Hernia??

[pavalenko]

Hi
I have just had keyhole surgery on a hernia 5 weeks ago and have started running and kicking the soccer ball around now and still feel a bit of pain. Just wanted to know if anybody has come back from this and how long it took them... and is the pain normal at the start after the layoff.

[Cannavaro]

Hi Pavalenko,

One of my friends down at Soccer training is in the same boat as you. As Hernia is a major operation you want a recovery time of at least 6-8 weeks from the op before you decide to get back into it. The best thing to do is go see a Physio and work on some core strengthening so you minimise the risk of re-injury.

Can anyone else shed some information on Hernia as it is a very common injury?

Fab.

[calvin]

pavalenko,

i had keyhole surgery to repair an inguinal hernia in march. same as you, after around 5 weeks i was on my way back into training but still in pain. A lot of physio didnt make any difference and the surgeon just told me that it was muscle stiffness which i needed to train through.

after further weeks it became clear to me that something was still in need of repair and i was lucky enough to see Dr Gilmore in London, who is meant to be the expert in these things. He immediately diagnosed me with a 'Gilmore's groin' - an inguinal hernia and muscle disruption. The keyhole surgery was to insert a mesh to cover the tear where as Gilmore actually opens you up and stitches the tear up inside. From what I can gather the medical establishment is not united over which is most effective - but Gilmore has made himself world renowned for his method and from my point of view, having had both surgeries, it was Gilmore that fixed my hernia. He described the keyhole mesh as 'only putting a plaster over a wound' whereas his method was to actually stitch it up.

After surgery with Gilmore, I felt much stronger immediately and luckily no longer have the pain sitting up, sneezing etc that I had before. A gradual rehab program of core stability work and stretching helped me get back into training, but I still have pain and discomfort. I've been diagnosed with quite severe osteitis pubis after an MRI scan and am basically back to square one, feeling very depressed about it all. But i dont have the hernia anymore.

Anyway, to try and answer your question, I think pain is probably normal after 5 weeks but if theres one thing i've learned from all this, it's to push for answers from the people that are apparently 'in the know' and dont accept being brushed off. I suppose you have to ask yourself if the pain is the same as you had before, or if it was just from soreness around the wound/muscle stiffness after the layoff. If it's the same pain you had before, start asking questions.