News Feed Discussions Athletic or pathetic? Who gets hernias and who recovers best?

  • Athletic or pathetic? Who gets hernias and who recovers best?

    Posted by William Bryant on November 2, 2021 at 6:20 am

    I have the impression that many on here are active, in good health and exercise, weight train etc.

    I am not in that athletic category. I’ve never been to a gym, and only weight I was bothered about carrying was a full cup of tea.. I would be in the pathetic category.

    The reason I got a hernia maybe that I exercised due to worrying about covid.

    Anyway, how many posters are active, keep fitters, athletes etc. And how many, like me, are not.

    I’m asking as I’m wondering if it affects recovery after procedure?
    Negatively if non athletic?

    William Bryant replied 2 years, 4 months ago 5 Members · 8 Replies
  • 8 Replies
  • William Bryant

    Member
    November 4, 2021 at 12:31 am

    Thinking about it, Good Intentions, the Shouldice clinic want people to life weight before surgery, UK NHS hospitals do pre surgery checks and they even have videos with exercises to do prior to some operations. So the fitter the better I’m guessing. For me though I’ve stopped the exercises I started, and which I think caused my hernia, so I’m in worse condition. I’m apprehensive of exerting with a hernia.

    Also… Valsava… What is that?
    Pinto mentioned having valsava ultrasound I meant to google it

  • William Bryant

    Member
    November 4, 2021 at 12:24 am

    Hello Katherine, ref hereditary… Some sites says yes some say no but the Beverley hills site says in their experience hernias run in the family very often.

    In my own case I have one, my dad has one and my mum had one through coughing, the doctor manually reduced hers.

    What hernia was it you had repaired years ago? Inguinal or another type?

    Your watchful waiting lasted a long time so it gives hope to those who are considering that option.

  • Good intentions

    Member
    November 3, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    I remember reading many many years ago some thoughts that one reason the human body has certain problems is because it is still adapting to walking upright. The orientation of the bones and ligaments and muscles lends itself to certain injuries. You could add to that the fact that humanity spends huge effort combating the Darwinian winnowing of the weak and the genetic causes seem plausible.

    I don’t know of anyone in my family who has had a hernia and I am reasonably certain that I forced a hernia through good solid tissue by battling through some back pain so that I could play soccer, by performing an intense Valsava maneuver whenever I made a tackle. It worked for the back but then the direct hernia appeared.

    Whatever the reasons, the great shame is that we on this forum are digging deeper in to it than the professionals. The professionals are learning new ways to implant mesh. New robotic tools, new materials that roll up so they’ll fit through the trocar but spring open in to a flat easy to implant shape once they get through. It’s all about how to use mesh. Here’s a video from J&J training surgeons how to get their product inside the patient.

    The video that came up after this one was coincidental, if it comes up for others. Kind of telling, but it’s the world we live in.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwQrnw3c-RE

  • Katherine

    Member
    November 3, 2021 at 4:17 pm

    Interesting thread. When I got my first hernia back in 1994, I was very, very healthy. Avid runner and weightlifter and loved doing just about any type of exercise. I had a pure tissue repair – no mesh. It hurt like hell for about a week, then I was back to work. It’s been a long time ago, so I can’t really remember how long it took me to go back to heavy weightlifting, but after a month or two, I don’t remember having any pain at all. The only issue that bothered me after surgery was a foot that tingled on the same side as the surgery (went away after about 6 months – never figured out what it was). I guess I was really, really fortunate after the first surgery. Shortly after that surgery, I developed a second hernia on the opposite side and never had it repaired as it never bothered me until the last few years (just as an example of “watchful waiting” – I had this hernia develop in about 1996 and it never got any bigger or bothered me until 2018). What I’ve often wondered is if those that get hernias actually have some type of genetic connective tissue disease (my dad also had an inguinal hernia). And I wonder if in some cases, this may impact the outcome of the repair.

  • Alephy

    Member
    November 2, 2021 at 11:42 pm

    It’d be interesting to have some stats as to who does better after hernia surgery….

    As for the athletes, they may be the ones putting more stress on the repair, and also complaining on their body limitations, but they are also the ones who train more their core in general, as well as the other muscles, which protects the hernia area (with or without surgery)…It may also be that training affects (improves) the fascia as well as the overall nerve pain sensation, which may improve the overall repair feeling….

  • Herniahelper

    Member
    November 2, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    If anything I feel like it’s the athletes who are very in tune with their body and are putting high degrees of stress on their repair that are never quite happy. Same with laborers. Assuming you have reasonably healthy tissues, and don’t do other things that are likely to put significant strain on your repair like chronic cough or constipation… You’re probably less likely to have difficulty presuming you don’t develop a nerve injury or other technical problem from your surgery.

  • William Bryant

    Member
    November 2, 2021 at 12:59 pm

    But if I’d stayed on the couch I doubt if have a hernia!

    What is noticeable is that most people who have hernias on body building and mountain biking forums seem to have recovered pretty quick from surgery, so I’m wondering if it’s the less than active who get more problems post surgery.

  • Alephy

    Member
    November 2, 2021 at 8:29 am

    I used to say this: martial arts got me few injuries, but most definitely made me avoid few others…the same goes with exercising: you sure will not twist your ankle while on the couch, but you might suffer from high blood pressure…

    In one sentence, we were made to move…

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