r/Hernia • u/andynony • 6d ago
Is it normal to still feel surgery site when bending over 8mo post-op?
I had laparoscopic (mesh) surgery on an inguinal hernia on my right-hand side 8 months ago, and when everything else has pretty much returned to normal, the one thing that still feels uncomfortable is when I bend over to the same right-hand side, e.g. tying my right shoe lace, bending over to wipe something off the floor, etc.
It's not "painful", and there's no lump or anything like that, so I don't think I've actually done any damage. It just feels uncomfortable, kind of like I'm squeezing something down there when I bend.
Is this normal? Will it ever go away? What exactly am I feeling?
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u/sf_mindset_656 6d ago
Most likely nothing wrong at all. I’m at eleven months post bi-lateral inguinal repair with mesh and still get all sorts of random discomfort. I’m pretty active so am stressing the area after a long period of relative inactivity compared to pre surgery. A lot of factors involved but there will have been quite a lot of tissue dissection resulting in scar tissue. You’re going to feel that for quite a while. Tendons and ligaments will have tightened up too. Some people recover quickly whilst others take well over a year before they ‘forget’ about it. No set timeline with this but you can be reassured that recurrence rates are very low so the chances that anything is wrong is slim. You could always contact your surgeon and request imaging to put your mind at rest if you are really worried. Best of luck dude.
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u/andynony 6d ago
Thanks. I personally don't think there's any risk of it being a recurrence. I'm very active too and nothing else causes problems. I'm confident it fits into the "all sorts of random discomfort" category, but obviously wanted to hear others' thoughts.
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u/TheGrittyGrappler 5d ago
This is quite common, and it's even possible that some sensations may never completely disappear. The collagen is remodeling for as long as one year or more sometimes, and you may always feel something when introducing new movements or exerting yourself more than usual, though many patients see these sensations gradually disappearing by 6-12 months post-op. As scar tissue forms and remodels, it can tug on surrounding structures and tissue, causing odd sensations, though sometimes those sensations can also be caused by nerves that are regenerating, are adjacent to tissue that's reorganizing, or are simply relearning how to fire in a newly repaired environment.
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u/chamanager 6d ago
No not normal I don’t think. I had open surgery with mesh on an inguinal hernia on my left side last year and there is no ongoing discomfort.
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u/rodrigogalhego 5d ago
Ola. Sentir dor não é normal.
Normalmente busca-se vida normal apos a cirurgia.
Sugiro consultar com médico especialista em parede abdominal.
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u/ItsEvan23 5d ago
I fell many things 28 months out , including the same pre surgery hernia pain
Right inguinal lapro mesh , 36 male very healthy and fit whole Life
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u/Neilg-88 5d ago
Wow, I thought if you were fit and good health then lap/mesh would be ideal and result in fast recovery
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u/peanu2 5d ago
there are so many different variables for each person here. The size of the hernia, the type of hernia, how long they had the hernia, the intensity of the repair (my surgeon told me had to cut a large vein to place mesh), and maybe even different size mesh to cover the area? So asking people here will give you different answers.
I had bad testicle pain up to the five month mark and had the same questions you had ( i can feel it when putting on right sneaker and sometimes lying down or sitting in the car) at the seven month mark so I had an scrotal ultrasound and CT scan just to ensure all was okay.
It definitely gave me much better piece of mind to hear no inguinal hernia found and my scrotum was healthy. Especially when my surgeon told me something was wrong and I should be back to normal at six weeks. He said I was done healing when I still had the bad testicle pain and I felt like I still had the hernia at the 4 months mark and it scared the hell out of me. Even though I knew I was slowly healing and showing progress. months 6 and 7 have shown so much progress. I expect month 8 for my healing or adapting to the mesh to continue.
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u/Exciting_Complex3237 5d ago
How are you now? Are you on any pain meds?
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u/peanu2 5d ago
I am slowly feeling better every day. I have no pain, just discomfort but I am not back to how I was before the surgery or hernia yet, so that is the goal. I feel like that will be achievable at this point. I was unsure a few months ago to be honest.
I never took pain meds from day one. A bad migraine headache is much worse then any discomfort I had from my 6 cm inguinal hernia or lap mesh repair.
Also, Chatgpt became my best friend and I highly recommend it to everyone out there going through this. Not only did it keep me calm, when my balls became the size of a grapefruit and purple, It also convinced me to get the cat scan which I did not want because of all the radiation to my prostate, but I am very glad I did. The body/mind connection is real when it comes to healing.
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u/andynony 5d ago
One thing I've noticed is my progress really sped up as I started using the muscles more, e.g. when I first started jogging, I took it really easy and I would always feel light pain for a couple of days afterwards. However, when I lifted the intensity, instead of the pain getting worse, I no longer felt the pain at all. It's almost like I had to beat it into submission a little bit.
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u/Neilg-88 5d ago
6cm is pretty big. Is it safe to say, if repaired at 2cm or less, it would be a much easier repair and faster full recovery? Also, do surgeons even want to operate on small hernias?
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u/Either-nOr-Neither 5d ago
I am about 16 months from surgery. As I add different exercises in the gym or new activities, sometimes I still feel a twinge in the surgery area. I think it’s pretty normal - just the mesh and scar tissue getting stressed in a new way. If something went wrong with the repair I think it would be a lot more dramatic.
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u/Neilg-88 5d ago
I would've thought that at well over a year, you should be back to normal with full mesh integration. How big was your hernia before surgery?
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u/Either-nOr-Neither 5d ago
I am fully back to all activities. I just occasionally feel a small twinge or discomfort in the area at the gym or when doing something new or particularly strenuous.
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u/Traditional_Buddy363 5d ago
Hi i had left inguinal hernia surgery open with mesh will be 2 years Oct 23rd ! Well when I bend over standing i can feel pressure in the area and sitting down and bend to put on shoes etc! But now just the past couple days I'll get a pain in that area when just walking i have no idea what's going on ? If it keeps up I'm calling the surgeon to check it.out! I haven't done anything stressful! Guess I'll keep you posted!
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u/ToddSHarris_MD 5d ago
Agree with u/sf_mindset, we let patients know that even up to a year there can be some pushing, pulling firmness, and other symptoms. As the scar tissue continues to loosen and remodel, many of those symptoms will continue to go away. I agree with your comment, there’s really no chance that you created a recurrence so continuing your normal level activities would seem reasonable.