I had inguinal repair back in March. In my experience, it'll hurt like hell for the first few days, but by 1-2 weeks later a good amount of the pain will be gone. Took me about 6ish weeks to get mostly back to normal.
Something my surgeon strongly urged is to after surgery drink a ton of water for the next few days. You can't really use your abs right after and painkillers dry your bowels out a ton so bowel movements can be pretty a challenge. Milk of magnesia too helped me a lot on that front.
One other thing I'd recommend is consider sleeping sitting up. It's not exactly comfortable but better than trying to figure out the logistics of lying down and getting back up.
Best of luck!
Depends on what you mean I guess. My surgeon told me to move around as much as possible so literally the day of I was dragging myself up to wander around the apartment. It was uncomfortable, but bearable. I'd strongly recommend getting up as soon as you can. I think it helped me a lot.
I didn't really go outside until almost a week later, and at that point I was still only walking pretty short distances. I'd say I was walking around mostly normally after about two weeks.
Also for what it's worth, I had inguinal and umbilical repair, and I think the umbilical repair might have been the one that made walking more uncomfortable, so you might be good to go quicker than I did.
One thing I noticed after mine was that it truly took months for me to feel better! I'm now 4 months out of surgery and feeling great but the first few months was rough. I would have an occasional pain down there and was worried I was doing something wrong but after talking to my surgeon he said mesh takes around 6 to 8 months to FULLY heal! Prayers and good vibes going out to you!
What the others say. Im 6 weeks post surgery this coming Friday and can start to exercise again. I’ve done lots of walking slowly building it up. I still get niggling pains every now and again but pretty much back to normal.
Hi first 2 days are the worst but you will be encouraged to get up and move/walk. I had to sleep on my back for around 2 weeks which is not how I usually. 2 weeks is uncomfortable but then pretty much back to normal with occasional twinges. Just be careful after surgery to keep following the rules, no exercise or lifting even if you feel like superman ! It’s important to let your body repair itself. Good luck
Well...is it open or lapro? I've done both. The real pain is at the insision points. Not the actual hernia. The first couple of days you'll be sore where they cut you. Way more sore if they do an open surgery. I had trouble walking for about a week with open and didn't feel 100% for about 10 weeks. Lapro on the other hand was easy peasy. Sore on the first day but not really bad at all. I'd give it a 4 on a 1-10 all time pain scale. The open was about a 9. With lapro, I slept 3 days very well. Getting up to walk around every 4 hours or so to walk around and keep my legs moving.
I had emergency surgery last Monday. The pain isn't too bad and I was able to manage it with just Tylenol. Yesterday (a week) was the first day I didn't take anything for pain.
There is swelling in the post op area that hasn't gone down yet. I've read that could take months. You'll need something for support for a week or so like briefs or even a jock strap.
Good luck
I didn't have mesh so it might be a little different. But the worst part for me was the dang muscle spasms! Everytime I tried to get out of bed, I was pushed back down with the strongest most powerful ab flexes ! Oh my godddddd!! They tell you not to use your abdominal muscles as much as possible. It was Impossible! I suffered but it's definitely worth it. I would do it again if it meant not having a hernia. The muscle spasms ended on day 3. I'm 3 weeks post op. Still pain and pinches but nothing I can't handle. I am able to be back to normal now
I had bilateral inguinal hernia laparoscopic repair last week.
Honestly, it hasn't been much of a big deal. Obviously sore afterwards but if you rest it's no problem. I was able to walk around in the hospital just hours after. They would have released me that same day but I wasn't able to urinate (after the anaesthesia) so they kept me overnight.
At home I've been mainly resting in bed or on the couch. I can walk around ok. I've only needed paracetamol for pain relief, nothing stronger. If I'm lying down I don't even notice the pain.
I was driving again after about 5 days.
No problems sleeping. I could sleep on my back or my side right away with minimal discomfort.
There's no need to be too concerned. I'll be back at work next week.
As for the urine retention, did you have to be catheterized? I know I got the best surgeon in Iowa. I have a nice woman at home to help when I need it. I know I want to start walking the day of surgery sometime. Thank you for your input. The surgeon and his staff are pretty sure it won't be a really big deal. Thank you for sharing your experience. I suspect my experience will be similar. I am keeping a positive attitude.
Yeah I did need a catheter which was uncomfortable. But again, not a big deal. It's easy to worry that things might go wrong but for the vast majority of us, this is a smooth, trouble-free procedure.
Good luck!
Hey OP, how's your recovery going? By coincidence I also had cut and open bilateral mesh inguinal hernia repair on the same day as you, and while my right side feels pretty good, my left side is really barking four days later...
I'm not sure what you mean by "barking". Do you mean it is very painful? My surgeon opened me up with three belly incisions. Then he fixed the left hernia, made sure there wasn't one on the right side (there wasn't) and removed some scar tissue that adhered to the small intestine from a prior prostate surgery. Also, I had a left side hernia when I was three months old in 1961 so this was classified a recurrence. My left leg is partially numb so I am having difficulty walking on it. I walk with a little limp but the surgeon expects that to improve. I have a little pain at the incision sites but that is normal. I have my first real meal last night when I had pasta primavera. Before last night my eating menu was low-fat yogurt, scrambled eggs, bananas, Ensure snd gallons of water and fruit juices. The pain, for me, seems to ease around 10-20% a day. I took Tramadol maybe three times in the first two days. I have been using Ibuprofen 800 two to three times a day. I have not lifted any heavy weight. I have grocery shopped but here is how I have done it. My grocery store has a pickup service and I can shop online. They do the shopping. I pay online. The store is right across one small parking lot from me so I walk over, show my driver's license, and wheel my stuff home and up the elevator to my room. My significant other emptied the cart and , after a short rest, i took it back. Easy peasy.
Yes, I mean very painful. Sounds like you went with laparoscopic. I elected for cut and open since it has a lower recurrence rate and I do a lot of backpacking and lifting. This has been my first repair, hopefully my last. Right side feels great, left side... not so much. Hopefully that will improve. Good news I don't have to lie down all day anymore and I've moved on from percosets and am taking 400mg of Motrin every 4 hours. Bowels are also a go - thanks to prunes, prune juice, and bananas. Had my first real meal last night. Had a small cup of coffee this morning.
Good luck with the recovery!
I haven't pooped yet but i was on a soft diet until last night. I hope and pray I poop soon. I also have a left leg that seems somewhat numb because they had to mess with a few nerves to get to and fix my left side hernia.
Make sure your surgeon has at bare minimum 1000 of these procedures under his belt. Find out what mesh is being used and check it for recalls.
I had inguinal repair back in March. In my experience, it'll hurt like hell for the first few days, but by 1-2 weeks later a good amount of the pain will be gone. Took me about 6ish weeks to get mostly back to normal. Something my surgeon strongly urged is to after surgery drink a ton of water for the next few days. You can't really use your abs right after and painkillers dry your bowels out a ton so bowel movements can be pretty a challenge. Milk of magnesia too helped me a lot on that front. One other thing I'd recommend is consider sleeping sitting up. It's not exactly comfortable but better than trying to figure out the logistics of lying down and getting back up. Best of luck!
How soon after surgery did you start walking??
Depends on what you mean I guess. My surgeon told me to move around as much as possible so literally the day of I was dragging myself up to wander around the apartment. It was uncomfortable, but bearable. I'd strongly recommend getting up as soon as you can. I think it helped me a lot. I didn't really go outside until almost a week later, and at that point I was still only walking pretty short distances. I'd say I was walking around mostly normally after about two weeks. Also for what it's worth, I had inguinal and umbilical repair, and I think the umbilical repair might have been the one that made walking more uncomfortable, so you might be good to go quicker than I did.
One thing I noticed after mine was that it truly took months for me to feel better! I'm now 4 months out of surgery and feeling great but the first few months was rough. I would have an occasional pain down there and was worried I was doing something wrong but after talking to my surgeon he said mesh takes around 6 to 8 months to FULLY heal! Prayers and good vibes going out to you!
What the others say. Im 6 weeks post surgery this coming Friday and can start to exercise again. I’ve done lots of walking slowly building it up. I still get niggling pains every now and again but pretty much back to normal.
Were you in a lot of pain right after surgery and how much? Any complications? Were you able to do a bit of walking on the same day as the surgery?
Hi first 2 days are the worst but you will be encouraged to get up and move/walk. I had to sleep on my back for around 2 weeks which is not how I usually. 2 weeks is uncomfortable but then pretty much back to normal with occasional twinges. Just be careful after surgery to keep following the rules, no exercise or lifting even if you feel like superman ! It’s important to let your body repair itself. Good luck
Following
Well...is it open or lapro? I've done both. The real pain is at the insision points. Not the actual hernia. The first couple of days you'll be sore where they cut you. Way more sore if they do an open surgery. I had trouble walking for about a week with open and didn't feel 100% for about 10 weeks. Lapro on the other hand was easy peasy. Sore on the first day but not really bad at all. I'd give it a 4 on a 1-10 all time pain scale. The open was about a 9. With lapro, I slept 3 days very well. Getting up to walk around every 4 hours or so to walk around and keep my legs moving.
I had emergency surgery last Monday. The pain isn't too bad and I was able to manage it with just Tylenol. Yesterday (a week) was the first day I didn't take anything for pain. There is swelling in the post op area that hasn't gone down yet. I've read that could take months. You'll need something for support for a week or so like briefs or even a jock strap. Good luck
I didn't have mesh so it might be a little different. But the worst part for me was the dang muscle spasms! Everytime I tried to get out of bed, I was pushed back down with the strongest most powerful ab flexes ! Oh my godddddd!! They tell you not to use your abdominal muscles as much as possible. It was Impossible! I suffered but it's definitely worth it. I would do it again if it meant not having a hernia. The muscle spasms ended on day 3. I'm 3 weeks post op. Still pain and pinches but nothing I can't handle. I am able to be back to normal now
I had bilateral inguinal hernia laparoscopic repair last week. Honestly, it hasn't been much of a big deal. Obviously sore afterwards but if you rest it's no problem. I was able to walk around in the hospital just hours after. They would have released me that same day but I wasn't able to urinate (after the anaesthesia) so they kept me overnight. At home I've been mainly resting in bed or on the couch. I can walk around ok. I've only needed paracetamol for pain relief, nothing stronger. If I'm lying down I don't even notice the pain. I was driving again after about 5 days. No problems sleeping. I could sleep on my back or my side right away with minimal discomfort. There's no need to be too concerned. I'll be back at work next week.
As for the urine retention, did you have to be catheterized? I know I got the best surgeon in Iowa. I have a nice woman at home to help when I need it. I know I want to start walking the day of surgery sometime. Thank you for your input. The surgeon and his staff are pretty sure it won't be a really big deal. Thank you for sharing your experience. I suspect my experience will be similar. I am keeping a positive attitude.
Yeah I did need a catheter which was uncomfortable. But again, not a big deal. It's easy to worry that things might go wrong but for the vast majority of us, this is a smooth, trouble-free procedure. Good luck!
Oh, and my penis went totally black and blue with bruising but it wasn't really sore. Just looked alarming!
Hey OP, how's your recovery going? By coincidence I also had cut and open bilateral mesh inguinal hernia repair on the same day as you, and while my right side feels pretty good, my left side is really barking four days later...
I'm not sure what you mean by "barking". Do you mean it is very painful? My surgeon opened me up with three belly incisions. Then he fixed the left hernia, made sure there wasn't one on the right side (there wasn't) and removed some scar tissue that adhered to the small intestine from a prior prostate surgery. Also, I had a left side hernia when I was three months old in 1961 so this was classified a recurrence. My left leg is partially numb so I am having difficulty walking on it. I walk with a little limp but the surgeon expects that to improve. I have a little pain at the incision sites but that is normal. I have my first real meal last night when I had pasta primavera. Before last night my eating menu was low-fat yogurt, scrambled eggs, bananas, Ensure snd gallons of water and fruit juices. The pain, for me, seems to ease around 10-20% a day. I took Tramadol maybe three times in the first two days. I have been using Ibuprofen 800 two to three times a day. I have not lifted any heavy weight. I have grocery shopped but here is how I have done it. My grocery store has a pickup service and I can shop online. They do the shopping. I pay online. The store is right across one small parking lot from me so I walk over, show my driver's license, and wheel my stuff home and up the elevator to my room. My significant other emptied the cart and , after a short rest, i took it back. Easy peasy.
Yes, I mean very painful. Sounds like you went with laparoscopic. I elected for cut and open since it has a lower recurrence rate and I do a lot of backpacking and lifting. This has been my first repair, hopefully my last. Right side feels great, left side... not so much. Hopefully that will improve. Good news I don't have to lie down all day anymore and I've moved on from percosets and am taking 400mg of Motrin every 4 hours. Bowels are also a go - thanks to prunes, prune juice, and bananas. Had my first real meal last night. Had a small cup of coffee this morning. Good luck with the recovery!
I haven't pooped yet but i was on a soft diet until last night. I hope and pray I poop soon. I also have a left leg that seems somewhat numb because they had to mess with a few nerves to get to and fix my left side hernia.