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dissolvable tack cause pain?
6 weeks after laparoscopic hernia surgery I felt fine. Basically pain free. Played two rounds of golf and pain in groin area returned. Hurt just to walk. Two weeks later things have improved some but still have some pinching pains. No swelling or bulges. All other bodily functions are normal. Return visit to surgeon and he says perhaps I strained one of the dissolvable tacks used during surgery by swing the golf club and it’s irritating to area around it. He believes the pain will diminish over time. As they dissolve. Sound plausible?
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8 Replies
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Since my last post I have improved a bit more but I’m not 100 per cent. I do feel better walking now. Stronger. Just for fyi I am 61, 6’3” and about 195 pounds. Previously I was active and a regular gym goer. At my age things do take longer to heal up I have noticed.
A day at home just relaxing around the house I have just small random pains. Nothing that lasts.
A workday or more active day, which is walking, standing and getting in and out of a vehicle, I will have a pain that will creep in. The hernia area will become tight and with moderate pain. There are no large sharp stabbing pains anymore. By the end of the day I will usually go home and ice the area. I can rest comfortably. But I still have no days without pain.I recently had an ultrasound with valsalva the tech did both sides as my doctor requested for comparison. My surgeon has told me the ultrasound looked fine. He doesn’t believe its a mesh issue or nerve issue because of how the pain has presented itself. I go back and see him in a month. If nothing improves he mentioned pain shots next. I hope there is another path for me instead of shots.
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Best if we wait the full three months post op to see where you are up to, physio with careful stretching your groin area + gentle massage therapy in the meantime may help – if the pain/ discomfort continues you ideally should have an MR scan to see if there are any mesh related factors and a pelvic XR may help – Most patients that I see with your symptoms do get better in 3 months but I have never used tacks so I am inclined to feel that this is most likely tack related pain until proven otherwise, here is one my papers https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24770891
Best Wishes
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Thanks for reply Herniator. I had an inguinal hernia on my left side. My pain isn’t always in exact same spot. It’s nothing like post op pain but annoying and daily nonetheless. I get random pains left side a bit above top of scrotum. Sometimes higher closer to the pelvis area. It seems to depend somewhat on what position my body is in. Meaning sitting back or walking or lying in bed can affect where I feel pain. I have had occasions of lying on my back in bed and having a small pinching type pain appear and if I roll onto my side it disappears totally rather quickly. I can then roll back to my back in a few minutes and the pain does not return. I can press on any of this area during pains and it does not increase the pain noticeably.
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Hi Tacks cause pain regardless of whether an absorbable or permanent tacker – the most common nerve damaged in Lap groin surgery is the lateral cutaneous nerve (pain on side of hip) and femoral branch of genitofemoral nerve (pain in the front of the thigh). Where exactly is your pain please – Tack should ideally be removed as nerve is irritated, but you may find that it will burn out in three months or so
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Since my last post things have changed a bit. I no longer have persistent regular pain. Before I was feeling a pulsing pain every few minutes. That is now gone. I can rest or sit with little issue. Walking is for the most part is fine. I notice if I stretch, as many do in the morning upon waking, it can cause irritation and some pain that pops up off and on for the duration of the day. So I try not to do that. I have no noticeable bulges or discoloration. The area looks normal. I can depress the hernia area without issue as well. My bathroom functions are normal with no pain. I don’t usually need to take pain medications. I still do have some daily pain issues though, not large but annoying. I have not resumed a normal life as I wait for this to be resolved. I try to take it easy everyday and not aggravate the issue.
My surgery was May 5. Six weeks post surgery I was fine. I did nothing for six weeks per his instructions. My re-injury was around June 22 from playing some golf. Pain occurred after I played. I saw my surgeon on July 5 and he said my swinging a golf club caused an issue for the tacks to cause this pain. He said the tacks will dissolve over time. Right now I feel like I am in a holding pattern. Meaning not getting worse or better at this time. I am just perplexed at this point, shouldn’t the tacks be settled in and no issue at this point? I have a return visit with my doctor next month. Anything I should bring up to him or ask for to help resolve this?
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Thanks for the response Admin.. RCL0223 I don’t know in numbers he has done, he is in a group of surgeons that have areas they practice. One piece of advice I can give is with the pain reliever you may be given post surgery, if it’s something like Oxycodone it will constipate you. I took two before I realized that. You are instructed not to strain yourself after surgery so this pain pill is a double edged sword. I had to resort to one dose of magnesium sulphate to fix it. So regular tylenol or advil is what I used for a couple of days. My advice is rest as comfortable as you can and don’t lift anything beyond normal food items. Good luck and don’t rush back into doing things that may hurt you after surgery.
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Hi Mulligan22, please keep us updated on your progress. I am going to have lapro done soon as well. When you say your surgeon does this alot, how many procedures has he completed (if you know).
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Sounds very plausible.
The tacks are dissolvable but it takes longer than we think for them to dissolve. Hopefully will feel better soon!
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