beyond their successful outcomes, I couldn't tell you what specific products were used in their surgeries.

What sort of explanation has your surgeon given you for the problems you've encountered?

My husband had a hernia repaired about eight years ago at age 55. He races time trials on his bike and does a lot of work in the gym. The surgeon he trusted was an old guy who refused to use the laparoscopic method, so he had it done the "traditional" way. His research showed that while healing is usually faster with the laparoscopic method, long-term outcomes are a bit better with traditional surgery. Anyway, he recovered in the expected period of time, got back to normal athletic activity levels, and has had zero problems. You can feel the staples and mesh under his skin when you press at the right place and it kind of gives me the willies, but it doesn't bother him at all.

Donnie wrote:

Soccer -

Sorry to hear about your post surgery problems. I hope you recover well.

Other than knowing that "tension free mesh" was used in my surgery, I am not going to be any help when it comes to the brand or type of materials used in my surgery.

The 5 other people I cited were examples of others who I personally know have had successful hernia repairs. Beyond their successful outcomes, I couldn't tell you what specific products were used in their surgeries.

What sort of explanation has your surgeon given you for the problems you've encountered?

He doesn't know. He's perplexed. But he can't really say that his former patients don't have problems. They lose track of their patients and often the patients go to a different doctor, because their expert failed them. I moved on to a different surgeon when he ran out of ideas.

I suspect that in the effort to reduce the recurrence rate as low as possible changes are being made to place as much material as possible. More is better. In the past they only covered the hole and left the rest of the abdomen undisturbed. I was shocked when he told me how much material he had used. He seemed very satisfied also that he had used that much.

The dilemma is that people typically only ask for details if there are problems.

Thanks for the replies. I'm actually way past hernia repair and in to hernia mesh problem repair. I'm really only here for those people on the other forums that have questions. And because I like to know.

So far, ProGrip from Covdien seems good (3 cases), and Bard Soft Mesh seems bad (1 case). But that's only four.

amkelley wrote:

My husband had a hernia repaired about eight years ago at age 55. He races time trials on his bike and does a lot of work in the gym. The surgeon he trusted was an old guy who refused to use the laparoscopic method, so he had it done the "traditional" way. His research showed that while healing is usually faster with the laparoscopic method, long-term outcomes are a bit better with traditional surgery. Anyway, he recovered in the expected period of time, got back to normal athletic activity levels, and has had zero problems. You can feel the staples and mesh under his skin when you press at the right place and it kind of gives me the willies, but it doesn't bother him at all.

I have seen stories like this, sometimes with reports of more surgeries due to recurrence. But generally no problems in between, from the surgery itself,or the materials. I almost had open done, but laparoscopy looked better.

The trend today, and it's been moving really fast, is laparoscopy. The insurance companies charge less for it now, when it used to be the expensive method. It's outpatient surgery, walk in,walk out. About two hours total.

I had a ventral/umbilical hernia repair three weeks ago. Dr. Duras and Dr. White who I believe are among the top 5 in the country. I told them I would like the surgery done right the first time, no offense to them, but in response to all the commercials I see from "Have you or someone you loved suffered from a painful hernia mesh implant...then you may be entitled to compensation..."

Anyway, I had this hernia for four years before I got the VA community care to cover the cost as a Tier-5 veteran of the U.S. Navy. It was like having two oranges taped to my belly, and I hated it. Other people noticed it and didn't say anything out of politeness. There was no way I could run any more with that thing hanging out. I really hated it. I figured the procedure was worth the risk and I was right. Turns out during the operation the doctor discovered two more hernias, and had to fix them as well, too--four hours in all on the table.

So, yeah, three weeks later the pain is down, but there is a scar, being an open surgery and not the laproscopic kind. The doctor said the protrusion was too big for that. I also have permanent sutures and a double frameless, non-poly mesh, which does not cause the body to reject it. There is no frame, which on the older models would bend and form sharp corners inside the abdominal wall as one moved, which is where all the ambulances chasers came in.

I also have a diastasis recti on top of the hernia, but this is not very bad compared to the other. The DR can be repaired on its own. I might be the first man to have a C-section LOL. But anyway, I have a responsibility now to lose some more weight so the two sides of my abs can come back together. To repair that is an abdominoplasty, and I'm definitely not open to being file'd right now. So, yeah, I did have a good procedure but that was because I was very careful in choosing the right surgeons with their own in-house clinic which they said was ten times safer than a hospital as far as not getting any infections.

Hope this helps. Peace.

I had laparoscopic surgery on double inguinal hernias, one on each side, about 2 years ago at age 43. I had the hernias for 2 years and about 1.5 years, and they were getting to be more of a bother; hurting after big workouts or long runs. Not necessarily interfering with my training; I never felt like they slowed me down, but given that they will never go away and only get worse over time, I decided to get them repaired. For reference, I run about 65-75 miles/week average.

I scheduled the surgery right after my fall marathon, which happened to be a PR race. Surgery went fine and I was running again 6 days after it. My surgeon was great; she understood my compulsion for running and unlike other docs I have dealt with did not say "Don't run" as the solution to everything. She said to use pain as a guide for returning to running and that worked well. The operation was early November, and I had a good training cycle and ran my second fastest marathon, 50 seconds off my PR, the following April. So you can get back to the same level of fitness. Good luck!

yep. left inguinal. Feb/2019. Started running Mar/2019. No issues.