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Surgery VS Watchful Waiting
Thanks for the helpful info! There are still two points I’m curious/confused about:
– Would you say that intermittent pain (few weeks on, few weeks off) is typical of (hidden) inguinal hernia? If so, would you guess that pain is triggered when tissue is in the canal, and relieved when it is not? (I understand there is no way to heal the hernia but wondering if targeted exercise might actually keep the pesky tissue at bay!)
– regarding pre-op pain predicting stronger likelihood of post-op chronic pain (according to Manual of Groin Pain): I understand that in some cases this is because pain is caused by something other than the hernia. If, however, my pain IS due to hernia (difficult to prove, I know), would my chances of post-op pain still be greater than those who went into surgery with no pain? If so, can this be explained?
As mentioned at the top of this thread, pain/discomfort is the main reason many of us would risk surgery. If, however, the odds of ending up with symptoms that are the same or worse (even in expert hands), this is something we need to consider carefully.