Saw my GP today. I still have a hernia. Have just started to get back into doing exercise after an op at the end of November (that’s hard enough mentally when I’m so fat, unfit and slow after a couple of months of no exercise). If the timescales are similar to my last op, it will be 3 to 4 months before I get an op – almost but not quite enough time to get fit again. A couple of months recovery and I’ll be starting doing sporty stuff again in September or October. Won’t be doing anything competitive this year, and probably not next winter season either. Feeling pretty fed up – not getting any younger and feel kind of like giving up.

So should I be suing the surgeon who did the first op for not fixing the hernia I presented with (he’s apparently fixed a hernia, presumably I had 2, but the one I still have was pretty blinking obvious I thought)? 👿

I’ve had one for around 5 years now. Can’t find the time to get it sorted. 😐 Which flavour is yours?

Nothing to say other than that’s shit.

Sorry.

Clearly your mind and spirit are still ticking.. Have you tried spiking that instead of your body?

Just a thought.

Still shit mind.

That sucks.

Anyway to get yourself on a standby / cancellation list to get it done sooner?

Like deadlydarcy I’ve had a hernia (reductive) for around five years. I was laid on the bed waiting for the op but after a discusson with the consultant I left untreated.

For a few years it was popping all the time with the slightest provocation – sneezing, coughing, lifting etc. I sat around for a few years not really giving exercise any real effort for fear of it popping out. Last year I just got on with things and started wearing a hernia belt when lifting slabs and the like. Just before autumn I started a reasonable workout routine which has helped no end. It barely pops these days and I’m lifting a lot more than I was a few years ago.

I know I’ve been slated on this forum before because it appeared I was suggesting a healing of sorts due to core strengthening etc. and I understand it’ll never heal completely but I’m merely telling you this based on my own experience and thoughts after discussing it with my consultant. I do have a small ‘bulge’ (no sniggering) and have seen a lot larger which obviously need urgent treatment. It all depends on the severity of the problem, I guess.

I got on a cancelation list and had mine done wwithin a month
Double lateral repair , few weeks off work but back on the bike within 3months or so.

I feel your pain, very, very ticked off with epidimytis that is getting better glacially slowly.

Just had my second op for a bi lateral hernia repair.. keyhole this time. I’m ‘hoping’ this is the last one I have to go in for.. can’t understand how he ‘missed’ yours

Which flavour is yours?

Darcy surely yours is a hibernia?

Can you still exercise? I had an inguinal hernia for years and did lots of riding, racing and circuit training. I had it sorted (luckily I had private healthcare) and had 6-8 weeks off then started gently getting back into it. 2 years later I am back to my old form.
Chin up fella, it doesn’t last forever.

rubbish.

I got a gum infection just as I was starting to get some decent times in race wise.

I just could nt seem to get rid of it, and even when I had I still felt pretty c**p.

Although it never stopped me riding totally, its taken me about 4 years to get back to the times I was doing just before, so 4 years treading water.

Glad I’m not the only one then, got mine about 3 years ago from a bad cold of all things. Went to doctor only to be advised to come back when I had kids. Okay then.

Went to the doc last month, pretty much said it was fine but occasionally gave me a little hassle (followed by a week of utter grief) and was told it’ll be a long list I’m on. Yay.

The pain is bad enough but I can cope. It’s the messing with my digestion that bugs me as well as the sore reflection on my other side where I over compensate.

Might look at a hernia belt as I’m sick of feeling so restricted. Does it actually help prevent pain or just stop it getting any worse?

Thanks all. I thought it was a paraumbilical hernia, but the consultant who did the op is describing the one I still have as epigastric (which may explain some of the confusion – I’m sure it was referred as a paraumbilical, he actually seems to have fixed an umbilical). Sorry if that’s mumbo jumbo, you’ll have to google – all in the area above the belly button, so not the most common hernia for blokes.

It was symptom free apart from a lump, so I could probably have left it, but best advice seemed to be to have an op as it was the sort of thing which could strangulate. Ironically it is now painful, so I don’t think I can just ignore it any more. Interesting comments, teasel – I was wondering whether it’s now causing more of a problem because of loss of muscle tone in that area. One of the sports I do a lot is kayaking (a lot last year as I had a knee injury), so used to have a 6 pack, and still might if it wasn’t covered with a layer of fat. So I’d have been OK if I’d not had the first op and just kept exercising, but exercise which works those muscles now seems to bring on the pain.

I suppose on the bright side I’m getting back into climbing, and last week got up a climb I couldn’t do before my op (despite being a lot heavier), so will probably get a decent year of that.

Climbing – ow.

Tried it a couple of years back, will be giving it a miss till I’m sorted, walking out feeling like I’ve had a good kick to the stones is not fun.

It’s not been too bad climbing up until this week, but that’s what seemed to bring on all the pain over the weekend.

Bummer

Just had a knee injury – I have a dodgy left knee from a bad motorbike accident in my twenties that i keep expecting to just collapse- and its hard not exercising,
I think one misses the endorphins and also the actual activity.

Do some stuff with your kids is my advice then its not a wasted year oh and stand for election as you have time.

My Dad just had a Hernia OP last week. Have you shopped around? Some hospitals have shorting waiting times than others, you have the choice

Well I’m seeing a different consultant from last time – GP understood why I wanted that! Not really sure how I go about shopping around (and presume I need to see the consultant before asking for a cancellation). FWIW my last op was at a private hospital contracted by the NHS (was hoping somebody would take me up on my last point and tell me not to waste NHS money on legal action before mentioning that 😉 )

Does your doctor not offer a choice of hospitals. I had a Hernia repaired by Blackburn March 2009 it popped out by May 2009, saw a consultant at Bolton August 2009 and was put on Boltons list for March 2010 was not best pleased with that. So a lot of whinging to my GP and she got me booked in with the Same consultant at a BMI Hospital had it done 4 weeks after seeing GP was back in work 3 weeks later.

5 years later nearly it’s perfect. Have a 4 inch scar across my abdomen though.

Mine was a Epigastric Hernia although Blackburn described it as a Supra umbilical hernia. The consultant used the same cut as Blackburn just made it bigger as the first hernia was quite a small cut and felt quite tight post op.

Look at choose and book.

aracer- In regards to legal action even though I had a successful claim against the NHS personally I wouldn’t bother. Unfortunately unless you can prove that the surgery wasn’t up to standard then im afraid you will get nowhere.

It took from January 2014 to January 2015 for my claim to go through. My argument was that I never had a proper follow up from my knee injury. They x rayed it and diagnosed a sprain and said rest but try and walk on it.

What should of happened was X ray, if not convinced by the diagnosis then a referral to Orthopaedic clinic within two weeks for a MRI scan and then a proper treatment plan.

I had to take the initiative to go to my gp and ask for a MRI scan, then got sent to fracture clinic and was then given proper treatment by a different hospital.

aracer » I was wondering whether it’s now causing more of a problem because of loss of muscle tone in that area…[maybe] I’d have been OK if I’d not had the first op and just kept exercising, but exercise which works those muscles now seems to bring on the pain.

Mine is an inguinal hernia so a different area to yours and from what I just read (skimmed) yours is a bit more serious with regard to strangulation.

I should note that for the first few weeks of sit ups and lifts there was the odd pop that had to be poked back in but as the strength returned the popping stopped. An unexpected severe cough or sneeze can still catch me out but for the most part it’s all but steadied. I don’t even really have a bulge anymore when it’s ‘inward’. I’m surprised at how effective the core strengthening has been. My physio suggested sucking in the belly button whilst tucking under the lower buttocks when doing all exercise and in particular core work. Seems to have paid off…

squirrelking » Might look at a hernia belt as I’m sick of feeling so restricted. Does it actually help prevent pain or just stop it getting any worse?

I have the type in the link below. It doesn’t help with pain (though mine has never been painful, just uncomfortable and a bit pukey at worst) it just holds it in place. Alongside other heavy groundwork I laid over 60 concrete slabs last year wearing it and not once did it allow the stomach to pop through. It works…

http://www.physiotherapystore.com/hernia+belt.html

I wasn’t very serious – mainly trolling as explained above 😉

Yep – which is why I don’t think I can just ignore it, as tempting as that is.

Hmm, I’m waiting to have an op on an inguinal hernia. Had a bit of grief before Christmas, three weeks off work and the doctor kept saying it was Epididymitus. Eventually went for a scan and it showed I had a hernia. It’s not stopped me riding but I do get the occasional aching down there. What can I expect after the op, how long before back up and riding?

@thorpie
Inguinal here. Was no confusing it.
It was like a 3rd testicle sized bulge that would retract back into my abdomen when laying down.

I researched the heck out of surgery, the repair options, mesh types and tried to have my surgeon source biomesh that would mitigate the worst case scenarios associated with synthetics..
Talked my concerns through with my surgeon, he ended up doing a suture repair.
I was 3 days in bed, 10 days of taking it easy then got bored and redressed my lawn and went for my first tech ride after 2 weeks.

Most importantly, I understand some are more genetically prone to inguinal hernias so worth taking steps to address this. As such, I *was* diligent in core strengthening and that was a huge benefit. I’ve lapsed in that recently and definitely feel like I could pop again.
FWIW, core strengthening is NOT ab crunches.. you need to be working your ‘pelvic floors’. A good physio will work through it with you.

Cheers Bearback, mine is quite a small one in comparison but more often than not I have that feeling you get after receiving a glancing blow! They have said keyhole surgery and up to 4 weeks recouparation, just waiting on a date. When I went for the scan she also said there was a smaller one on the other side but that it wasn’t worth worrying about just yet?

Time for an e-bike?

Referral a week on Monday

*happy dance*

Seems to be quite a bit of experience on here with Hernias! I’m 4 weeks on from a bi-lateral inginual hernia repair. This last week or so I seem to have slipped back in terms of a recovery, getting similar pains and feelings that I had prior to the op and the odd restless night. Is this normal? When I first went to my GP last November to he said my issue could have been Epididymitus but the antibiotics didn’t improve any of my symptoms so I ruled that out. Had a scan not long after which showed I had a hernia. I assumed this was the cause of my symptoms and had the op. The continuous nagging pain that I have I can only describe as like when you get a glancing blow to your bollocks, sick feeling in the bottom of my stomach and a burning/stabbing pain coming from that bollock, I seem to be experiencing that feeling again post op. Should I just give it more time or is there something else wrong?

Inguinal hernia – gone 😀

Waiting time was due to the **** bank referral taking so long. Morphine was a bit of a let down, not nearly as fun as I imagined, apparently I’m off my face but feel fine. Six weeks off full duties minimum, who knows when I’ll get a fit note for light work.

Good luck with the recovery. Had mine done 5 weeks ago (was a rather longer wait than I expected – though happily I am now fairly confident I no longer have any hernias), and would be out now doing some walking and maybe some light road riding if it wasn’t that I’ve got a stinking cold. Though as I mentioned on here, my wound got infected so the recovery hasn’t been as fast as it might have been.

Rule 5 😉

Glad you are on the mend

Nasty, so far the only bad points are my shaft turning purple (not sore thankfully) and cocodamol making me dizzy if I stand up after lying down so count myself lucky. Oh and constipation from the opiates. Got a full cut rather than keyhole so don’t expect to mend quickly either.

Glad you are getting over it though, wouldn’t wish any of this on anyone.

I had a hernia many years ago, I went to the consultant and he said they’d put me on the waiting list (3 months + at the time). I then asked about going private and it was then we’re very sorry but we can’t do it till next week.
Cost me about £1500 but I more than made up for that in overtime (that I wouldn’t have been able to do with the hernia).

Hi all, i have a left inguinal hernia which i noticed the bulge 3 weeks ago

it disappears when i lie down and pops up after a while when i stand up. Not alot of discomfort, just a mild burning sensation once in a while. I would say its small-medium right now

I plan to see the doctor and get a surgery in 2 months time.

1) is it safe to do purely machine exercises in the mean time? ie.. seated chest press, seated dips, seated rows, seated machine preacher curls?

2) whats the proper breathing method to NOT increase intra abdominal pressure? I know the Valsalva Maneuver is a no-go obviously, but what about stomach vacuums WHILE still breathing normally through the nose and lungs

Does blowing out your stomach while holding your breath increase intra abdomical pressure? Or does sucking in your abdomen increase the pressure??

3) Now in 2015, is the laprosopic TEP mesh method gold standard for least recurrence, chronic pain and post op complications? Still so much differing opinions and literature out there! sigh

TIA for any advice, and i hope everyone on this thread have made full recoveries from this unfortunate injury…

Most exercises require tension from the rest of your body. As you say, this can be reduced by using machines, exercise choice, but also by dropping down the weight.

Things like dips, where body position needs to be controlled wouldn’t be ideal. Also rows, where the feet are typically braced and the pull is with the arms, creating tension across the body isn’t great. Things where you are pushing against a body braced by a bench, eg seated chest press, shoulder press, preacher curls, etc are far safer. For rows this could be achieved by lying on your front on a bench (maybe inclined) and rowing the bar/dumbbells underneath it. Think about the difference in abdominal pressure between this and a standing barbell row for example:

So, think about choice of exercise, lower the weight, don’t go to a place where you’re having to compensate the lift by getting the body involved. Standing EZ bar curls being heaved up in gyms across the world, I’m looking at you!

Belts are a contentious issue, but I’d wear one if I were you. They’re not for the back, they are to create tension across abdomen and complete the tunnel going from your rib-cage down to your pelvis. Wearing one would give you abs something to push against, and so they have to work less hard for the same effect.

I plan to see the doctor and get a surgery in 2 months time.

Ha, good luck with that unless you’re going privately.

‘Twas a while ago when I had the first hernia and was a gym bunny, but I can’t remember struggling too much with machine equipment. The only one I really steered clear of was the assisted chinup type ones (to be honest, think that was how I did it to start with, got out of shape slightly and tried to pull myself up incorrectly).

Can’t answer number two, sounds too complicated to worry about!

Regarding three – keyhole and mesh seems to be the default these days. Though I didn’t have a huge choice – the surgeon I was referred to did keyhole.

Only post op complications they discussed were infection (don’t shave the area yourself before op – they’ll do it in theatre now if required with clean kit), and potential to staple through a nerve or something.

You might get offered a two for one and put the mesh over both sides (if it’s in groin) – I didn’t need it but maybe something to think about – it’ll take longer to heal I’d say but save doing it again – if you’ve got weakness in one side you’re very likely to do the other at some point.

thanks Hugo!

I was thinking of these exercises

what do you think?

I’ll lay off the cycloX rides for now.. sigh

You might get offered a two for one and put the mesh over both sides (if it’s in groin) – I didn’t need it but maybe something to think about – it’ll take longer to heal I’d say but save doing it again – if you’ve got weakness in one side you’re very likely to do the other at some point.

Thanks breatheasy… Yeah, feeling twinges on my right side too

there goes the upcoming races…