Do I Need To Wear A Truss For My Hernia?
This is one of the questions we are most frequently asked about hernias treatment, especially by men who feel that their inguinal hernia is quite small and insignificant. Our answer is this.
An inguinal hernia is a part of your intestine bulging through a gap or tear in the muscles of your intestinal wall. When intestines continue to protrude through this gap, they prevent that tear or rupture from healing itself. It’s like trying to heal a cut while keeping your finger permanently in it.
A good hernia support isn’t just helpful to prevent pain and/or discomfort – it forms part of an inguinal hernia treatment by keeping the intestine inside, where it belongs, and so gives the edges of the rupture a chance to come together and hopefully to knit back together again. As far as hernias treatment is concerned, it’s a bit like wearing a plaster cast to support a broken leg while it heals.
To be effective, your hernia support or truss must have pads that remain in contact with your hernia at all times, and do not intrude into the aperture. Rounded pads that bulge inwards can both hinder healing and cause scarring to the edges of the hernia. The Flat Pad Support was designed to support the hernia without intruding into it.
Will Wearing A Support Or Truss Make My Muscles Lazy?
Some individuals are worried that wearing a support will make their muscles lazy. This is completely unfounded and unproven. If it were true, people would not be reporting that their hernias have healed (see Anthony’s story below).
An exercise programme is also an important part of hernias treatment to help heal an inguinal hernia. It is easier to do the exercises if the bulge is controlled by wearing a support.
When Not To Wear A Support
You should not wear a support if your hernia cannot be pushed all the way back in, or if the support causes any pain or discomfort.
Will wearing a support increase the risk of strangulation?
We have not found any evidence that strangulation of the hernia can occur if the hernia is properly supported and kept in. But as always, do check with your doctor if you are experiencing any discomfort or if you are not sure whether your hernia is properly “in”.
Is it true that hernias treatment requires surgery to prevent strangulation?
Strangulation occurs when the gap through which the intestine protrudes, closes up too tightly around the protruding intestine. This may be caused by muscular tension or by the gap attempting to heal. Although there are not yet clinical trials to prove this, wearing a support to keep the intestine inside the abdomen makes it much less likely that strangulation will occur.
For more information about whether a hernia can heal itself, please visit this section of our Forum.
Anthony: A Hernia Cure
Aged 60, Anthony, who worked as a mowing contractor, decided in March 2008 that it was time to get fit again. He renewed his gym subscription and started back on weights. Shortly after trying to bench 100 kg for the first time in 15 years, he developed a pain in his right groin, which was diagnosed as an inguinal hernia. Anthony’s doctor booked him in for hernia repair surgery, which was to be carried out in September.
While awaiting surgery, Anthony consulted a homeopath and osteopath. He was treated with constitutional remedies, and also drank horsetail tea (for silicon), took calc-fluor tissue salts and vitamin C. The osteopath gave Anthony simple exercises for strengthening his transverse abdominal muscles.
Anthony stopped all other forms of exercise, gave up his mowing job, and avoided stretching and lifting anything heavier than 2-3 kilos for about three months. He ordered a hernia support garment (the “Flat Pad Support”) to help keep the hernia in and prevent it from getting worse.
When the hernia first appeared, it would pop out 10 times a day, just from walking around or standing in the shower. This stopped when Anthony started wearing the support garment and ceased all aggravating activity. But in May it emerged again when he tried doing some push-ups without wearing the support, so he went back to wearing it for a couple of hours a day.
By June the hernia appeared to be under control, and Anthony felt confident enough to start doing some mild aerobic exercises and strength training at home. He also began doing some work on his tractor which involved a certain amount of straining. When doing these activities Anthony wore his hernia support, which he found gave him a feeling of security and took much of the tentativeness out of his daily activities.
By September the hernia had improved so much that Anthony postponed the surgery for three months. To check that the hernia really had gone, he went for an ultrasound examination. This showed that nothing remained but a small enlargement of the deep end of the inguinal canal. The doctor asked him to strain as hard as he could; this forced just a small amount of fat into the deep end, but no bowel, and there was no protrusion.
Within a month Anthony was regularly carrying 20 kg water bottles around and lifting heavy pumps into the back of his truck, without any problems at all.
Anthony believes that all his therapies helped his hernia to heal, aided by his hernia support which kept the hernia in, giving the rupture a chance to heal. A devoted Christian, he also believed that prayer played a key role.
View Anthony’s postings on E-health
Report your own hernia cure, or view more cure reports on the Herniabible forum
Think carefully before you opt for hernia surgery
KPS’s Story
2 Oct 2008
Had my inguinal hernia repaired by open surgery six weeks ago today. Worse off now than I was before I had the repair. All was ok for the first week, and then the pain and discomfort started to increase. I visited my GP who said all was well and not to worry and prescribed a course of antibiotics to counter any swelling. This achieved nothing and the discomfort increased although the bruising went away to be replaced with numbness down the side of my groin and the top of my leg. As well as this I now started having pins and needles in my right hand and loss of feeling at various times. Having endured two more GP visits with little progress I was told to wait a couple of weeks to see if things settled down. I have only this week started driving to work, as I still find it difficult to lift my leg. I cannot continue to do my job as a heavy vehicle engineer and am working in the office until further notice. Each day when I get home it feels like I have a heavy bag of potatoes pulling at my groin and I am ready for bed at 8 pm.
7 Oct 2008
Been to the GP again today and saw a different doctor. He recognised my problems straight away and suggested an injection of cortisone mixed with an anaesthetic to lessen the pain. He admitted that the tissue was still swollen and that I had suffered nerve damage during the surgery. At the moment it feels strange as it’s only one hour after the injection. Back to the doc in three weeks to see how it went, also identified the problem with my numb hand. It turns out that the radial nerve in my elbow was crushed while I was on the operating table. I have to wait three weeks to see if it improves before getting any treatment.
28 Oct 2008
Got my cortisone injection which hurt like hell. Everything calmed down for a couple of days before the pain returned. Explained this to the doc and he checked me out again and this time found the spot where the pain was coming from. After I peeled myself off the ceiling he tried a test with a needle to see if I could feel anything in the area that’s numb from the incision down the side of my groin and into my leg. I did not feel anything. I’m now going to try some nerve blockers (Amitriptyline Hydrochloride) to take the pain away and make me more mobile, to see if the nerve tension decreases. The side effects are a bit worrying.
18 Nov 2008
Have tried Amitriptyline and found little improvement, so went back to the GP. Am now waiting for an appointment to see the surgeon who originally did my surgery. Will be interested in his comments.
17 Feb 2009
I have just been to see the surgeon at the hospital and he has agreed that there is a problem. The area down the right of my groin is swollen and puffy and there is still discomfort and pain there as well as around the scar. So I am now waiting to have the groin and the scar scanned to try and see what the problem is. It’s only taken 6 months to get this far. The story continues.
GDSM’s Story
GDSM had surgery with a mesh implant for a left inguinal hernia. Due to persistent post-operative pain he returned for many follow-up visits, to be told that everything was “normal”. Then after one year the surgeon decided that he may have stitched up the nerves in the groin and recommended re-operating. GDSM sought a second opinion and was told the symptoms did indicate a trapped nerve. The second surgeon subsequently cut the nerve (he could not remove the mesh implant without causing further damage). GDSM remained in very bad pain and could barely stand up straight. Many visits later the surgeon said he could do no more and referred GDSM for pain management. After 60 nerve block treatments and many types of anti-depressants and pain medications including oxycodone, tramadol and morphine, the pain still persisted. GDSM went from one surgeon to another until he finally found one who was prepared to remove the mesh implant. This brought some improvement but the nerves in GDSM’s groin are now so severely damaged that he is diagnosed as having RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, also known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) – “a whole new fight”. The primary symptom of RSD is intense, continuous pain. Improvement is beginning but is slow.
MCB’s Story
7 Sep 2007
I certainly wish i had done some research and found the Herniabible website before electing for surgical repair. I first noticed a small lump in my left groin in 2004, I suspected it was a hernia caused by weight training (I am a 38 year old male) but chose to do nothing about it as it was causing me no symptoms of any kind, no discomfort, I was only aware of it when showering etc.
in 2006 a chance, informal conversation with a doctor caused me to seek medical advice. Subsequently, my GP referred me to a consultant, who suggested surgical repair. No mention was made of post-operative complications. The option of leaving the hernia until it was causing symptoms/pain was not discussed.
I had surgical repair carried out in March this year on the National Health Service. It was not the original consultant surgeon, but a registrar who performed the surgery.
Prior to going into hospital I was a fit, healthy and happy young man. Since the day of the surgery I have experienced constant pain and tightness in my groin. I walk with a limp, cannot exercise, find it difficult to experience pleasure in life due to the discomfort and have become very depressed.
It now transpires that the registrar made his incision the wrong way, which has caused scar tissue to form around the cord that feeds blood to my testicles. This pulls my penis to one side, causing discomfort, and an erection is impossible to sustain due to the pain. There is almost certainly nerve damage which will subside over the years but never full heal.
The consultant has offered to attempt to remove the mesh and free up the cord, but due to the original scar being in the wrong place will have to cut further out. The repair is not simple and I could lose my left testicle.
I am hopeful that things will improve after this repair, however, am worried that they may get worse.
The reason I am writing this post is to advise anyone thinking about having surgical repair for a hernia to carefully consider your options. If I had followed the advice on the Herniabible website I could have had 20 symptom-free years with my hernia. Now I am facing 20 painful, unfulfilled, unhappy years.
28 Jun 2008
In December 07 I went in for further surgery to have the mesh removed (by the professor this time). After the surgery he told me that he had removed a nerve as well as the mesh. I wasn’t entirely happy with this as I had clearly expressed the desire to have only the mesh removed and no other form of treatment. However, I felt relatively well after the operation, and went home trying to be positive.
After about two weeks I started to realise that all was not well. He had gone in through the same scar, so the tightness of the scar tissue pulling my penis to the left returned. I am now left with a penis which is painfully pulled to the left for the rest of my life.
It soon became clear that the surgeon’s decision to remove a nerve had been the main problem. After the removal of the mesh, the tightness between my abdomen and my left leg was less. But after about a month, when the scar had healed, the pain in my groin was actually increasing. I am now in considerably more pain than I was after the original operation, and this is constant pain, every minute of every day. Physical activity obviously makes it worse. Every step while walking produces pain and discomfort.
It’s easy for me to get negative while writing on this subject. Suffice to say, my feelings on surgical repair for inguinal hernia are obvious. I’m told that in three years the pain may start to subside. It certainly has not abated in the last six months. I’m also led to believe that damge to large nerves does not heal well.
There is also the problem that came from limping for so long after the original operation due to the mesh being so tight. Removal of the mesh has helped, but when I try to exercise on my rowing machine, my hip now clicks due to the effect of walking with a limp for so long.
Anyway, the reason that I am writing another post is to warn anyone due to have surgery for a hernia, that things may go well, however, they may also go badly, and once the damage is done, there is no returning to your pre-operative condition.
25 Feb 2009
Hello to everyone reading this post. I am pleased to see that the post is still active and that it has been viewed many times. I hope the admin won’t mind me adding another reply. It has been two years since my original op and 15 months since the 2nd op. I still experience considerable pain and numbness and suffer sexual dysfunction. It is interesting to note the article by O’Dwyer on watchful waiting as he was my consultant. I was an ideal candidate for watchful waiting, I was young, healthy, physically fit, with a small hernia which was asymptomatic (I had no pain or discomfort, it did not affect my life at all) and which had not grown in three years. During the consultation he did not mention watchful waiting or any alternatives to surgery.
It is hard to quantify how badly the pain, numbness and sexual dysfunction has affected my life. Suffice to say that I now understand the term ‘Over the Hill’. My days as a healthy, physically and sexually active young man are behind me. Psychologically it is very difficult to accept. I have been depressed since the first operation. My message is simply this, if you are in a similar position to the one I was in and you are reading this website, then you are in a position to avoid the pain that I have suffered. Remember when consulting doctors (GPs or surgeons) that it is only their opinion and that there are alternatives views on what to do when you have a hernia.
Yes, there are cases of hernia repair surgery which have gone well. However, mine is a genuine case where the surgery was unnecessary and the outcome significantly damaged the quality of my life. Due to there being no follow-up visit to the consultant, I imagine that my case has been statistically classed as a success. How many other outcomes similar to mine will be classed as successful? It is common for people in the UK to assume that the medical establishment ‘knows best’. However, I truly believe that if I had never visited my GP with a lump in my groin, I would be happily living with my hernia in blissful ignorance. As you are reading this website, then you have access to information which will mean that you could live with your hernia for many years or even heal it without surgery. Please invest the time to understand the alternatives to surgery for an inguinal hernia.
It seems incredible to me that there are tens of thousands of surgical repairs carried out on inguinal hernias each year when they can be healed with a £50 flat pad support. If I had known about them before my operation and if I had known how badly surgery would have affected my life, I would have gladly paid £5000 for such a product.
I would urge anyone reading this to seriously consider this account of my experience of surgery, and to search the internet for more accounts of post-operative pain and complications. I can assure you that I am not unique in my experience.
Message from Herniabible staff: The above three cases are sadly not unusual. Here is what the researchers say.
“Watchful waiting can be recommended as an alternative to surgery for men with inguinal hernias. Emergency surgery is needed only rarely, and a substantial minority of patients have persistent discomfort for at least several years after hernia repair surgery.”
O’Dwyer and colleagues, Annals of Surgery, 2006
“In a survey taken one year after surgery, 29% of patients still suffered persistent post-operative pain. Younger patients were worst affected. The problem equally affected all types of hernia and surgical technique”
Bay-Nielsen and colleagues, Danish Hernia Database, 2001
“After surgical mesh repair, 15% or more hernia cases are reported to have a recurrence, and postoperative pain and disability are frequent, especially after a second repair operation.”
Neumayer and colleagues, New England Journal of Medicine, 2004
One year after hernia repair surgery, 3 to 6% of hernia patients will have severe pain, and more than 30% will have mild pain. This pain persists for many years and affects everyday activities.
Page and colleagues, British Journal of Surgery, 2002.
If you had inguiinal hernia repair surgery more than a year ago, please take part in our online survey
http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/77FBF0D4B2748423/
Click here to access links to these and other medical articles on our main site.
Getting A Hernia To Go Back In
Keeping a hernia in is very important, but the longer it has been “out” the more difficult it may be to push it back in. This is possibly because the discomfort causes chronic muscular tension in the area. The following case reports might help you if you have this problem.
BTDT’s story
One of our forum members, “BTDT” found that whether he wore a hernia support or not, a lot of heat seemed to build up in the groin area. Both the heat and the hernia bulge would subside whenever he temporarily stopped eating solid food and just drank vegetable juices.
When BTDT lost his job he decided to go on unemployment and have a rest. Almost immediately his life became much less stressful.
Next he tried an experiment with his hernia. As heat would still build up in the area when he ate solid food, BTDT started to put cloths soaked in cold water over his groin area before going to sleep. This cooled down the area straight away and when he woke up in the morning, he felt much more refreshed and almost forgot he had a hernia.
This worked so well that two or three times a week he would also hold something cold against the hernia, for instance a cold drinks can or a plastic water bottle that had been kept in the fridge.
After three months the hernia had completely disappeared. As BTDT says, he did nothing else to get rid of it except rest and relaxation, removal of the heat, and less solid food to place strain on the area.
BTDT believes that maybe the heat from the hernia was keeping the muscles soft and weak so they couldn’t tighten up and allow the abdominal wall to grow back together.
SD’s story
SD had had his hernia for at least 20 years. “Usual thing left hand always in pocket or ready for any instant physical effort the moment it starts to bulge.” He wasn’t too concerned as he was always able to push it back in ok.
But SD had a couple of scary moments when the hernia would not go back in for up to a minute. Afraid it would descend into the sac he immediately lay down on the bed on his back, hips in the air and with knees fully bent. Using all the physical effort he could muster he eventually managed to stuff it all back in.
SD was a workaholic with shredded nerves and difficulty sleeping. Shopping one day in the supermarket and wanting to buy some washing up liquid, he found himself staring at it on the shelf yet completely unable to know what to do next. “Add to that both hands were holding the hernia in like crazy, I was really desperate to pay up (with one hand) and rush back to the car!!” he says.
Fortunately SD’s work schedule dwindled and one day when he had been reading a really interesting book for two or three hours, he suddenly noticed he felt very relaxed indeed and that the hernia had gone in by itself.
“It was the feeling of deep relaxation that struck me most of all. That evening I started to think a lot more about it and although I had a fair bit to do the next day, I decided as an experiment to drop everything and force myself to spend the day reading to see if it would happen again. But I found this extremely irritating and very difficult as I couldn’t concentrate on the story at all. I kept wanting to rush off to do whatever I’d planned originally, none of which fortunately was all that important. Eventually after about half an hour I managed to become interested and get back into the story once more, finally spending the whole day having a good old long and relaxing read. Again the hernia had vanished!”
“It’s still early days, but it does seem, for me anyway, that stress must somehow be involved somewhere, and that doing something that is naturally relaxing might seem to be a possible cure and answer. I’ve since found that when I get worked up about something the hernia goes back into its old “semi-bulge” position. Not too much of a problem but always with my left hand immediately ready to push it back in just in case. I’m finding it doesn’t work to rush around and then try to find a moment to “de-stress”. The most effective approach seems to be to somehow hang on to the most relaxed and earliest moments of the day – throughout the whole of the day. Or at least for as long as possible.”
Alternative Treatments For Inguinal Hernia
There are two approaches to the alternative treatment of a small inguinal hernia. If the hernia is painful, the first priority is to prevent the pain rather than try to control it. If you understand what causes hernia pain, it becomes easier to prevent.
Hernias hurt because they are a piece of intestine that has fallen out of position through a gap in the muscle of your abdominal wall. Instead of being nicely cushioned, this piece of intestine is sitting very uncomfortably, held inside your body by your skin alone. Yet it still has to process large quantities of food while in this new, awkward position. The food causes pressure, and it is the pressure which hurts. People with a hernia usually feel worse after consuming a large, heavy meal.
If your intestines are sluggish, food residues will take a long time to pass along your intestines, and this causes even more pressure, especially when you are straining on the lavatory. More pressure = more pain.
Alternative treatments
Not surprisingly, the alternative treatment to prevent this pain is to eat smaller meals, so that your intestines will not be overloaded. It is also important to prevent constipation, so foods such as figs and prunes, apple purée (apple sauce), berries and other pectin-rich fruits will be very helpful. Leafy greens and most other vegetables are useful too. You should eat enough of these foods every day to create at least one slippery bowel movement that comes out with very little effort.
Hernias sometimes get hot and inflamed, which causes pain and can even get the hernia trapped (incarcerated). If you feel any heat or discomfort, another alternative hernia treatment technique is to soak a cloth in cold water, wring it out and hold it against your hernia to cool it down. Several people have reported to us that this brings relief. Even a cold drinks can held against the hernia can help to relieve discomfort.
Exercise is an important alternative treatment
… but it has to be the right type of exercise, which strengthens the right abdominal muscles. Most abdominal exercises are useless for a hernia because they target the ‘six-pack’ muscle – the most superficial of your tummy muscles. It is the ones underneath – the so-called ‘core muscles’ such as the transverse abdominals – which need to be developed. The Pilates exercise system was developed especially for this. These exercises are very good alternative treatments for a hernia, but they have do be done correctly, so we recommend attending a few classes first. Pilates tones up your whole body pretty well, so you ‘ll get some extra benefits too.
Herbal alternative treatments
You’ll find quite a few websites which claim to cure an inguinal hernia with their special herbal formulas. Don’t fall for this scam. At best some of these herbs such as fennel or hawthorn may have a cooling or laxative effect to help relieve the pressure in your intestines. That may help you feel better but it won’t cure you.
There is an ancient Chinese formula called Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan which was developed thousands of years ago as a treatment for all kinds of prolapses including hernias. A good quality version of this formula can certainly help to encourage healing by strengthening your collagen – the protein from which most of the fabric of your body is made. But once again, this is not an alternative treatment to be used on its own, only as part of a holistic program.
The most important alternative treatment of all
Keep the hernia in! Keep the intestine inside and don’t let it bulge through your skin. If it continues to bulge out it will get bigger because it will force the gap in your muscle to stay open. The gap can only close up and attempt to heal itself if there is nothing pushing through it.
You may not like the idea of wearing a truss or hernia support for your groin hernia, but if you think of it as an alternative treatment which will give your hernia more of a chance to heal itself, you may feel better about it. Some people have had to wear their hernia support for only six months before finding that the hernia would then stay in on its own. (Of course they did the necessary exercises and were careful about their diet too…)
At Herniabible we recommend only the Flat Pad Support made by our sister company The Support Company. It has two unique features. Firstly the flat pads keep the hernia in but are not rounded so they don’t intrude into the gap in your abdominal muscle. Remember – if the gap is to heal there should be nothing sticking through it in either direction (inwards or outwards). Wearing a truss with rounded pads could actually hinder healing.
Secondly, the Flat Pad Support comes with a money-back guarantee to hold in a small to medium hernia at all times. That means whether you are walking, running, cycling, doing karate, or digging in the garden. People report that it gives much more confidence in being able to carry out demanding tasks. The reason why we recommend it as an important part of an alternative treatment program for a hernia is that it allows you to live your normal live without aggravating your hernia. Although clinical trials have not yet been carried out, it seems entirely possible that by holding in your hernia permanently, it will help to prevent your hernia from getting larger, and will give the gap in your abdominal muscle a chance to heal.
What are the chances of healing?
If you check out the Herniabible forum and website you will find several case reports of people whose hernias have healed. It doesn’t happen every time, but these reports show that it is possible.
It can be difficult to go against a doctor’s advice and attempt an alternative treatment program for a hernia on your own. Doctors have been taught that surgery is the only treatment that works. Even though they don’t know this for a fact, they still tend to repeat it to all their hernia patients. The problem is that up to 30 per cent of people who have had hernia surgery end up with a lifetime of pain and discomfort afterwards. The statistics can be found on the Herniabible website, and we are also running a survey for people who visit this blog (see panel on right-hand side).
If your hernia is still small, we think it’s well worth trying alternative treatments for your hernia. But as with any long-standing condition, do get checked by a doctor from time to time, and check out our post on strangulated hernias.
Strangulated Hernia
Doctors often say ‘ Don’t try any alternatives for healing your own hernia – they don’t work and you risk getting a life-threatening strangulated hernia.’
This puts many people off trying natural methods to deal with their hernia, such as a change of diet, Pilates exercises and wearing a good quality hernia support garment. Hopefully this article will help you to recognize the symptoms of a strangulated hernia so that if you do decide not to opt for surgery straight away, then you can seek immediate medical attention in the event that you really need it.
What is a strangulated hernia?
A hernia is a piece of intestine which is poking through a gap in the muscle of your abdominal wall. It is seen as a bulge under the skin. If the hernia is ‘reducible’ you can push it back inside your abdomen again, but gravity usually makes it pop right back out.
As time goes by, gravity makes more and more of the intestine try to fall through this gap, and the gap tends to widen. The more it widens, the more intestine tries to emerge. If you don’t wear something to keep the intestine properly inside your abdomen, your hernia could become quite large over the years and the gap can close up around it, preventing it from being pushed back in again. Once this happens, your hernia will be classed as ‘incarcerated’ or ‘non-reducible’. It’s not good, but it’s not life-threatening and lots of people live like this for many years.
However if the piece of intestine becomes swollen, or the muscle gets a spasm for some reason and makes the edges of the gap grip the intestine too tightly, the intestine’s blood supply can get cut off and food cannot pass through it. This is known as strangulation – exactly as if someone has their hands around your neck and is tightening them!
A strangulated hernia is a life-threatening situation and requires immediate emergency surgery.
What are the symptoms of a strangulated hernia?
Any hernia can hurt, but the pain of a strangulated hernia is extremely severe, and the hernia itself is tender to the touch. There is also often some nausea or even vomiting, due to the passage of food down the intestine being blocked. Anyone with these symptoms should be rushed to the emergency room of a hospital straight away, without delay. The only cure for a strangulated hernia is emergency surgery.
How common is a strangulated hernia?
The good news is that a strangulated hernia is not very common. Just be aware of the possibility, and don’t delay in seeking medical attention if you think it has occurred.
Erection pain after hernia repair
Erection pain after hernia repair surgery is another regularly reported complication. Sometimes the pain goes away after a few months, but it is frequently still present a year or more after the surgery.
Here are four reports that we are aware of – please leave a comment or complete our online survey if you experience this problem.
Report from E-health forum
Report from WebMD.com
Report #1 from Herniabible forum
Report #2 from Herniabible forum
Herniabible Staff
Risks of Groin Hernia Surgery
These reports come from some of our survey respondents
Case 1: non-mesh repairs
I had two hernia operations, one 12 years ago, it was a non mesh inguinal hernia repair. After this I suffered from a femoral hernia due to weak connective tissue (genetic) and had this repaired as well. After both repairs I was in some pain afterwards and I experienced numbness over my collar bone for about 5 years after the last surgery. This was due to severed nerves. I had a hernia recurrence when I was 21 and have not had another operation since the pain and uncomfort with a hernia are not more than after an operation. If I had been better informed at the time I would have never had surgery in the first place. The information above I gave based on my memories of one to two years after each operation. Currently I do not experience any numbness, there are activities that I do not do because of the bulge getting bigger though.
Case 2: laparoscopic repair | nerve damage
I had a laparoscopic “repair” in which the surgeon accidentally stapled one of my sensory nerves. I’m in constant pain, walk with a limp and am trying to find someone in my area who will remove the staples. So far, no luck. I found a doctor in Canada, but he refused to treat me because I don’t live there. Not only that, he would not refer me to anyone who does his procedure here in the States.
Case 3: testicular atrophy
My hernias on both sides have come back and need operating again plus I have testicular atrophy.
Case 4: mesh errors | severe post-op infections
I thought I was all alone! Thank God for this website. I had my first hernia surgery in Aug of 07 it was a open inguinal on my right side with mesh. On Jan 30 of 08 while lifting I experienced severe groin pain. My original surgeon sent me for a cat scan which showed free floating mesh. He removed the mesh with open surgery and put in new mesh at same time. Within two days I had a severe infection and extreme pain. I was admitted into the same hospital where I stayed for about eight days. The infection worsened and the small hospital I was in sent me to the university hospital by ambulance about an hour away. I remained there for another 5 days until my infection was under control. I lived in extreme pain until May of 08. My new surgeon at university hospital removed my second mesh witch included a portion of my abdominal wall a nerve and my right testicle. He then put in a large piece of Alloderm instead of mesh. This was once again a open surgery witch lasted 5 and 1/2 hrs. Within a week I was back in university hospital for 7 days with another infection. My pain was still bad but less extreme. I returned in June 08 for another surgery for removal of a seal in my scrotum to reduce unbelievable swelling of scrotum. It has been almost a year since my last surgery. I have had much physical therapy and started attending the pain clinic to try to get my chronic pain under control am 49 years old, I made a good living as a drywaller was a avid outdoors man hunting and fishing. My quality of life since Jan 08 is extremely limited and my pain is chronic. I am not sure were I will go from here?
Case 5: mesh removal | loss of testicle
I had surgery in 05. Had another to remove scar tissue 6 months later, then had the mesh removed in Jan of 08. Caused loss of left testicle. Am now on constant pain meds and injections. Loss of feeling on upper area of skin – cannot feel the needle going in, just when it gets to a certain depth. Walk with a limp. Hate my life, cannot do what I used to. And I am 36 years old.
If you had inguinal hernia surgery more than a year ago, please consider filling in our anonymous online survey.
Loss of Orgasm After Groin Hernia Surgery
This report comes from one of our survey respondents
It’s now 365 days since my right inguinal hernia repair, open using mesh. From the morning after surgery there has been complete loss of orgasm and all erogenous/erotic feeling. The doctors are in total denial. This happens more often than they care to admit. Apparently we need all the sensory nerves in order for the brain to produce the sexual high and orgasm. Pudendal and perineal nerves often yanked in removing hernia sac… pull a nerve 15% and it never comes back, except as pain. Iliohypogastric and ilioinguinal also contribute to sex feelings, especially if you are circumcised. If only I had known.
More details
During open inguinal hernia repair, the pubic tubercle is the bone landmark which surgeons use to tell how far to cut. Two centimeters in from this point is where the spermatic cord changes course and a finger is used to separate it from the floor. The hernia sac is a part of the interior lining enclosing the bowel that is forced out through the inguinal canal. Typically it adheres to the cord and must be cut free. The surgeon can only go those two centimeters before encountering the suspensory ligament of the penis.
This is a wide band that circles and encloses the penis very much like a ‘marital aid’ or constriction band. It is firmly attached to the pubic bone and is what makes an erection point up and supports it for sex. It also helps the veins close off to maintain the erection.
The penile dorsal nerves lie under this sheath and are also exposed in the area inside before the penis enters the encircling ligament. If the surgeon pokes through this area in any of the three steps (exposing the cord, dissecting the sac, or suturing the mesh to the pubic tubercle) you can end up neutered like I was. If the suture ties into the ligament you can get the often-described-but-never-explained loss of firm erections, or often described ejaculatory or erection pain.
In my State medical malpractice claims have been legislated out of existance in the name of tort reform. I cannot be fixed, there is no way to protect yourself from incompetent surgery, and no way to make the doctor pay. Lack of informed consent likewise does not exist as a legal barrier.
I CAN’T URGE TOO STRONGLY TO ANYONE CONSIDERING THIS “ROUTINE MINOR SURGERY” TO THINK AGAIN!
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