mesh or no-mesh for my direct inguinal hernia

[pinto]

Thank you GoodIntentions for answering. It’s helpful.

[Good intentions]

Nothing significant has happened for the last 5 – 10 years. No improvements, no changes, nothing better as far as the long-term results for the patient are concerned. Any posts you read on the forum about problems in the past could still happen today. It’s all the same. The same mesh materials, the same methods (with minor advancements like robotics. But the same materials are placed in the same spots), the same surgeons, and the same training methods for new surgeons. No solutions have been offered or applied. There is no reason to expect different odds or probability of good results today than there was in the recent past.

Read through the posts on the site and all of your questions have been addressed.

Bodybuilders seem to have better results than runners, like soccer and football players, at least from stories on the internet. Maybe because bodybuilding is essentially a static activity, with less movement of the mesh.

Nobody can give you advice that’s based on any collected set of actual data from actual patients as far as the chronic pain issue is concerned. “Pain” is defined differently by many researchers. Some use “debilitating” pain as the significant level, which means that constant discomfort and distraction is okay. Even debilitating pain is acknowledged by mesh proponents (like Dr. Voeller) as a 4 – 6% probability. Debilitating means pain that makes you weaker. So, a 4 – 6% chance of having a debilitating reaction to a mesh implantation. Of course, chronic discomfort levels would be higher than that. There is much discussion about collecting long-term data but no professional body or government agency has stepped up to actually do it.

So, in the end, it’s still a big gamble. One consideration, if you can afford it, is that if a suture repair fails, you can always get a mesh repair afterward. But if a mesh repair causes chronic pan or discomfort the solution is much more complicated and might be impossible. The effects of mesh are essentially permanent, even if you find a surgeon to help you.

That’s how things seem as of today, to me at least. Good luck.