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removal os scar tissue after mesh removal?
I had mesh removed about 5 months ago. While this resulted in an improvement in my pain symptoms, I still experience pain and tightness in the area where the mesh was removed — especially if I stretch the area. I assume this is due to scar tissue.
Is it possible to remove scar tissue with another operation? If so, how long should I wait before considering this option?
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11 Replies
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That’s good to know, thanks. I was thinking if my two major symptoms (same as yours, though pain now mostly gone) didn’t clear up enough, it wouldn’t be worth it.
When you say foreign body sensation, what does that mean to you specifically? Seems there is a wide range of definitions for this.
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also, you say you still have pain and tightness at 5 months. i think these were originally the reasons to get the mesh removed. would you say the removal decreased these symptoms fairly substantially? if so, and if you’re still only at 5 months out, i do think the remaining symptoms will get better slowly over time, probably completely.
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I’ve seen several on this forum who have had removal say that over long periods of time the tightness seems to very slowly get better, and the same with any lingering pain. seems it can take a very long time (a couple of years perhaps), but they suggest it’s a continual state of improvement. the best option might simply to be to continue to exercise and just move and act as you normally would and then see if in another several months you notice any more improvement (however small). if so, i think that’s a good sign that eventually it will resolve on its own.
pain is also a funny beast, and that can occur even in the absence of anything structurally ‘wrong’ with a person’s body. meaning the signals can continue to be sent across these newly established nerve pathways even if everything has healed, and only time will serve to slowly dampen and silence these connections – like your body just takes longer to be convinced that it no longer needs to keep using these pathways to send messages/signals. and TMS theory even suggests that when under stress etc., these dormant pathways can even be lit up again and cause pain out of nowhere, decades later, again in the absence of anything structurally wrong.
just some thoughts
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“Have you tried acupuncture or a medical massage therapist?”
Yes and yes. Neither were helpful.
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Have you tried acupuncture or a medical massage therapist? I don’t know how effective those would be in the groin area, but I know people that have gotten very good results when it comes to scar tissue pain in other areas of the body.
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Yes I also think physio is the first option to go for…btw in my opinion some sort of physio or exercising should be always done, even when pain is gone. It should go together with eating and drinking…
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Every time you have an operation you create scar tissue. The best way to deal with this is to break down scar tissue manually so it can remodel and hopefully not give you as much in the way of contractual pain. So your answer lies with physiotherapy
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I have less pain and less tightness now than before I had the mesh removed. Also, no more foreign body sensation. It was a good decision to have the mesh removed. It was a horrible decision to put it in in the first place.
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I’ve seen several on this forum who have had removal say that over long periods of time the tightness seems to very slowly get better, and the same with any lingering pain. seems it can take a very long time (a couple of years perhaps), but they suggest it’s a continual state of improvement. the best option might simply to be to continue to exercise and just move and act as you normally would and then see if in another several months you notice any more improvement (however small). if so, i think that’s a good sign that eventually it will resolve on its own.
pain is also a funny beast, and that can occur even in the absence of anything structurally ‘wrong’ with a person’s body. meaning the signals can continue to be sent across these newly established nerve pathways even if everything has healed, and only time will serve to slowly dampen and silence these connections – like your body just takes longer to be convinced that it no longer needs to keep using these pathways to send messages/signals. and TMS theory even suggests that when under stress etc., these dormant pathways can even be lit up again and cause pain out of nowhere, decades later, again in the absence of anything structurally wrong.
just some thoughts
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Well the downsides of mesh are not a new topic for sure. There have been attempts to make a mesh that would prompt the growth of healthy tissue with eg some 3d meshes but somehow they have not met a positive response from the market somehow, and they would need to be studied further probably. As for the scar tissue and mesh I think athletes who got an implant are immediately sent to physio to reduce any scar tissue problems that might arise so I think there is also a timing component there. In any case physio is beneficial even if the scar tissue remained there..
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“Every time you have an operation you create scar tissue. ”
This is what I do not understand about doctors that use mesh. They say mesh doesn’t cause pain. But, they know that the body’s reaction to mesh is to form scar tissue around it. And they know that scar tissue is not as flexible and malleable has “native” tissue and causes pain and tightness. It is purely semantic to say that “mesh doesn’t cause pain.” So, why in the world do they use mesh — especially on young, healthy, non-smokers, for whom the risk of recurrence (with and without mesh) is low?
“The best way to deal with this is to break down scar tissue manually.”
Frankly, I question the extent to which this can be done. The scar layer is so deep that no physical manipulation would cause enough stress to result in any physical change in the tissue. More likely, the tissue will simply “remodel” over time as part of the natural biological process.
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