No Mesh Hernia Surgery

I can only speak from my experience. I´m your age too.

I got a hernia (about 8-9 years ago) & my doctor said as long as it doesn´t bother you, it´s only a cosmetic problem. I had to get surgery because I was having a lot of cramping, pain, & discomfort. (When the pain happened, if I laid on my back, I could feel the hernia sorta go back into my body. Gross, I know.) I got the mesh procedure done. I do worry about having that object in my body though.

As for the procedure (and I know you´re asking about alternatives), my doctor said I would be running in 3-5 days. WRONG! I could barely walk for a week. I think I probably took about, um, 6 weeks off from running. I have not had any problems with it since.

I do have a second hernia on the other side (for about 4+ years now). It only bothers me if I´m really dehydrated. But, if I drink lots of water, then I´m fine. No other problems. I´m NOT planning on getting any surgery done of it because I´m afraid of--like I said above--having this foreign object in my body.

(I have not heard any mesh horror stories, but have seen those ambulance-chasing lawyer, late night TV commercials saying ¨if you had a mesh hernia surgery, call this number¨.)

I think I remember reading a thread on LRC about going to physical therapy for the hernia, but that it takes a long time to get it to heal-up? I could be wrong though.

Good luck.

Had mesh surgery and was back to running in 2 months. The pain was pretty bad for the first 2 days. Mine was inquinal. I run fine now (though I don't train like I did when I was younger). I can't even tell anything is in there.

I see those late night ad and they freak me out, too.

The old mesh was like a badmitton shuttlecock. The new mesh is like a gauze bandage. I had the old mesh on one side and an old no-mesh approach on the other about twenty years ago. Both gave me problems because I tried to return to running too soon. I recovered eventually when I started doing serious weightlifting to strengthen the abdominals, but it took 15 years.

My buddy had a new non-mesh procedure that he researched and finally flew to Florida to have it done. He tried to run too soon and tore something and it continues to give him problems.

The lesson here is that no matter how state-of-the-art the procedure is, scar tissue still takes about 6 weeks to get as strong as the surrounding tissue. You can return to running much sooner with the new procedures (mesh and no mesh) if you only run in ways that do not stress the repaired area.

Once you get a hernia, it cannot repair itself. It will only get worse over time. When you get the surgery, make sure your surgeon understands that you are an obsessive runner, not a recreational jogger so he can advise your rehab accordingly. Don't run all out 400m repeats three days after surgery like my buddy did because the doctor said it was okay to "run." The doctor assumed he was going to do the marathon shuffle, like 95% of adult recreational runners.

I had inguinal hernia repaired with mesh in 2009 when i was 21. Had a nightmare after. Incredible pain for a week where i couldnt stand up straight without being in agony. Then the wound kept getting infected. I ended up being off work for 7 weeks (carpenter at the time)

Since then though i have had no problems at all. Luckily back then I was only jogging a few times a week for fitness so I just got a bike. You need to be super careful in the weeks after surgery.

I had an inguinal hernia a couple of years ago repaired. The first couple of days were tough (I chose not to take any opiod painkillers). Followed my doc's recommendation to a T and I was back to running easy in 6 weeks. Now I barely feel it and can train hard + lift with no problems. It is nothing to be afraid of if you have an experienced surgeon to take care of you.

Pay attention to the folks who tell you to find the most experienced surgeon you can and you should have a great result. 58 years old, I had two areas needing repair in 2015; doc took care of all of it at the same time. Within 3 weeks of my surgery I was on top of a Colorado 14er. I race cross country ski marathons and my core is like a rock; never had any issues whatsoever. There is always risk with ANY procedure but the latest materials and techniques are very good and unless you have some sort of mitigating issue the risk should be relatively low.

Thanks for the great responses on realistic recovery times. I’m getting mesh for my first hernia on Thursday. After reading this I’m less scared of the recovery now that I know to just take some time.

Great answers wrote:

Thanks for the great responses on realistic recovery times. I’m getting mesh for my first hernia on Thursday. After reading this I’m less scared of the recovery now that I know to just take some time.

You might--just might--be able to go to work on Monday, but I probably wouldn't count on it.

I would avoid stairs (in your house during that first week). Get ready to lounge on the couch & heal.

Good luck!

Been There, Brother wrote:

Great answers wrote:

Thanks for the great responses on realistic recovery times. I’m getting mesh for my first hernia on Thursday. After reading this I’m less scared of the recovery now that I know to just take some time.

You might--just might--be able to go to work on Monday, but I probably wouldn't count on it.

I would avoid stairs (in your house during that first week). Get ready to lounge on the couch & heal.

Good luck!

Thanks! I left the potential to take Monday Tuesday Wednesday to give myself a full week to recover before going back to work. I drive stick and was worried about my commute. My inguinal hernia is the left side so I figure my clutch foot will be out of commission for a while.

Good recommendation about the steps. I’m in a 3 floor Home and was figuring I’d camp out downstairs for a while.

In terms of getting back to full mileage and training, Is there any recommendations? I’m not fast and only do 40 miles a week with lifting 3 days a week. The last thing I want to do is mess this up. My doc said no running or lifting for a month which will feel like an eternity if I follow that.

Yikes! I do NOT think they're going to let you drive yourself home! (I was not allowed.) You better get some help there!

I too am 46 and a competitive Masters runner. I got an inguinal hernia last June. It was very painful for a couple months as I continued to train hard and just took advil to allow me. I ended up injuring my glute/SI anyway and couldn't run for 2 months, then after that rest the hernia feels almost healed on its own. I still feel it occasionally and it makes my adductor tight.

So my question is: should I still bother having the surgery if the pain has been reduced already by 85% on it own?

I was recently diagnosed with a "Sports Hernia" and a slight labral tear. I'm 50 so the Dr. said to not worry about the labral tear (I have no pain there).

I was prescribed Physical Therapy. The Dr. said I should see some progress in 6 weeks. If not, then he will inject PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) blood into the area to trigger healing. The last resort is surgery.

I'm 50. Will PRP work on me? I'm a 30 -50 MPW 4-5 marathon a year guy. Running is a big part of my life so I'm somewhat nervous I may have to hang up the shoes.

Had two hernia surgeries in 2011. April and December. Left then right side. Ran marathon six weeks after first and shuffled a marathon 2 weeks after second. No problems. Walk as much as possible after surgery. Pain before surgery was terrible. Second side started bothering me in the fall. They fixed it for free.

Some advice. Take a laxative when you get home after surgery. They give you something that turns into cement and is hard to pass.

Don’t be surprised if you feel small tiny bubbles in your skin after wards. Apparently they blow you up like a ballon and some of this might get into your tissues.

Good luck.

Flounder wrote:

Had two hernia surgeries in 2011. April and December. Left then right side. Ran marathon six weeks after first and shuffled a marathon 2 weeks after second. No problems. Walk as much as possible after surgery. Pain before surgery was terrible. Second side started bothering me in the fall. They fixed it for free.

Some advice. Take a laxative when you get home after surgery. They give you something that turns into cement and is hard to pass.

Don’t be surprised if you feel small tiny bubbles in your skin after wards. Apparently they blow you up like a ballon and some of this might get into your tissues.

Good luck.

Been putting this surgery off for a while. Most serious painkillers will cause constipation, you can take OTC stuff to help with that.

Any beat the Sports Hernia with just Physical Therapy. I have a dull ache thats a 1 on a 10 scale. When I run it's maybe a 3. I'd prefer to avoid surgery but the only "fixes" I've seen include surgery.

Most pro athletes have hernia surgery because they can't take 6 months off to let it heal. It is a long healing process. Months. There are several great threads on this here.

I had mesh hernia repair two yrs ago. Surgeon said 2 weeks off from running, 4 from lifting. I did what he said and actually added a couple days more of off time to both. I did however walk starting the day after the surgery. I only had minimal pain and only used Ibuprofin pm to help me sleep. Here is a key. Take some magnesium starting at least a day before the surgery to help soften your stool or you will be in great pain going to the bathroom. I normally take mag for my heart and for this procedure I took more. Never really had an issue. The surgeon did say that if I screwed it up, taking the mesh out to redo it would be a nightmare. I listened.

How has your recovery been going? I go in for laparoscopic surgery with the mesh next week for my inguinal hernia and am quite nervous.

I had laparoscopic repair done on both sides in 2012 using the tension free mesh.

Prior to surgery my symptoms had been quite painful. Was playing soccer and running around 40 mpw.

Post surgery the first few days were a bit rough but got better quite quickly. It took about 2 weeks before I was running and 3 weeks before I could play soccer. Have not had any post surgical problems (touch wood). Still running and playing soccer.

My surgeon had performed over 500 of these surgeries when I had my mine done. A lot on athletes and weekend warriors.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that hernia repair is one of the most common surgeries. Yes, some don't work out too well, but % wise the number is quite small. People who have had successful ones often don't post their experience on the internet.

Good luck.