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New Development
3 weeks post op bilingual inguinal hernia with mesh surgery. I was able to walk 2 miles a day until Saturday. I had my follow up appointment with a Physician asst. on Feb 14. An issue which I brought up occurred on the way to the appointment. I was riding in the car and developed a cooling type sensation in the crease of my right leg near my groin, when i exited the car and was walking into the hospital my outer left thigh was numb and felt cold. This feeling of outer thigh numbness and coolness has continued. On Saturday during my morning walk there was an acute burning pain in the crease of my leg near my groin. It is aggravated by walking and although I was walking 1 – 2 miles each day I am now experienceing intense pain in that area after 1 minute of walking and my outer thigh continues to be numb. The numbness is constant but pain abates when I stop walking.
I emailed the surgeon dr vargo this afternoon and I am waiting to hear back.
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8 Replies
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Chaunce,
one 200mg dose decreased the pain last night and this morning I took another dose and I was able to walk 1.5 miles throughout the day pain free. Still have continuous numbness and when I bent over today I felt something slip quickly in and out in my groin crease.
I see the PA on Thursday morning and if I feel like I am not getting answers I will ask for the surgeon to come in and if I still do not get answers I will ask for a referral to Dr. Mahan who specializes nerve injury.
You made 2 very good suggestions and I am interested in expliloring both, I just put them on a question list for Thursdays appt! reducing the inflammation with NSAID and targeted physical therapy. Targeted physical therapy would be so useful a few weeks post op because a PT would know what to do to help me without interfering with the hernia healing.
thank you for taking time to help with this, both you and jnomesh have been a wealth of information and kindness, Sharon -
How did the ibuprofen work for you? If you get some relief from ibuprofen, and if your general health can tolerate NSAID use, you may want to talk to your surgeon about a prescription strength NSAID course to reduce inflammation. Often these are taken for 30 days to 60 days continued every day, regardless of whether you feel like you need it on a given day or not, it can be quite helpful.
Another thing to consider and talk with your surgeon about would be targeted physical therapy, as it might help to figure out what movements, muscles, etc are involved in the pain, improve mobility, and can often help to reduce pain/discomfort too.
Keep us updated on how you’re doing, and what you hear from the surgeon.
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Jnomesh, thank you for the information, this is all very new to me and I appreciate the advice. After I was released from sane day surgery I only used ice for pain management but tonight I took an ibuprofen 200mg thinking it may help with inflammation. I hope the issue resolves too!
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Let us know what the surgeon says.
FYI mesh repairs in general are considered “tension free” repairs but most surgeons keep the mesh in place by either suturing, using a tacs or staples and any of these can puncture the LFCM nerve so definitely find out from you surgeons and operative report what-if anything was used to fixate the mesh in place. Hoping the issue resolves. -
Jnomesh, thank you for your response and thoughts. They mesh was placed tension free and I have yet to get the surgery report with mesh type.
Im still sleeping in my back and aside from the numbing tingling coolness on my outer thigh the pain occurres when walking our If clothing binds on it. Otherwise I am doing well a d a normal weight without diabetes. I hope it is temporary inflammation and will subside. The burning pain when walking is pretty intense and I sorry you are still in pain! -
The area you are describing especially the outer part of your thigh sounds like the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve which can be damaged during lapro placed mesh for hernia repair. Find out what type of mesh you had implanted and if staples, race or sutures were used to fixate the mesh.
it has been mentioned in the literature that the LFCN can be damaged by a tax or staple.
If you look up Meralgia Paresthetica you will find the official terminology to numbness, tingling or burning pain to the anterolateral portion of the thigh. The nerve runs different variations in different people and could also explain the burning in the crease.
if it persists there is a nerve block that can be performed of this nerve to see if it helps and then additional things that can be done including certain types of nerve pain (gabapentin etc).
Does the numbness flare up when you are sleeping in your affected side ?
For me many years later after lapro placed mesh I went through and am going through similar issues except my outer thigh doesn’t get numb but burns pretty bad as well as a feeling of burning I’m tjr outer crease however for me it only happens when sitting and not when walking.
some of the literature says it comes about for some when waking and relieved by sitting and others comes about when sitting and is removed when waking-go figure.
Of the pain is being caused by a tac or staple
pain can be relieved by removing the fixture although this means another surgery.
For me years later it was found that my mesh had folded over and balled up. It was removed and a lot of my pains symptoms disappeared except the burning in my front and outer tbiggt and ground crease is still there but only when sitting.
fortjnstely I can mange it -
Dr vargo preformed lap surgery with a Davinci Robot bilateral inguinal hernia using mesh. I’m a 63 yr old female without prior issues until significant coughing due to bronchitis over New Years. Pain and numbness right side only. Until Saturday just healing twinges and I did not use any pain medication or otc products once home just ice so I have a good pain tolerance and this is really intense after 2-3 minutes of walking and any clothing rubbing in the leg crease when walking intensifies it.
Thank you for your input and thoughts I hope it is residual inflammation. -
Did you have open surgery or laparoscopic surgery? Do you happen to know more details about the procedure and the types of hernias repaired? Are you male or female? Did you have any pain before the surgery? Is the intense pain only on one side or both? Is it only walking that triggers the strong pain or do other activities? Just wondering as sometimes these questions can be informative.
It’s a good idea to consult with your surgeon, they will certainly offer some helpful advice. I’m not a doctor but considering that you’re three weeks out of surgery I would think it is certainly possible that you are still experiencing some nerve irritation or residual inflammation from your body adjusting to the procedure. With your doctors approval and if your health is permitting you might try an extended course of prescription strength NSAID anti-inflammatory medication.
Please keep us updated on your case and progress.
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