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Complications after Hernia Surgery
Hi I am new to this forum but the support and guidance provided here is really amazing to see esp. from the doctors. I have been facing a lot of difficulties in diagnosing my condition since two months and went through a hernia surgery but that didnt resolve my issues. I am a 33 year old male with average body. I have been having testicular pain since early august 2019 and I would highly appreciate if someone can guide me in the right direction on how to resolve it. Below are the details of my symptoms and diagnosis. Also forgive me for my bad english as its not my first language
Before Surgery two months ago:
– I started feeling dull ache at the bottom of my left testicle in the tail of my epididymis as per the doctor.
– The pain would increase during sitting and walking but i get relief by lying down or by raising my legs up.
– Ultrasound, blood and urine tests were normal i had no symptoms in urine or anything else except for a small indirect left inguinal hernia.
– My urologist was not convinced that hernia is the cause of this and gave me painkillers and antibiotic assuming its an infection or bacteria which didnt help at all.
– Two weeks went by and i started having severe pain from the top of my testicle going up to the groin as well which is not being relieved by lying down. Again ultrasound and mri came normal.
– After going thru many emergency rooms in hospitals. I found a doctor who said that hernia could be the cause of this and we have to operate.
– So i was operated on 31 August by an experience doctor. He chose to do an open surgery due to my symptoms.
Findings of my Surgery:
– As per my surgeon I had a bubonocele (incomplete hernia) and there was a fat which was stuck in my deep inguinal ring interfering with the spermatic cord.
– He removed the fat and freed my spermatice cord and closed the small hole in the deep ring by sutures but did not use mesh as its a common practice in my country.
– He also removed lipoma of spermatic cord.
Symptoms after Surgery:
– Two days after surgery my left testicle was swollen amd felt like there is a fluid in the sac but pain was different from before which was not that severe but i had some discomfort.
– As per my surgeon it is edema and will resolve within weeks.
– My left testicle is also hanging lower and not moving up and down like the right one and as per the doctor it was due to cutting in the cremaster muscle and will heal within three to six months.
– The swelling went down after three weeks ultrasound showed no edema or fluid collection.
– However after three weeks i started having pain again at the bottom of my testicle but this time it lil bit different than before.
– This time it was severe than before and i also noticed some swelling at the bottom of my testicle ( like a lump) and in the spermatic cord with tenderness. Also my left testicle would become firmer than the other.
– This pain would convert into burning sensation if i sit for too long or put some exertion.
– I would have this pain the most while walking or sitting with my legs down but i would have some relief by lying down or raising my legs up like sitting on a recliner and the swelling dies down a little.
– My surgeon said this could be due to surgery and would resolve with time but i am not convinced.
– I also visited a urologist he diagnosed a possible epididimytis and inflamation of spermatic cord via ultrasound and gave me brufen and antibiotics ( Levofloxacin) and told me to give it some time as i had a surgery.
– I dont have any other symptoms in urine or while ejaculating or any fever and chills.
– So two weeks went by now the pain is reduced by 30% but the swelling is still there. Its really affecting my life as i can not focus on my work.
– As per my surgeon i should wait one more month then he will reevaluate everything.
– As per the urologist i should discontinue the medications if i dont see any improvement then he will do all the tests including cultures amd std tests. if nothing works he will refer me to the pain management specialist.
I do see little imprvement but dont know whether this is due to medications or not. Also i dont know whether these symptoms are due to surgery or not as i had them before as well they might have been silent for three weeks due to rest amd edema of testicle. Any guidance or suggestion from expert would help me a lot.
Thanks and sorry for such a long post.
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3 Replies
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I had non-mesh inguinal hernia repair 3 and a half weeks ago on the right side. (Performed by Dr. Brown, to whom I am so very thankful)
I am also 33 years old.
I don’t have testicle pain, however I do have some soreness in the lower right groin area, basically between where the incision is, and where the scrotum starts (basically the are where the hernia was when it used to pop out.
my spermatic cord also swells, I think related to how much physical activity I’ve had. It isn’t swollen in the morning, but by the evening it is sore and a little swollen.I don’t believe the repair has failed because I haven’t felt anything that feels like the hernia used to feel, although the swelling in the spermatic cord is the same as it used to be.
I also occasionally get pinching-like sharp pain sensations at the site of the hernia repair itself, not intense, but enough to be felt.
We’ll see how it progresses.
As far as physical activity, I have resumed my lunch break walks (30 minutes at a brisk pace), and also started doing sets of pull-ups, which have not induced any pain or discomfort, however I am careful not to engage too much of my core, and I don’t jump up or down suddenly before or after the pull-ups. I gently lower myself to the ground.
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quote Good intentions:Hello Amemon. I see that your surgery was 6 weeks ago. What have you been doing, physically, since the surgery?
One thing that I have found since my mesh removal surgery, especially in the early weeks/months afterward, is that sometimes more activity is better than more rest, for resolving pain. My thought is that the areas that have been damaged during surgery need the movement provided by physical activity to allow fluids to move and be replaced and for nerves and vessels to grow back in. There were days where I rested and waited for specific pain to resolve but it didn’t. So I would go out for a rigorous run or hike, and it worked.
I found that activities that caused heavy breathing seemed to help a lot. Hiking in hilly terrain, biking, or similar. It can’t hurt to try it, I would assume
Good luck.
First of all thanks for reading my post and responding to it. For the first few weeks i was actually taking a lot of rest but after that i started taking walks and also my office is located on 2nd floor in a building so everyday i would take stairs rather than the lift, i don’t know if that will help or not. But I am not convinced that my testicular pain is related to the surgery as I had a similar kind of pain before the surgery. Anyway I will try to be more active and see if that helps.
Did you experience any testicular pain before and after removal of mesh?? If yes was it similar to mine of different??
Thanks again
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Hello Amemon. I see that your surgery was 6 weeks ago. What have you been doing, physically, since the surgery?
One thing that I have found since my mesh removal surgery, especially in the early weeks/months afterward, is that sometimes more activity is better than more rest, for resolving pain. My thought is that the areas that have been damaged during surgery need the movement provided by physical activity to allow fluids to move and be replaced and for nerves and vessels to grow back in. There were days where I rested and waited for specific pain to resolve but it didn’t. So I would go out for a rigorous run or hike, and it worked.
I found that activities that caused heavy breathing seemed to help a lot. Hiking in hilly terrain, biking, or similar. It can’t hurt to try it, I would assume
Good luck.
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