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Scar tissue and/or adhesions after mesh removal – rest of be more active
I am about 4 months out from inguinal mesh removal. I feel at times like there’s a fair amount of firmer tissue in my abdomen and it’s a bit puffier than it was before surgery still. Same with the areas around the incisions and the umbilical area. And I still have some mild to moderate soreness on and off in the inguinal area, plus some tenderness in the testicle on that side. I also notice some tightness and pulling in the same areas, and even up to my rib cage above the incision on the right side that was a little bigger where the mesh was pulled out. I will add though that the area right under the rib cage was like that to some degree before removal.
Anyway, I have to assume there’s a fair amount of scar tissue that has formed plus adhesions. No surgeon really has any advice about this, and I believe the hope is that over time perhaps things will soften and become more natural feeling over a very long stretch of time as the body heals and remodels tissue. Four months I guess for something like this is still early.
But of course my worry comes when reading stuff about how the opposite can happen with scar tissue and adhesions – that things can get tighter and tighter, and actual adhesions can cause serious problems many years down the road.
I started feeling tighter after resuming my running routine and I’m worried I could have made things worse. Though, it also may be somewhat psychosomatic and the anticipation that I might feel worse after being more active has made me focus on these areas more and just amplified something that was already there.
I guess my question is, this far out, is more exercise good or bad? Should I continue exercising but doing something less impactful, like walking or biking? I’ve heard some say you want to be active to keep the body supple and break up excess scar tissue. But I also worry I might make the scarring process more active and worse.
I also wonder if indeed most of the time even adhesions tend to improve and soften over time themselves, or if that’s actually not the case.
I think four months is still pretty early, but of course I tend to worry and I wonder if I need to just relax and be patient, or worry about things just getting tighter and tighter. I’ve heard folks suggest that a year to two years for continued improvement is not uncommon.
Ever since my first mesh surgery I’ve had some gurgling in the lower and upper right abdomen along with the feelings of tightness, plus a small area adjacent to that port hole that puffs out a bit. No hernia in that spot was detected prior to or after removal despite the puffiness. I’ve always wondered if the original surgery resulted in some sort of adhesion on that side that’s still there and tugging on things unnaturally and making it look like this. No indigestion or nausea or fever or anything like that, though.
Any thoughts?
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5 Replies
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bilateral inguinal/femoral mesh removal on 7/28/21. discharged on 7/30/21. I have been keeping notes and I’ve been walking :15 every morning since 8/1/21 on a dedicated walk. pretty sore across 4 port sites and a bit below and just above pubic bone and from l to r ASIS, but I figured walking is better than not. swelling/bruising reduced somewhat since discharge on 7/30, just don’t know how long before totally gone. I certainly do feel relief from pain that the Bard 3d max mesh large was causing in the first place, and now am just feeling some pain/swelling,from where new progrip was used….or could be that that’s the side dr chen pulled out both pieces of the xl bard. either way, I’m optimistic about recovery but need to take it slow over the next couple of months, especially since doc had to basically “quilt” my peritoneum on both sides back together. best news is no nerve issues, no nueroectomy….whew!!! any advice on how long for and how to recover would be helpful.
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thanks again for you response and glad to hear that it’s a work in progress and that you’re doing fine all things considered. i’m sure it’s tough to give up some of the things that make life worth living, but it’s short term in the whole scheme of things.
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Good luck! I think in my case I just need more time to settle down hopefully. And my head gets in the way of things, and I have a touch of PTSD from all of this and tend to overreact to the slightest sensation. And I’m the sort of person that would do that anyway. It’s even worse now.
I actually went out for almost an hour and a half today, both walking and running. Probably ran almost three miles and walked a couple. Feeling pretty good. Just some tugging on my right side, adjacent still to that larger incision where the mesh was pulled out and the extra stitching was done to make sure I didn’t develop an incision a hernia or anything. I also think on that side there was more action with the tools and such, so more scar tissue and inflammation, that I hope gets better and better over time. Not painful – I just notice it some when moving around.
I also need to drink more water and maybe stop drinking alcohol every weekend, at least for a while. It’s inflammatory and can make swelling worse and cause dehydration. Probably need to take a few months and just focus on my health.
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ajm….thanks for posting. i hope you get more responses. i’m headed for UCLA in a couple of weeks to get my BARD 3d MAX bilateral mesh removed as it apparently has folded and clamshelled. of course i’m anxious about the whole ordeal but i feel i’ll be in good hands. still, i’m concerned about post op recovery and the same issues you asked about…let’s hope somebody here (besides “good intentions” who has been great) can add their personal or professional opinion. thanks again!
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FYI – I had my robotically-placed progrip inguinal mesh removed by Dr. Belyanksy in February, and it was removed robotically.
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