-
Another question about chronic pain
I had open inguinal surgery (with mesh) about a year and three months ago. I recovered as expected and went back to my normal activities. However, like other people, I have had chronic pain pretty steadily since. It’s not unbearable, sometimes just twinges, but sometimes sporadic soreness off and on all day. I had the surgeon check the site about three months ago, and he said everything was O.K.
I’ve read that the pain usually lessens with time. Believe me, I would really like to believe that. Realistically though, since the pain hasn’t improved much in one and a third years, is there any reason to think mine will get any better, or is this just something I will have to live with?
If you have had this experience, I would be glad to have your opinion. Thanks. -
6 Replies
-
@dave-graham
Dear Dave.
Ask your surgeon to inject the mesh with some steroids. That will sometimes soften the mesh and help with the pain. A ilioinguinal and a iliohypogastric nerve block can be helpful.
Regards.
Bill Brown MD -
i’ve seen a number of studies that followed a variety of patients for quite a long time, and there seems to be a fairly big drop off in pain after about 3 years compared to 6 months or 1 year. doesn’t necessarily mean everything is perfect (though in some cases it might), but I do think for some it can take quite a while. so i wouldn’t necessarily lose hope. i think slowly over time pain tends to continually decrease, even for those with quite a bit of pain.
-
Thanks for the messages. It was a standard open surgery with mesh, not sure of the type of mesh. The surgeon is very good to the best of my knowledge, he has done many of these procedures. He also does lap. procedures and offered to do mine with that technique. I considered lap. surgery but for various reasons I decided on open. I have learned that apparently, many people have pain afterward. Mine is not debilitating or anything, but it’s an annoyance. I’m wondering when you can assume its not going to get any better.
-
Basing my comment on extensive experience that includes an inguinal done poorly with mesh and a plug, that eventually created a lot of pain as the plug started to shift and move, and had to be removed by a specialist who installed mesh with no plug. The removal caused its own pain complications because the original mesh and plug were deeply embedded in tissue growth. I then spent two years on low doses of pain meds, under the guidance of a pain specialist who had experience with post hernia surgery pain complications, before being able to go off the meds and live relatively comfortably, although not pain free. My advice is to get excellent imaging done asap, and arrange with one of the top specialists to read it or have it read by their own experts. In my view, there shouldn’t be pain after 1.3 years. If they don’t see anything, you could try a small dose of Lyrica, under the guidance of a certified pain specialist, for 6 months or so, to see if that resolves the issue. Good luck and all best…
-
I’ll say that the regular pain and soreness for me did lessen quite a bit after a lengthy period of time – at around a year and eight months.
-
Could you describe the material and method? Lichtenstein, Onstep, Kugel, plug, and Prolene Hernia System are all open with mesh. They are very different in form and principle of function though.
Log in to reply.