future of inguinal repair and PT

I am no doctor and I am only speaking from experience but here are a few of my thoughts.

1) leading up to your surgery, do whatever exercises that build a better core and proper movement. Consider glute exercises, gentle abs exercises like planks, kegel exercises, quads etc and walking. If you have a professional PT that can help that is great. Better movement is the key afterwards right? Seems like learning how your body moves now, right and wrong, is a good thing.

2) (And I offer this with great caution) but consider the surgery sooner rather than later. I say this only because I exercised years of watchful waiting when I had a small hernia that was pain free and mine become large and problematic. It won’t just heal itself. If you are active, like I was, the risk of it increasing in size is risky, especially if you do any heavy lifting, intense exercise ,etc. I can’t help but wonder if I had the surgery sooner that my outcome might have been better. Please take this recommendation with a grain of salt though. Everyone is different and choosing to have surgery is a very personal decision, which leads to my next recommendation.

3) Choose your surgeon very carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask pointed questions about their experience. Their experience is the most important factor. Find someone you can trust and talk to. If complications arise, which they can, you want to know you have someone you can talk to. If you have time to look for a surgeon, use it wisely. Research, research, reasearch!

I am only 41 and before my surgery I would mtn bike and rock climb and ski. It was a central part of my identify and I have doubts that I will ever be able to enjoy those things again.

4) Get advice from others who have had the surgery. Talk to nurses/staff at hospitals to get honest feedback about who performs your operation, especially if you don’t have the luxury to travel to one of the surgeons who seem to truly be experts. http://americanherniasociety.org/find-a-hernia-specialist/