bilateral inguinal hernias
Heads up on this surgery, I am two weeks out from the second surgery which was two days after the first. The first thing I will give you advice on is this, remember to take cough drops or lozenges. If you don't need them someone close by will, and they will thank you. It feels like your splitting your incision when it happens. remember them.
Listen to the doctor when he tells you to take it easy the day of surgery. No more than 5 to 10 min. walks PER HR. I felt pretty good after the second surgery and walked the halls too much that evening. I paid for it the next two days. Your scrotum and penis will swell and fill with more fluid and blood than it will if you spend time in bed. That doesn't mean " don't walk", it means listen to the doctors advice. If you don't walk you will be very stiff. The second day you can walk a bit more. Each day you will be a little better.
Each persons surgery is different. Some incisions are long, others are not. My first was cut from near my pubic bone up about three inches. The second from near my pubic bone to about the upper tip of my hip bone. One guy who had a large hernia showed me his incision, about 8 inches long.
They remove half of the metal clips, that hold the incision closed, the day after surgery. The rest the second day. I am a slow healer so I asked for steristrips to keep the area closed. I drove home, a six hour trip, two days after surgery. It wasn't terrible, but there was swelling. The first week after is the hardest as far a pain and swelling. When I was up too much there was swelling, don't over do it. rest.
At two weeks out the incisions have healed pretty well. I'm working, as of the last couple of days, most of the day on my feet with some lifting. Nothing too heavy. Still quite allot of nerve pain in area near base of incisions and next to scrotum at top. It burns, hope this will go away with time. I've had some experience with nerve damage in a hand. Injury from nine months ago, nerve has regrown proximately 2.5 inches. so I am hopeful this nerve problem will resolve itself. I've tried to eat healthy and get my vitamins. Plenty of proteins for mending tissues. Take some good quality snacks with you, the food is so so, you will not gain any weight on what you are fed. They could/should improve the nutritional value of the food. The facility is clean, the nurses pretty good, friendly, at least on my floor. Interesting patience from all over. Doctor was not much of a personality but he knew his business, that's all that is important. If you are coming from the states, and do not have insurance, don't be afraid to ask for a lower fee BEFORE committing to go. I didn't know and ended up paying significantly more than someone else I talked to. Hope this is helpful to you who are headed up to Shouldice. I will revisit my review in a few months to give an update on the nerve pain.
Update: Most of what I thought was nerve pain wasn't. Yes there were some shooting pains as the nerves regrew, but what bothered me the most was the burning. This turned out to be the irritation at the base of every hair follicle as they regrew. It has gone away.
At 4 wks. I still would have pain when I overdid activity, like too many pushups or lifting a bit too much. It would be noticeable for a couple of days and then be okay. By 8 wks. almost all of the pain was gone, unless I leaned against something directly on the incision site. I lift pretty much anything I need to, hauling and cutting fire wood, moving equipment around. Would I do it, the surgery, again. Yes
Heads up on this surgery, I am two weeks out from the second surgery which was two days after the first. The first thing I will give you advice on is this, remember to take cough drops or lozenges. If you don't need them someone close by will, and they will thank you. It feels like your splitting your incision when it happens. remember them.
Listen to the doctor when he tells you to take it easy the day of surgery. No more than 5 to 10 min. walks PER HR. I felt pretty good after the second surgery and walked the halls too much that evening. I paid for it the next two days. Your scrotum and penis will swell and fill with more fluid and blood than it will if you spend time in bed. That doesn't mean " don't walk", it means listen to the doctors advice. If you don't walk you will be very stiff. The second day you can walk a bit more. Each day you will be a little better.
Each persons surgery is different. Some incisions are long, others are...