I personally didn't expect to get an inguinal hernia at 21 but well, that's life. Now at 22, i had my repair surgery (back in May 2024). Was told that it's pretty rare for a person my age to get the surgery so early after the injury, but going back to the gym was a priority to me Weight lifting is one of my passions so letting it go for the past 3-4 months was a big deal to me, both physically and psychologically. A few tips i'd recommend to people going through the same thing is to keep their head up, time and patience are key and you'll be feeling better soon enough. Static pain for me was gone by the 2nd month post-op, afterwards i would get sudden blunt pain "waves" but nothing close to the pain level pre-surgery or anything. Those were the scariest though haha, i never knew if my repair had failed or if it was just a common feeling from the aftermath. Weight-lifting wise, my surgeon recommended that i stay away from lower body movements such as Deadlifts, Leg Press and Squats for another month or so, same goes for abdominal training. Now, at 4 months post-op i can say that all pains are completely gone, or at least the intervals between no pain at all and periodic uncomfortability or blunt aches have grown larger by a lot. The thing with inguinal hernia surgery though, that i believe most of us fear, is the possibility of a recurrence. It's understandable but you can't fear something that hasn't even happened yet and may not happen at all. I know that it's a struggle, mentally, physically and financially but you can't let it affect you. Once again, you just need to keep your head up and keep moving forward. Slowly and methodically, you'll heal and soon you'll be back to your former habits. Pro tip: Avoid smoking all together, chronic coughing is the repair's worst enemy! Quit whilst you're at it.
Dang. Thst is brutal. I do not want to double down on my repair. Glad you are on the mend now. I was not prepared for the aftermath of the procedure. It is a big deal and it took time to recover. Back to running again.
Interesting video. I had (open mesh plug & patch modified technique) surgery self funded nearly 10 months ago as elective surgery here in UK is pretty poor at moment (1+yr wait minimu) besides paying into the system for 36 years. I had a 1cm indirect inguinal defect and a lipoma (which was removed) I'm 54kg 52 years old and at the time of hernia was running about 30+ miles a week. After surgery it was painful for about a week or two I stated walking the next day and within a few weeks was up to about 5-7 miles a day. It was 6 weeks before I started running again which was gentle and short for a week or two and kept to no more than 3 miles at an easy pace for 6 months before any speed work or longer distance and even now not gone below a 6min mile pace other than the odd short interval session. I also find doing shorter runs more often instead of longer runs seems to help things too. Sitting, bending and certain clothing has usually made things more uncomfortable for me. Only really started to loosen up at about 6-7 months and still get uncomfortable days now and then. I'm sure things will continue to improve for you as you describe similar discomfort to my own and likewise I'd sooner put up with slight discomfort from scar tissue etc. than a hernia that could strangulate. I had an excellent and very experienced surgeon with over 3500 of these procedures to his name and very high success rate . Best wishes
I’m two years out open bilateral inguinal with mesh. I still get twinges of pain sometimes but no big deal, if I do heavy lifting I get soreness. Didn’t want to go robotic as frankly don’t like the idea of it, and the chance of recurrence is higher with any laparoscopic or robotic hernia surgery. Took me a good year to heal also I’m 60 years old.
I’m day ten out from open mesh at age 66. Virtually no pain at this point. Might feel the nerve pain in the morning on occasion or when putting shoes on etc. life long weightlifter, but my days of intense training on anything are over. I’m still plan to lift, but with lighter weight and more reps. I took up a new hobby of playing a musical instrument. You’re younger than I am, but with your reoccurrence, you might reconsider intense biking as a hobby. My surgeon explained to me that even with a successful repair, scar tissue is only 85% as strong, and even less if repaired a second time.
Touring cyclist, 70, cross training in the gym during the winter, and... just got referral for surgery consult Inguinal Hernia. On the learning curve. Thanks for video.
@@frugalfoot4973 i have a hernia at 18 mine started the next day after mothers day mothers day moarning just wated to ask is mesh better for me at my age or is their a way to get the surgury wthout t iand woudl that be better or not i woke up with one is what happened it went inside by itslelf but still the first to days i felt sick i feel better now but at work i get like almost dizzy im a dishwasher but we have a machine so its not bad me ad my fmily are going to talk to doctors soon
Hi, Dr. Dave. I watched all your videos about your hernia journey. I hope you are better now! Unfortunately, as you alluded to in your videos, there are complications. It is best to see a hernia specialist a) when choosing to have hernia surgery and b) when any questions or complications. Best of luck!
Hi my name is Stuart. I'm using my wife's youtube channel. I live in Naples Florida. I went to the surgeon yesterday for a second opinion. The first surgeon I went to was a no-mash guy. Probably the best in Florida and the second guy for the second opinion was a robotic laparoscopic hernia inguinal surgery. One thing the surgeon told me, he said you'll never be the same. You'll never be as strong as you before you had the hernias. I have one on the right one on the left. He said you will never ever ever be 100% again. Don't even try. I said okay doc. He said maybe you'll get to 70%. I'm kind of sedentary anyway, but meanwhile the no mesh guy he uses dysarta method he says you be good but I know a friend of mine got the no mash and he said yeah. I definitely am not as strong as I were before the hernia problem. So Mr. Frugal foot. You'll never be as strong as you were when you were like 25 ever just doesn't work like that. Maybe I'm wrong. That's the wishes to you.😮
Thanks Dr Dave Ive been following you since your first surgery great video as always!! You look great btw. I had my surgery late October still have limitations and things im afraid to try cause I’ve paid for it in the past like lifting things too heavy. But I also have lower back issues and hip labrum tear. So maybe some of yhe pain may be coming from those issues. I was reading one of the other comments and it said your wife tells you to stay positive and that’s absolutely right. Pain can play with your mind even level 1 or 2 but having family support is awesome and helps tremendously. God bless!!
Im only one month into my open inguinal hernia repair. I agree. Got the incision healing ridge which as you say, feels like pvc pipe and associated with not bad pain but rather somewhat a nagging pain. However, thats probably a small price to pay as long as the mesh repair was done thoroughly and correctly and less chance of reoccurrence. Ill take this discomfort anytime of day versus mesh discomfort in abdominal wall. Try a back brace or some binder to hold everything in place for activities.
I'm me post inguinal hernia surgery open with mesh, and I took only 1 month off . Tha5 first month was killer, but I got buy and finally made it back to work with no pain ! My job is a warehouse job that does have heavy lifting . So for the first month back, I did take it easy ! After the 3rd month with no pain, I twisted and tugged on something and had some pretty bad pain where they cut me open . And also in the groin next to the higher part of my testicular area . It lasted for a month, and I was scared I did something or ripped something . So I saw my doctor who did my surgery, and she looked me over and determined that it's just a strain that it would get better over time ,and it did .A month after I saw her the pain gradually went away and I felt great for about 2 months ,then same thing twist and turn at the same job doing the same motion 6months later I have the same sharp pain ,hurts to bend over or squat or even walk ! I'm going in today for an ultrasound to get to the bottom of this bit . It's really putting a dampper on things that I can do !
I'm 46 and a little over 3 years since bilateral open inguinal repair w/ mesh. My surgeon only does hernia repairs and gastric bypass surgeries which I understand are commonly specialties that go together. He is fairly well known and recommended open vs. laparoscopic and used the mesh that is sort of shaped like an hourglass (Prolene or Ultra-Pro maybe?) and is inserted below the hole and above which sounded like it would hold against forces internally and from movement (imagine wrapping your index finger around the narrow part of an hour glass) I LOVE lifting weights, so I really wanted to do it right and follow the instructions perfectly. He also recommended getting one side done and then the other a month later. I figured that was a money thing (being able to bill for two separate everything), but he said that it was a better bet for success and he said the same for the mesh vs. lapro. I had both surgeries and didn't lift a thing for 6 weeks. I started back with VERY light weights after 8 weeks. and then added a few pounds here and there every so often. After about a year, I was back to my normal routine in the home gym. After about 2 years, some of my lifts surpassed pre-surgery. 3 years later and I slowly am increasing my lifts. I mostly do compound lifts like deadlift, squats, overhead press, bench press etc. The only issue (and why I am in this rabbit hole) is that sometimes when I do something else unrelated that causes twisting or unilateral movements, one or both of my "areas" hurt. This last time was bowling. I was chucking 10lb balls with wild abandon. The next day, I felt the pain again. I start wondering and consulting Dr. Google and thinking "what if this is it?" Eventually (knock on wood) the pain typically goes away and I get back to usual activities and forget about it completely. I hope and pray that this is the case currently.
Do you think maybe the fact that it was a recurrence / more complex open surgery had to do with your slight post op pain? Thanks doc and good luck from now on ❤
I personally didn't expect to get an inguinal hernia at 21 but well, that's life. Now at 22, i had my repair surgery (back in May 2024). Was told that it's pretty rare for a person my age to get the surgery so early after the injury, but going back to the gym was a priority to me
Weight lifting is one of my passions so letting it go for the past 3-4 months was a big deal to me, both physically and psychologically. A few tips i'd recommend to people going through the same thing is to keep their head up, time and patience are key and you'll be feeling better soon enough. Static pain for me was gone by the 2nd month post-op, afterwards i would get sudden blunt pain "waves" but nothing close to the pain level pre-surgery or anything. Those were the scariest though haha, i never knew if my repair had failed or if it was just a common feeling from the aftermath.
Weight-lifting wise, my surgeon recommended that i stay away from lower body movements such as Deadlifts, Leg Press and Squats for another month or so, same goes for abdominal training.
Now, at 4 months post-op i can say that all pains are completely gone, or at least the intervals between no pain at all and periodic uncomfortability or blunt aches have grown larger by a lot.
The thing with inguinal hernia surgery though, that i believe most of us fear, is the possibility of a recurrence. It's understandable but you can't fear something that hasn't even happened yet and may not happen at all. I know that it's a struggle, mentally, physically and financially but you can't let it affect you. Once again, you just need to keep your head up and keep moving forward. Slowly and methodically, you'll heal and soon you'll be back to your former habits. Pro tip: Avoid smoking all together, chronic coughing is the repair's worst enemy! Quit whilst you're at it.
Dang. Thst is brutal. I do not want to double down on my repair. Glad you are on the mend now. I was not prepared for the aftermath of the procedure. It is a big deal and it took time to recover. Back to running again.
Interesting video. I had (open mesh plug & patch modified technique) surgery self funded nearly 10 months ago as elective surgery here in UK is pretty poor at moment (1+yr wait minimu) besides paying into the system for 36 years.
I had a 1cm indirect inguinal defect and a lipoma (which was removed) I'm 54kg 52 years old and at the time of hernia was running about 30+ miles a week.
After surgery it was painful for about a week or two I stated walking the next day and within a few weeks was up to about 5-7 miles a day. It was 6 weeks before I started running again which was gentle and short for a week or two and kept to no more than 3 miles at an easy pace for 6 months before any speed work or longer distance and even now not gone below a 6min mile pace other than the odd short interval session. I also find doing shorter runs more often instead of longer runs seems to help things too.
Sitting, bending and certain clothing has usually made things more uncomfortable for me. Only really started to loosen up at about 6-7 months and still get uncomfortable days now and then.
I'm sure things will continue to improve for you as you describe similar discomfort to my own and likewise I'd sooner put up with slight discomfort from scar tissue etc. than a hernia that could strangulate. I had an excellent and very experienced surgeon with over 3500 of these procedures to his name and very high success rate .
Best wishes
Best wishes to you! I could not imagine having to wait a year to have mine fixed.
I’m two years out open bilateral inguinal with mesh. I still get twinges of pain sometimes but no big deal, if I do heavy lifting I get soreness. Didn’t want to go robotic as frankly don’t like the idea of it, and the chance of recurrence is higher with any laparoscopic or robotic hernia surgery. Took me a good year to heal also I’m 60 years old.
Sharing your experience on this journey has helped alot of people on what to expect TY
I’m day ten out from open mesh at age 66. Virtually no pain at this point. Might feel the nerve pain in the morning on occasion or when putting shoes on etc. life long weightlifter, but my days of intense training on anything are over. I’m still plan to lift, but with lighter weight and more reps.
I took up a new hobby of playing a musical instrument.
You’re younger than I am, but with your reoccurrence, you might reconsider intense biking as a hobby.
My surgeon explained to me that even with a successful repair, scar tissue is only 85% as strong, and even less if repaired a second time.
Yes I agree. And I play bluegrass mandolin as well. I hope you heal up well and I hope you never have to do it again!
Did I need a antibiotic
With my hernia mesh surgery 🙏
Was it a Lichtenstein or a plug and patch repair?
Touring cyclist, 70, cross training in the gym during the winter, and... just got referral for surgery consult Inguinal Hernia. On the learning curve. Thanks for video.
I wish I was as calm and level headed as you
Thank you for sharing Dr., and wishing you a full recovery
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am scheduled to have the surgery in 3 weeks.
All the best to you.
@@frugalfoot4973 i have a hernia at 18 mine started the next day after mothers day mothers day moarning just wated to ask is mesh better for me at my age or is their a way to get the surgury wthout t iand woudl that be better or not i woke up with one is what happened it went inside by itslelf but still the first to days i felt sick i feel better now but at work i get like almost dizzy im a dishwasher but we have a machine so its not bad me ad my fmily are going to talk to doctors soon
Hi, Dr. Dave. I watched all your videos about your hernia journey. I hope you are better now! Unfortunately, as you alluded to in your videos, there are complications. It is best to see a hernia specialist a) when choosing to have hernia surgery and b) when any questions or complications. Best of luck!
Agreed!
Hi my name is Stuart. I'm using my wife's youtube channel. I live in Naples Florida. I went to the surgeon yesterday for a second opinion. The first surgeon I went to was a no-mash guy. Probably the best in Florida and the second guy for the second opinion was a robotic laparoscopic hernia inguinal surgery. One thing the surgeon told me, he said you'll never be the same. You'll never be as strong as you before you had the hernias. I have one on the right one on the left. He said you will never ever ever be 100% again. Don't even try. I said okay doc. He said maybe you'll get to 70%. I'm kind of sedentary anyway, but meanwhile the no mesh guy he uses dysarta method he says you be good but I know a friend of mine got the no mash and he said yeah. I definitely am not as strong as I were before the hernia problem. So Mr. Frugal foot. You'll never be as strong as you were when you were like 25 ever just doesn't work like that. Maybe I'm wrong. That's the wishes to you.😮
Sorry, I'm using voice to text messes up sometimes I said best wishes to you Mr. Frugal foot guy.😅
Nobody can make you as strong as God made you. - Dr. Dave
Thanks Dr Dave Ive been following you since your first surgery great video as always!! You look great btw. I had my surgery late October still have limitations and things im afraid to try cause I’ve paid for it in the past like lifting things too heavy. But I also have lower back issues and hip labrum tear. So maybe some of yhe pain may be coming from those issues. I was reading one of the other comments and it said your wife tells you to stay positive and that’s absolutely right. Pain can play with your mind even level 1 or 2 but having family support is awesome and helps tremendously. God bless!!
Trust in the Lord!
Thanks for your updates I found out yesterday I have to get both sides repaired booked in for June and pretty scared but needs to be done!
I wish you all the best! 👍
Glad everything is going really well the second time around. I know you must be relieved as the months tick by. Thanks for the update!👍
My wife keeps encouraging me and tells me to stay positive. Thanks for your comment.
Im only one month into my open inguinal hernia repair. I agree. Got the incision healing ridge which as you say, feels like pvc pipe and associated with not bad pain but rather somewhat a nagging pain. However, thats probably a small price to pay as long as the mesh repair was done thoroughly and correctly and less chance of reoccurrence. Ill take this discomfort anytime of day versus mesh discomfort in abdominal wall. Try a back brace or some binder to hold everything in place for activities.
I'm me post inguinal hernia surgery open with mesh, and I took only 1 month off . Tha5 first month was killer, but I got buy and finally made it back to work with no pain ! My job is a warehouse job that does have heavy lifting . So for the first month back, I did take it easy ! After the 3rd month with no pain, I twisted and tugged on something and had some pretty bad pain where they cut me open . And also in the groin next to the higher part of my testicular area . It lasted for a month, and I was scared I did something or ripped something . So I saw my doctor who did my surgery, and she looked me over and determined that it's just a strain that it would get better over time ,and it did .A month after I saw her the pain gradually went away and I felt great for about 2 months ,then same thing twist and turn at the same job doing the same motion 6months later I have the same sharp pain ,hurts to bend over or squat or even walk ! I'm going in today for an ultrasound to get to the bottom of this bit . It's really putting a dampper on things that I can do !
I'm 46 and a little over 3 years since bilateral open inguinal repair w/ mesh. My surgeon only does hernia repairs and gastric bypass surgeries which I understand are commonly specialties that go together. He is fairly well known and recommended open vs. laparoscopic and used the mesh that is sort of shaped like an hourglass (Prolene or Ultra-Pro maybe?) and is inserted below the hole and above which sounded like it would hold against forces internally and from movement (imagine wrapping your index finger around the narrow part of an hour glass) I LOVE lifting weights, so I really wanted to do it right and follow the instructions perfectly. He also recommended getting one side done and then the other a month later. I figured that was a money thing (being able to bill for two separate everything), but he said that it was a better bet for success and he said the same for the mesh vs. lapro. I had both surgeries and didn't lift a thing for 6 weeks. I started back with VERY light weights after 8 weeks. and then added a few pounds here and there every so often. After about a year, I was back to my normal routine in the home gym. After about 2 years, some of my lifts surpassed pre-surgery. 3 years later and I slowly am increasing my lifts. I mostly do compound lifts like deadlift, squats, overhead press, bench press etc. The only issue (and why I am in this rabbit hole) is that sometimes when I do something else unrelated that causes twisting or unilateral movements, one or both of my "areas" hurt. This last time was bowling. I was chucking 10lb balls with wild abandon. The next day, I felt the pain again. I start wondering and consulting Dr. Google and thinking "what if this is it?" Eventually (knock on wood) the pain typically goes away and I get back to usual activities and forget about it completely. I hope and pray that this is the case currently.
I keep telling myself that I don't care what it feels like just as long as the hernia never comes back.
Do you think maybe the fact that it was a recurrence / more complex open surgery had to do with your slight post op pain? Thanks doc and good luck from now on ❤
Most likely. He needed to reconstruct the entire inguinal canal with three pieces of mesh. Thanks for the well wishes.