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Your definition of foreign body sensation
For those of you that have said you have a foreign body sensation, what exactly does that mean to you? And is that aspect of mesh a problem for you?
I ask because I don’t really feel my mesh directly per say, but I have this sense of things being bunched up a bit when I bend over or sit in a certain way. Like a heaviness and discomfort and a bit of tightness on that side. But I’ve heard others say they feel the mesh directly, as in they can feel it ‘scratching’ them underneath their skin. I definitely don’t have this, but I also had mine implanted robotically behind the muscle I guess.
I also know ‘foreign body’ is mostly used in medicine to describe the way the body interacts with an implant, and not really to describe things from the perspective of the patient And the somatic aspects of an implant. So the term is in general a bit confusing.
Anyway, just curious. I was about to schedule a removal surgery (which I’m still on the fence about because of the risks, and no guarantee it fixes my issues) but just found out the hospital would need a Covid test, but I could only get it done at that hospital 8-10 days before surgery. But I live almost three hours away. So I’d have to drive almost 6 hours just to take a Covid test and then drive back again a week later for the surgery. Which has all made me think that given that my pain is mostly gone (some mild soreness occasionally) and I primarily just have this uncomfortable foreign body sensation, and primarily just when sitting for work, that maybe I should wait until this whole mess is over, or at least things have changed in terms of the testing. I want to stop obsessing about this and either “sh&$ or get off the pot” so to speak, but it seems this is just a bad time. Should have done it in February probably when I had my original surgery scheduled that I cancelled. Then again maybe that was a sign (not that I believe in such things).
Thanks
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2 Replies
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Interesting, thanks. Mine isn’t nearly that bad I don’t think. It’s really more just a feeling as if my right side is swollen a bit and tighter than my left. Always so hard to describe, but uncomfortable. Maybe that’s a difference between open placed mesh and robotically placed mesh as well. Doesn’t prevent me from doing most things, but I am always aware of it and a bit uncomfortable. Dr. Belyanski has a good analogy – it’s like holding someone else’s keys in your pocket. At first it’s nothing. After a while you want to give them back because it starts getting a little heavier and uncomfortable, but you can’t. As time goes on, it gets more and more distracting. Of course, in that same analogy you may eventually just learn to live with it even though it’s not ideal.
And yes, to some degree I think it’s a matter of how much discomfort you can live with, and that’s very subjective. But it was my understanding when I got the surgery I’d go back to ‘normal’ and not even notice it. And that hasn’t entirely been the case. I’m not in pain really anymore, so I am thankful for that (soreness diminished greatly a little before the two year mark). But I do wonder daily if I can improve upon my situation by having this removed. Seems like a lot of folks who have removal say the foreign body sensation they experience immediately goes away. Oddly though the fullness I feel seems to extend way higher than where the mesh is, so I wonder if it’s something else. Or if perhaps it is in fact related. One surgeon told me the implant can have a ‘halo’ effect and you can feel different in areas well beyond the mesh. And removal is obviously fraught with potential complications (though it does seem like most are better off). But the psychological aspect clearly has been unrelenting for me. So just for that reason it’s starting to seem worth the risk.
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I once watched a video from an Italian hernia expert who referred to the mesh body sensation as “the feeling of a cigarette packet in your pocket when you are seated”; he is an advocate of bio re-absorbable meshes (in fact I think he only uses those) which he claims do not have this problem.
Does the mesh bother/hinder you in any physical activities (sex included)? (It also depends on your age I guess)
Personally I bow to those who claim to have always been totally healthy/pain free (same with those few who never saw a dentist) i.e. you can still lead your life if the discomfort is minimal…
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