Author Topic: Inguinal Hernia  (Read 39979 times)

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #50 on: 05 January, 2012, 08:02:33 pm »
Hey, I'm in tomorrow morning for a paraumbilical hernia repair so I shall be watching this thread.

Good luck with your op + recovery

And to you!


PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #51 on: 05 January, 2012, 08:04:33 pm »
Good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery to both of you.
There are many variables, uch as size, site and duration of hernia, surgical technique used for repair and technical difficulty making repair that make it unwise to generalise.
Think 1-2 weeks to heal the skin and 4-6 weeks to get back on the bike. YMMV!
Take your surgeon's advice as s/he will know most about your hernia.

Thanks.

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #52 on: 10 January, 2012, 03:50:44 pm »
Well was out of hospital the same day and taking it easy now.  Up to taking gentle walks round the block and it only hurts when I laugh!

Just have to get used to taking it easy for a while.

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Hernia Followup
« Reply #53 on: 13 January, 2012, 04:10:42 pm »
A quick question following http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=55432.0

I took the 'top dressing' off (there's another dressing covering the stitches) and the skin is yellow! It looks like the colour of bruising. Is that normal?

Also I get the odd pain near the site - sort of stabbing, lasts very briefly and no more intense than say carmap. Again, should I be worried?

Thanks

Re: Hernia Followup
« Reply #54 on: 13 January, 2012, 04:18:08 pm »
I had a hernia op about 10 years ago. Felt quite battered for a couple of weeks, with various symptoms like the ones you describe, but it was ok apparently (I started Audaxing soon* afterwards).
I hope yours is ok too!

*Edit: within a year, anyway!

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Hernia Followup
« Reply #55 on: 13 January, 2012, 04:41:15 pm »
A quick question following http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=55432.0

I took the 'top dressing' off (there's another dressing covering the stitches) and the skin is yellow! It looks like the colour of bruising. Is that normal?

Also I get the odd pain near the site - sort of stabbing, lasts very briefly and no more intense than say carmap. Again, should I be worried?

Thanks

While I had an anaesthetic a while back, some surgeons cut me, pulled my innards around and stitched me up.
Now it looks bruised; is this normal?
 ;) ;D

Of course it's normal!

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Hernia Followup
« Reply #56 on: 13 January, 2012, 05:17:37 pm »
:D

Thanks

Juan Martín

  • Consigo mi abrigo
Re: Hernia Followup
« Reply #57 on: 13 January, 2012, 07:35:05 pm »
That's nothing. When recovering from an operation on my jaw and removal of some wisdom teeth I noticed that I had what looked like a footprint in the middle of my chest. I presumed that someone couldn't be arsed to walk round the table...

GraemeMcC

  • CaptainContours
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #58 on: 07 August, 2012, 12:43:49 am »
Any updates?

I had an inguinal hernia repair (slice and mesh insert) on 25th July.
Was discharged from the local NHS hospital 22 hrs after surgery.
Could walk OK next day.
Off painkillers after 4 days.
Now, 13 days later, am able to drive, so get back to work (to a predominantly desk-bound job).
So, any opinions as to when I should realistically get back on the bike (say, for 100km BPs to rebuild fitness)?

I've still got a bit of swelling and soreness at the repair site so am wary about trying too much too soon. The surgeon suggested 6-8 weeks! A friendly triathlon coach has suggested similar from 1st hand experience, albeit after surgery practices from some 10 yrs ago.
But the surgeon also agreed that I could and should swim (front crawl) with a pull-buoy (thus legs inactive) as soon as the skin scar has healed which is now!
So, recent conscensous is what?

BTW, I had swelling and bruising to "sensitive parts" appearing 48 hours after the op. Using Arnica pills, lost the discolouration within a further 3 days. Arnica is a favoured bruise remedy proffered by senior BC coaching staff at M'c'r velodrome. Marginal gains?
PBP 2011: 1234 km by Nr. 5678 in < 90 hrs. Most auspicious...

Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #59 on: 07 August, 2012, 12:49:01 am »
No hernia experience, Graeme, but be careful.  You might be champing at the bit but most of us wouldn't notice you'd had 6 weeks off!

(Swimming sounds good)

Psychler

  • Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........
  • 33.2 miles from Steeple Bumpstead
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #60 on: 07 August, 2012, 02:04:25 am »
7 months on and I'm back to normal, no issues at all. 

Couple of weeks before I could drive again, after about 6 weeks I'd forgotten that I'd had any sort of op at all
I'm gonna limp to the pub and drink 'til the rest of me is as numb as my arse.

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #61 on: 07 August, 2012, 07:00:52 am »
I saw my surgeon after 4 weeks and his first words were "did you ride here?". I hadn't as I was waiting for his OK but he said I could have ridden as soon as I felt comfortable. But YMMV so see how you feel and follow your surgeon's advice.

GraemeMcC

  • CaptainContours
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #62 on: 07 August, 2012, 12:54:28 pm »
~4 weeks! That's encouraging then.  :)

Also, the NHS surgeon, as current standard practice, severed a local nerve so that it wouldn't get bound in and trapped by the mesh/scar tissue repair zone. This is apparently to avoid/lessen the risk of future pain in this area. But is this the same nerve that feeds the area that can give forwards-saddle-area chaffing pain? Don't know if loss of sensation in this region will be a good thing or a bad thing!  ;D
PBP 2011: 1234 km by Nr. 5678 in < 90 hrs. Most auspicious...

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #63 on: 07 August, 2012, 02:02:03 pm »
I'm guessing mine did the same thing. He said I'd be a little numb for a while. My area was at the top of my thigh and it took a few months to recover feeling there.

GraemeMcC

  • CaptainContours
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #64 on: 07 August, 2012, 04:28:23 pm »
... it took a few months to recover feeling there.

Aah! There was I was kind of wishing that it may be permanent!

In both LEL and PBP, I suffered severe sweat rash type symptoms "down there" (just at the height of my surgical repair) aggravated by chafing within my shorts, mainly after about 80 hrs in. And that was despite liberal applications of Creme D'Assos. The hope of not repeating such suffering may have made prospects for future long events less un-appealing.  ;D
Never mind. I'll just have to try and ride faster next time...
PBP 2011: 1234 km by Nr. 5678 in < 90 hrs. Most auspicious...

Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #65 on: 09 August, 2012, 09:49:18 am »
I only just caught this thread, so a bit late to the party.  I had a hernia repair last year, but had no significant pain whatsoever.  I didn't need to take any of the pain killers they gave me, and indeed I walked the couple of miles from the hospital back home!

I was advised various times that I shouldn't cycle for, so in the end erred on the side of paranoia and didn't cycle for three months (which was at the top end of the two to three months that most advice specified).  That wasn't too bad for me, since I can fairly easily travel on public transport to work, with only five minutes of walking and three quarters of an hour of Tram and Tube.

I suspect I didn't need to leave it that long, but I really didn't want to have to go back in and deal with any damage.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

GraemeMcC

  • CaptainContours
Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #66 on: 23 August, 2012, 12:49:50 pm »
Update on my experiences.

Exactly 4 weeks + 13 hours after I was ejected from surgery, I swung a leg over a bike and rode 21kms to work.  :)

4 wks, 13 hrs + 10 mins : The repair wasn't the problem - it was my legs and specifically the calves and quads that objected most - so I had to keep it sub-evens.
< happy bunny >
Right, where's my CTT handbook and my Audax Calendar...
< /happy bunny>

So, I still have a mound on my groin at repair site - bigger than the original hernia - so I hope that will eventually dissipate when/if scar tissue breaks down.
Still itching a bit where hair is re-growing.  ::-)

I could walk OK ( or rather hobble about the room OK) several hours straight after surgery and was like that for about a week.
Decided I was safe to "emergency stop" thus drive, at 13 days, thus go back to work.
Eased into a swimming pool at 15 days (after the entry wound had healed) for light front-crawl (arms only, with a pull-buoy).
Got a full 60mins pull-buoy session at 3 weeks.
Last week, managed 2 swim sessions.
Monday managed light kicking and a bit of breast-stroke and 'fly  :o
Could walk at full stride pace quite briskly around the office/home and pushing a lawn-mower and grass-raking without trouble.
Yesterday, full-on 75 mins masters swim session, full strokes (Free, Bk-Str, Br-Str, Fly) plus leg kick drills.

So, all that swimming has got my aerobic system back into gear quite nicely. Its just my legs that are a bit lagging now.
But that's it. Bring on LEL. Can ease back into riding and training. Will start with hopefully 3 day BH weekend on progressive miles and build it up from here.
Have last round of the Club 10m TT Champs to train for in 3 weeks.
A week in Mallorca in early October.
Eureka 200 in November.

Hell - where's Winter Solstice 200 gone? Memsec must have aborted 'coz of past weather conditions. I might do it as a Perm!  O:-)


PBP 2011: 1234 km by Nr. 5678 in < 90 hrs. Most auspicious...

Re: Hernia Recovery
« Reply #67 on: 24 August, 2012, 01:01:47 am »
Good news, Graeme!  I've never been able to do butterfly - do you reckon a hernia would do the trick?

See you on Eureka, if not before.

Peter

Inguinal Hernia
« Reply #68 on: 14 February, 2014, 09:12:17 pm »
Hi Guys,  Any one out there who has experience of cycling with an inguinal hernia? I am awaiting surgery for this condition and the docs I have seen to date have limited knowledge of risk associated with this condition and cycling prior or post surgery. Any thoughts, tips and hints would be gratefully received. And this was the year I had intended to reclaim my lost climbing abilities.
Skungo


Hummers

  • It is all about the taste.
Re: Inguinal Hernia
« Reply #70 on: 15 February, 2014, 08:52:44 am »
I would suggest asking others what they did when diagnosed with a medical condition is futile.

It is your body, your situation, your risk.

H

Re: Inguinal Hernia
« Reply #71 on: 16 February, 2014, 08:43:38 pm »
Thanks 'hellymdic', the links provided were most helpful and provided much assistance and helped me with completing a risk assessment.

Dear Hummers, please note, the focus is upon assessment and upon having met an uninformed response amongst the medical professionals available to me to date, in order to complete an informed risk assessment, I opened the question to a wider, and I had hoped, a more informed public!

Re: Inguinal Hernia
« Reply #72 on: 16 February, 2014, 08:57:21 pm »
 mine, now repaired was no bother on the bike. Was uncomfortable when standing for a while. The repair was rather uncomfortable for a while - but again ok on the bike.
Of course as previous posts mine is not yours.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Inguinal Hernia
« Reply #73 on: 16 February, 2014, 09:11:21 pm »
I think acting on one person's experience would be unwise.
Inguinal hernia is pretty common amongst middle-aged cyclists and seeing a range of posts from a number of different people with variations of this condition can give some balance to the issue.
We are all different and hernias will also differ but a broad view of a number of individual experiences might still be helpful.

I don't think anybody here is silly enough to suggest anything dangerous.

It's natural to discuss these matters with both one's doctor and one's mates.

That does not mean ignoring a professional who can examine you assess you and discuss treatment options with you.

Re: Inguinal Hernia
« Reply #74 on: 16 February, 2014, 09:12:27 pm »
Mine was back on the mid 90,s . It was uncomfortable standing until I used a strap and pad to hold it in . I did cycle quite normally with it.  :)
the slower you go the more you see