booked in for an inguinal hernia op next week. cant say im looking forward to it mainly as I don’t want to loose out on riding time. Also it doesn’t bother me too much so am questioning the need to tamper with it.
the silver lining is a bit of time off work relaxing (which I never do) so for those that have been through it how long were you signed off work and how long until you were back to riding as though it never happened?
for what its worth im in for open surgery.

Also it doesn’t bother me too much so am questioning the need to tamper with it.

Its maybe not so much a question of ‘bother’ as risk. A strangulated hernia could kill you and that is quite bothersome. Inguinal hernias are less prone to strangulation  than others but its still something like 1 in 100 per year which isn’t really negligible and the risks increase with time / age.

I was off for 6 weeks with mine and still had difficulty getting up ladders and such. Basically write off a couple of months as a worst case.

Mine turned out to be quite bad though, I’d been living with it for a few years and the bugger occasionally throws a wee reminder out.

open surgery? I had mine done 30 years ago and techniques have improved but a I had a job involving lifting I was off work and bikes for 3 months

Keyhole is a much quicker recovery

I had the same sort last year. A 90 min op under anaesthetic and it was done via endoscope.
All fixed and back biking gently about 12 days afterwards.

For Patients

its worth keeping in mind that not all hernias are the same even if they are in the same place, or need treating in the same way. Not all surgeons operate in the same way with the same methods . So while plenty of people will be able to tell you what their experience of surgery and recovery was like its not necessarily going to be comparable to your experience.

Endocsopy / Laproscopy and open surgery have very different recovery times and there may well be important differences in the advice you might get. If you want to know how long til you can get back in the bike listen carefully to whether you’re being told when you’ll be ‘able’ or ‘safe’. With some procedures you’ll be good as new pretty much from the moment you wake up – the only barrier to activity will be pain – you won’t be ‘able’ to cycle (or whatever) until the pain subsides sufficiently but pain or not you’d be safe to exercise. With other procedures you may risk doing yourself damage if you don’t rest and allow sufficient healing before you put stress on the repair.

And… watch your back – after rest when you do get active the tenderness of the surgery means you tend not to tense your core muscles when you should – great recipe for sciatica I discovered!

“And… watch your back – after rest when you do get active the tenderness of the surgery means you tend not to tense your core muscles when you should – great recipe for sciatica I discovered!”

This x100 !

I had four (+ an umbilical hernia) fixed last year via Laproscopic surgery and mesh – I’m not sure my experience is relevant but the recovery times the surgeon gave were pretty accurate.

This x100 !

tell your doctor to tell his patients this!

Bloody hell, what a coincidence…

i went for an MRI last night, as the surgeon wants a better look at mine!

problem was, i totally freaked! supposed to be a 20 minute scan…i lasted 5 mins.

hyper-ventilating, hand and face spasms, drenched in sweat, shaking when i got out of the machine…

and that was feet first! I think i may be claustrophobic… who knew?

just hope they got enough for the surgeon to work with…

Sat in waiting room atm for laparoscopic surgery right hand inguinal poss left and umbilical looks like plenty o good advice on the bright side RWC kicks off today good luck Op

Sounds like good advice re the back pain, I hadn’t considered it. Laparoscopic wasn’t given to me as an option, just open surgery. It was a bit worrying they had me down as being a woman when I turned up for the pre-op so fingers crossed they know what they are doing!

hyper-ventilating, hand and face spasms, drenched in sweat, shaking when i got out of the machine…

Either you’ve travelled through time or you now have a super power. Just to clarify – Snickers are now called Marathons and MacCauly Culkin is the President.

It was a bit worrying they had me down as being a woman when I turned up for the pre-op

you will be

two procedures for the price of one

in my pre-op the nurse disquietingly kept referring to incisions as ‘stabs’.

@ macCK.- my doc didn’t want to know about the “sciatica”. He wasted 6 months blaming the swear wording staples . Then passed me on to orthapedic consultant. Grr.
I’m not bitter. 😉

“Either you’ve travelled through time or you now have a super power. Just to clarify – Snickers are now called Marathons and MacCauly Culkin is the President”

Ah, good…that explains a lot of things… lol!

All done feel like been kicked around a bit rhs and umbilical done looks like 2weeks off work to watch rwc😀 need to cough and fart building up but no chance yet 🥺 anyway hope those of you that can enjoy the good riding weather

Good to hear other peoples experiences as I’m in for my Pre op Monday morning.
Double inguinal,Laparoscopic,I’m anticipating being off the bike for a month…

Mine was open surgery and i was told 4 wk’s off work. I was up n walking short distances first day after as i was bored stiff stuck in the house,By the end of the first week i was walking average of 4-5 km daily . When i went to see the consultant after wk 4 the first question my Misses asked the poor young registrar was “when can we have SEX safely” poor lad didn’t know what to say .
He said then oh you can do walks now and light exercise but i was already walking between 8-10 km daily .
I was back on the bike then at 5 wk’s gently to start as i could feel slight pull .

Still get an occasional reminder that i have a repair there now n again when I’ve done a long ride or something very strenuous ,3 n half years later.

Misses asked the poor young registrar was “when can we have SEX safely” poor lad didn’t know what to say .

At least buy the guy a drink first

I had a bilateral inguinal op in January. I was keen & the surgeon agreed, to get moving asap.
I walked 1/2 a mile the next day – on sticks, around the housing estate and it took about 40 minutes, I was up to 4 or 5 miles a day after a couple of weeks (visiting many local coffee shops en-route).
I didn’t rush getting back on the bike (I set the turbo up pre-op and used it a few times for a few minutes indoors). I wasn’t riding outdoors until about week 5 IIRC.
Right from day 1, I logged everything on strava, so I could see the improvement, and after a bad day, I could still see how far I had progressed.

For me, my biggest recovery concern was to keep moving so that the tissue binding to the mesh didn’t restrict movement in future.

I’m self employed, so had 3 days of no work (except the customer who called my mobile 2 hours after the op), then a few days of laptop-on-the-bed, just keeping an eye on things. For about the first 1 week, the laptop felt heavy. Make sure your kettle/coffee machine isn’t too heavy 🙂

8 months later, I am fitter & have done more riding this year than at any other time in my adult life.

Don’t underestimate the binding effect of codeine cos you can’t put much effort in😩😩

Don’t underestimate the binding effect of codeine cos you can’t put much effort in😩😩

Oh, yeah, that too.

Lactulose is your friend. I had to come off the codeine as it was impossible to shit and it was causing more pain than it was covering.

Ah yes – the old codeine turns your poop into reinforced concrete game. talking about shitting bricks!

Agreed . I had to use suppositories to allow the kids to enter the pool. Wnt with Paraecetomol as quickly as I could.
And yes, anothe Sciatica sufferer . stairs became a no-no for about a week. ohh someones just plugged my hamstrings into a mains socket ..yeeooowwww
6 weeks off work and maybe 3-4months of light duty , hardly any riding or windsurfing as getting into a wetty was almost impossible.

Codeine, pah, try Morphine for poop blocking properties – that’s not funny, especially when you’ve a broken spine and aren’t supposed to move. I used to pull the curtains on my hospital bed, strap on the spinal brace, and gingerly get off the bed to try and use gravity to assist.

OP
Don’t rush back to things too quick
Had my op in July,3 weeks off work doing SFA and really,really taking it easy.I wanted a good repair so all I did was walk a lot and try to avoid the cake tin.It was also a great excuse to do some well needed fettling,all my bikes are now in tip top shape 🙂 .
Back on the road bike now (8 weeks off cycling)and only feel discomfort when I try to go on the drops or push too big a gear on hills.I am just going to work on slowly building fitness over the dark months.The good thing about being idle was planning all the things to do for next year ,in my mind I had already written this one off.

Oh and this ..

Don’t underestimate the binding effect of codeine cos you can’t put much effort in

thanks folks.
had the op yesterday, planning to rest today then start the regular walks etc tomorrow. it going to be difficult to balance waiting long enough to have the best repair but not end up with weeks off the bike…. my new handlebars arrived today which was both good and bad.
already bored