OT: Inguinal Hernia Surgery

[Hugo]

I couldn't drive for however long I was on Percocets. Other than that I had no trouble driving. I think the driving restriction might pertain to the non-laproscopic hernia surgery.

You may be right. I had problems driving especially on bumpy roads and had to have my wife drive me for about 2 weeks. Never in real pain otherwise, just discomfort and soreness, but getting out of bed was a challenge for the first 4 or 5 days. The only meds I took were Tylenol although they did give me Percocet. I had two hernia operations about 5 yrs apart and recovery was slightly different for each but for both the doctor said no lifting more than 20 lbs for a month. My one takeaway from this is that each patient is different and recovery times will vary as will pain/discomfort.

 

[whaler11]

Let me know if you want me to drop off some soup bro.

 

[Edward Sargent]

You may be right. I had problems driving especially on bumpy roads and had to have my wife drive me for about 2 weeks. Never in real pain otherwise, just discomfort and soreness, but getting out of bed was a challenge for the first 4 or 5 days. The only meds I took were Tylenol although they did give me Percocet. I had two hernia operations about 5 yrs apart and recovery was slightly different for each but for both the doctor said no lifting more than 20 lbs for a month. My one takeaway from this is that each patient is different and recovery times will vary as will pain/discomfort.

Sounds about right! One thing you might try is replacing Tylenol with Advil (ibuprofen). Tylenol is a great fever reducer (especially in kids) but it isn't as good an analgesic as Advil.

 

[uconnfan68]

My surgery is scheduled for Monday 8/19. Who has experience and what to expect in terms of pain, discomfort, recovery timing, limitations, etc?

My granddaughter had it done (at almost 5), and was thrilled with her red popsicle afterward. Was quiet for a few days.

 

[boba]

Sounds about right! One thing you might try is replacing Tylenol with Advil (ibuprofen). Tylenol is a great fever reducer (especially in kids) but it isn't as good an analgesic as Advil.

@Hans Sprungfeld: Advil (ibuprofen) or naproxen are NOT RECOMMENDED after hernia surgery (or any other surgery) as they act as blood "thinners." Actually they impair platelet accumulation and will encourage seepage from the wounds. There is a reason that acetaminophen is used in conjunction with the various opioid opioid-like pain relievers, and that is the reason. Google sepsis, look up how hard it is to treat and the usual outcome. Then consider that you could easily develop sepsis taking ibuprofen or naproxen after hernia surgery.
Listen to your doctor - health care provider in regards to medications etc. and ignore, discard, and burn with fire any blithering your receive here. Yeah these boneheads may have gone through this before and survived, but that may have been luck or the heroic efforts of others working to save their silly butts. Yeah, I can tell you having my scrotum packed with intestines and testicles was bothersome, yes the surgery was uncomplicated and "routine," but one thing I will not do is give health care advice, and that's because I work adjacent to health care providers. They know their job and it is to keep you alive. Let them do their job unimpeded.

 

[huskyrob1]

Day two is the worst in regards to pain, getting around, etc. It's really not too bad, just uncomfortable. Worst part, BY FAR, is that the meds they give you (take them!) back you up immensely. And in order to clear yourself out, you need to use the muscles they just cut open. I highly recommend taking whatever precautions you need to make that experience easier. A tablespoon of olive oil before bed each night was a godsend for me.

I've had ingruinal hernias and I've had kidney stone attacks twice. In my experience, ingruinal hernia surgery is a walk in the park compared to kidney stones.

 

[Edward Sargent]

@Hans Sprungfeld: Advil (ibuprofen) or naproxen are NOT RECOMMENDED after hernia surgery (or any other surgery) as they act as blood "thinners." Actually they impair platelet accumulation and will encourage seepage from the wounds. There is a reason that acetaminophen is used in conjunction with the various opioid opioid-like pain relievers, and that is the reason. Google sepsis, look up how hard it is to treat and the usual outcome. Then consider that you could easily develop sepsis taking ibuprofen or naproxen after hernia surgery.
Listen to your doctor - health care provider in regards to medications etc. and ignore, discard, and burn with fire any blithering your receive here. Yeah these boneheads may have gone through this before and survived, but that may have been luck or the heroic efforts of others working to save their silly butts. Yeah, I can tell you having my scrotum packed with intestines and testicles was bothersome, yes the surgery was uncomplicated and "routine," but one thing I will not do is give health care advice, and that's because I work adjacent to health care providers. They know their job and it is to keep you alive. Let them do their job unimpeded.

Boba buddy you have a thing about sepsis. Please it ain’t the pain med causing sepsis. A week before surgery my hospital swabbed my nose and identified MSSA (methicillin sensitive) and put me on a prophylactic nasal topical antibiotic. I also showered once a day with chlorhexidine bacteriocidal soap. Hospital anti infection protocols have evolved.

 

[DrZzzz]

Typically no lifting (no more than 10 lbs, I believe) for 6 weeks after surgery, so do all that moving before the surgery. Motrin is perfectly acceptable for pain relief, especially if it allows you to use less narcotics. I always give my patients toradol (an NSAID, like motrin) IV during hernia repairs. In fact, at my hospital all C-sections (much bigger incision than a hernia, and a gravid uterus bleeds more than just about anything) get toradol and tylenol round the clock post-op. This decreases the use of narcs, and hence their constipating side effects. No increase in post-op bleeding. Having said that if you need narcs, take them. Stay ahead of the pain. Also, get some fiber in your diet. Do you like Frosted Mini-wheats? Good luck.

 

[8893]

Having said that if you need narcs, take them.

Handle/post!

 

[prankster]

My surgery is scheduled for Monday 8/19. Who has experience and what to expect in terms of pain, discomfort, recovery timing, limitations, etc?

Had a mesh implant about 2 years ago:
1. Leave the initial dressing on for as long as you dare. I took mine off as quickly as the release instructions said I could.
It was an exquisite pain that I had never experienced before as the adhesive used on the bandage was particularly formidable. I believe it is used in industrial applications, such as gluing exploded locomotives back together. To suggest that it resisted removal would be an understatement.
Additionally, there was, as I came to appreciate soon afterward, a high degree of support, in the area of the mesh, that was provided by the initial dressing, which, once removed, permitted a 10 fold (approximate) increase in pain in discomfort.
2. For the first 4 or 5 days, DO NOT SNEEZE! You will be immediately incapacitated by the pain. And in no way will you feel that the induced pain will have subsided in anything like a reasonable time frame.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

@Hans Sprungfeld: Advil (ibuprofen) or naproxen are NOT RECOMMENDED after hernia surgery (or any other surgery) as they act as blood "thinners." Actually they impair platelet accumulation and will encourage seepage from the wounds. There is a reason that acetaminophen is used in conjunction with the various opioid opioid-like pain relievers, and that is the reason. Google sepsis, look up how hard it is to treat and the usual outcome. Then consider that you could easily develop sepsis taking ibuprofen or naproxen after hernia surgery.
Listen to your doctor - health care provider in regards to medications etc. and ignore, discard, and burn with fire any blithering your receive here. Yeah these boneheads may have gone through this before and survived, but that may have been luck or the heroic efforts of others working to save their silly butts. Yeah, I can tell you having my scrotum packed with intestines and testicles was bothersome, yes the surgery was uncomplicated and "routine," but one thing I will not do is give health care advice, and that's because I work adjacent to health care providers. They know their job and it is to keep you alive. Let them do their job unimpeded.

CONF_RMED

Already, I've been advised & have eliminated vitamins C, D, E, coenzyme Q, flax seed oil, and 81mg aspirin, and will do so for a week after surgery for just those reasons.
Acetomeniphen (Tylenol) is the only allowed NSAID.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Let me know if you want me to drop off some soup bro.

Well done: works as either snark or a kind offer takes advantage of soup season being months out, coming well after sock season and a few others on the horizon.

To be fair, you could have been fooled by some of the Halloween & Christmas decorations crowding out the Back to School offers.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Sounds about right! One thing you might try is replacing Tylenol with Advil (ibuprofen). Tylenol is a great fever reducer (especially in kids) but it isn't as good an analgesic as Advil.

Not unless it's specifically mentioned as allowable post-operatively. I'm surprised that morning if surgery, I'm limited to quarter cup of water to wash down BP medication.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Not unless it's specifically mentioned as allowable post-operatively. I'm surprised that morning if surgery, I'm limited to quarter cup of water to wash down BP medication.

Yes that is pretty standard they don't want you vomiting and aspirating during anesthesia. Another piece of advice my surgeon reminded me about is ice packs for the surgical area and gonads. There might be some swelling (I didn't have any). Also he said some guys are more comfortable wearing tighter brief underwear for the first couple of days. Supposedly holds things in a little better if there is some swelling.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I had mine around 5 years ago, to coincide with March Madness. After a few days I called the doctor's office and said I have not been able to go the the bathroom - for like 3 days. She said it was the meds(pain)and swelling, but no worries we can just set you up with a catheter, otherwise it could be serious and even fatal.. I yelled OH NO. My wife said what's wrong, and I told her, looks like I am going to die. Because no way I was getting a catheter. I got an icepack and sat in an empty tub for 2 hours until I peed for like 10 minutes and then stopped with the meds.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Anyway Good luck.

 

[CL82]

a kind offer takes advantage of soup season being months out,

"Soup? Out of season? I think not."

 

[boba]

Boba buddy you have a thing about sepsis. Please it ain’t the pain med causing sepsis. A week before surgery my hospital swabbed my nose and identified MSSA (methicillin sensitive) and put me on a prophylactic nasal topical antibiotic. I also showered once a day with chlorhexidine bacteriocidal soap. Hospital anti infection protocols have evolved.

Your reading skills are only out-matched by your medical knowledge. I never stated pain meds lead to sepsis. I stated use of NSAID's is not recommended because it may lead to seepage due to impaired platelet accumulation. This is an incomplete barrier between blood and lymph vessels. That's a two way street there and post surgical lymph seepage into the bloodstream is a very dangerous situation.
Oh I understand infection control, you know, because I work in a tier one research hospital, doing well, research. As such, I listen to the doctor in front of me not the one one the computer screen.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

View attachment 45650
"Soup? Out of season? I think not."

Upon further consideration, I'm sure @whaler11 makes a terrific gazpacho, and there's a thread in which the tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, and green pepper growers can be found.

And someone can surely pitch in with some sourdough that hardened when the Kerry Gold butter ran out.

 

[whaler11]

Upon further consideration, I'm sure @whaler11 makes a terrific gazpacho, and there's a thread in which the tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, and green pepper growers can be found.

And someone can surely pitch in with some sourdough that hardened when the Kerry Gold butter ran out.

you made it?

do you have to quit crossfit?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

you made it?

do you have to quit crossfit?

I haven't made any yet this year. That's your job, now at @82 put you back on the hook

I'm currently lifting & moving way too many book boxes to empty my sister's garage by Sunday, as promised in late May.

I'll do some more yoga over the weekend, maybe a bike ride, and then I'm sidelined for, what, 3-6 weeks, according to what my body tells me, and I get the impression I'll know.

 

[whaler11]

I haven't made any yet this year. That's your job, now at @82 put you back on the hook

I'm currently lifting & moving way too many book boxes to empty my sister's garage by Sunday, as promised in late May.

I'll do some more yoga over the weekend, maybe a bike ride, and then I'm sidelined for, what, 3-6 weeks, according to what my body tells me, and I get the impression I'll know.

i thought your surgery was today. keep on truckin.

 

[Zanzman]

Most of my pain was from the bandage pulling on the skin. It was really not bad at all. I never use pain meds.
A side note to my hernia surgery is it not only stopped the pain I felt from walking (,concrete floors were the worst.) , but it cured the Tendonitis of my right wrist . That had bothered me for at least six months Nothing helped even wearing a brace
I was off my laptop for a week during recovery from surgery and miraculously that rest was enough to help my painful wrist.
It’s amazing what your body can do if given a chance.
So just rest for a weak and let your body do it’s job.

Yeah right your wrist hurts from playing with the laptop

 

[DrZzzz]

Your reading skills are only out-matched by your medical knowledge. I never stated pain meds lead to sepsis. I stated use of NSAID's is not recommended because it may lead to seepage due to impaired platelet accumulation. This is an incomplete barrier between blood and lymph vessels. That's a two way street there and post surgical lymph seepage into the bloodstream is a very dangerous situation.
Oh I understand infection control, you know, because I work in a tier one research hospital, doing well, research. As such, I listen to the doctor in front of me not the one one the computer screen.

Doctors prescribe aspirin for the anti-platelet effects. This in people who have coronary artery disease, strokes, stents, etc. They NEVER prescribe motrin for these conditions because the anti-platelet effect is very weak. Nobody worries about bleeding in the operating room when a patient is taking motrin. Never.

 

[AreBee1969]

I had a double inguinal hernia repaired with mesh about 5 years ago. They did through three, one-inch incisions in my gut. My surgery was on a Friday and I was back at work on Monday. A little pain the next day, but nothing that over the counter meds couldn't take care of. They gave me 30 oxycontin pills and I only took one when I got home.

Good luck!