groin hernia repair

♥

♥ Emily ♥

New member
I've had a couple of people tell me that they had hernia repair done many years ago, and ever since, they have had a belly pooch where the surgery was done. Now, is this TRUE that your stomach muscles will never be the same, or is this a bogus excuse for not exercising and watching your diet? These people don't strike me as the kind to exercise, or only go for the occasional walk if anything. I honestly can say I notice my stomach swelling has gone down a lot. I feel the ridges where the surgery was done, but I don't look all that puffy anymore. My clothes fit me fine and the only part of me that really looks less "tight" would be my lower abdominals. The upper area still looks the same as before the surgery. I can gently hold in my upper stomach, but not really my lower stomach or I feel discomfort.

I DO plan on working out more after some more rest time. I hope that I can still stay in good shape as I put a lot of effort into it. I started going for walks and so far that is going great!
 
My guess would be that either a:) the surgery was done poorly, or b:) they didn't exercise like you said. Or both. Once the swelling has gone down, it hasn't come back for me yet.
 
I dont have any stomach or groin pooch. I did have a very hard and puffy abdomen for about 1 month after the surgery, but it is completely gone now. If I was you I would not be too quick in doing any abdominal work outs yet. Just do mild cardio. I dont care what any doctor says, I would avoid any abdominal and pelvic area exercises. Dont worry, you will be doing them eventually. Concentrate on upper body, arms, and a little calves. AVOID any squats including leg presses! My safe advice would be that you can do the following body parts, but with light weight and NOT until failure. Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps, Forearms, Calves. I would AVOID the following body parts for at least 6 months: Quads, Hamstrings, Traps, Abdominals, Inner+Outer Thighs and Glutes. I would also avoid any lower back work. I base this on my own real life experience after having two hernia surgeries myself. I always went back too fast and reinjured myself. Do a lot of treadmill work. I also found that the stationary bike was uncomfortable for me because your pelvis is kind of bent.
 
I had a hernia repair about 2 years ago now. I would certainly stick to cardio stuff for a while. Any lifting or crunches I really wasn't able to do for about 6 months afterward. Still get sore if I do too much though. Sneezing always hurt for about 2 weeks after my surgery. They gave me a pillow to hold over it whenever I felt it coming. Couldn't always stop it though. :)
 
Luckily my cardio exercise does a LOT for keeping my entire body in shape, especially my lower body, so I can deal with passing on the exercises. Cowpin8, when you say to avoid any kind of squats and other such exercises, what about something like a lunge/squat movement only half-way down without any weights, only body weight? I go up and down a lot of stairs due to where I live, so I do these movements, yet without weights.

Unfortunately after the weekend, I am in a bit more pain. I visited some family and had a tough time with allergies at their house, as they smoke indoors and live in an area with a lot of trees that bother my allergies (and 6 dogs that bring in all the stuff from outside!!). I couldn't hold in all my sneezes and sniffles and those definitely hurt! I'm back home now thankfully and am taking it easy again.

Cowpin8, my incision area is also a bit puffy and hardened. I read about the "healing ridge" and how this normal and lasts for about 1 month or even longer. I was swollen in my lower stomach area, then started feeling the ridge form about a week after the surgery. The left ridge is pretty small, like if a thin twig was lodged in there. The right side is a little thicker and more painful, like the width of my finger. Based on what I read, this still seems pretty small, so that's reassuring. I see my doctor on Thursday, Nov. 19th, for my follow-up appointment.

So far I think everything has gone well. My pain was been manageable and I'm able to do get around just fine. I feel that certain things hurt more than others, but luckily I can laugh fine and feel that I may be even able to do light jogging in the near future! I still get tired easily, but this is probably also from being much less active. I've also been under a lot of stress (not health-related), so I know that takes a toll on me! I am looking forward to when I am able to take baths again to relax :)
 
Back
Top