[Colin M.]

Hey, no need to thank me for anything, I’m just happy there’s a discussion going and people can get some information as a result.

I quickly read through that link, and I don’t know… She recommends mesh surgery… I’m not a medical professional, but I strongly oppose mesh repairs based on anecdotes I’ve read from patients, as well as based on my own experience. With recurrence rates being so low for Shouldice, Kang, etc. there’s no reason to opt for a mesh.

I see she brought up the point of the length of stay at Shouldice, and I think that varies a lot from patient to patient. I know I stayed at least 2 nights at Shouldice, and my “roommate” I guess you’d call him, who was a firefighter, also stayed at least that long. So if that’s the norm at Shouldice still, I’d definitely say Kang has an advantage in that regard since patients are able to go home 1 hour after surgery (as was my case), or stay the night if they wish.

As for the Korean age, when you’re born in Korea, they consider that to be 1 year old, and you age every New Year. So since I was born Dec. 1987, the next month, I’d be 2 years old. Therefore, my Korean age is almost always 2 years above my actual age, and I use that age over here, which is why I got the surgery year wrong by 2. I’m not sure there is any country that reduces your age unfortunately!

[Colin M.]

Sorry, my math was wrong when I calculated the date (I was calculating using my Korean age which puts me 2 years older). I turned 13 in Dec. 2000. So the surgery was in 2001. Not a significant difference though.

[Colin M.]

Just to clarify, I wasn’t yet alive in 1970. My Shouldice surgery was in 1999 – still quite some time ago, but almost 30 years ahead of the time being mentioned here.

I believe I have mentioned as well that I have had no major issues after my Shouldice surgery, and it definitely was a great success. I also haven’t thus far had any issues with the Kang surgery since fully recovering, and I have been back to my regular life. But like pinto mentioned, it’s only been a few months.

Out of curiosity, I wonder what the differences between a 1999 and 2021 Shouldice operation would be. Does anyone know where I can find information about what improvements have been made?

[Colin M.]

I am quite certain only Dr. Kang and his son are able to conduct the surgeries. My surgery was done by the younger Dr. Kang, who happened to speak English really well btw which was convenient.

[Colin M.]

Hi William,

I hope someone can answer these questions because I’m curious as to the materials as well now.

As for the nerves, I haven’t permanently lost any feeling from either surgery. After the Kang surgery (since I can attest to that, being so recent), I only had temporary numbness at the site and in part of the scrotum for about 3 months post surgery, after which all feeling came back. I was told in advance that this is what would happen as well.

Upon searching, it appears one nerve is cut during Shouldice surgery (probably in both surgeries I’d assume, but I can’t find that info for Kang). I don’t remember how it felt exactly after Shouldice surgery, but I can at least tell you I have all feeling in that area right now as well.

[Colin M.]

I currently live in Korea, so I did not. But, at the moment, any visitors must quarantine for 2 weeeks, so you would have to before getting the surgery, I’d assume.

[Colin M.]

@mitchtom6:

I’d describe my lifestyle as quite active. I play sports occasionally, and I used to do heavy weightlifting 3 times a week prior to COVID.

After the Shouldice surgery, I was always worried about lifting heavy due to a fear of causing damage to the surgical site (kind of psychological I guess). However, after some time, I got the courage to start lifting heavy again (eg. 100+ kg bench, squat, deadlift), and I haven’t had any issue.

Due to COVID lockdowns, I haven’t weightlifted yet after the Kang surgery, but if I ever do, I will report back how it goes. I’d assume it should be fine as well.

@pinto:

This is the first I’m hearing about steel suturing. My mother also says she can’t recall. But this is a great question because I do indeed occasionally feel an awkward feeling from the Shouldice location every now and then. A “tinge” is a good description of it. It feels almost like something is poking me, like a splinter kind of feeling.

I had no clue what that feeling is and why it comes every few months and lasts for a couple minutes (sometimes longer). I used to think I had an ingrown hair or something I could just never seem to find, but that didn’t really make sense. But the sensation feels a bit close to the surface of the skin like that. Now that you’ve mentioned steel suturing and a tinge feeling, I guess that might answer that question! You may have just inadvertently solved a 20 year old problem of mine. Thanks!

@Good intentions:

It has been 2 months since my Kang repair. I have been playing basketball a bit lately and I have been riding a bike on weekends for the past 3 weeks so far. Currently, I have no issue with the Kang surgery. I know it has been a short time, but I will continue to update if anything arises. Eventually I will get back to weightlifting and see how that goes as well. However, I do some light exercise at home for the time being.

With the Kang surgery, up until about a month after surgery there has been some burning sensations near the site that were a mild nuisance. These usually happened if I stood or sat in the same position for too long. Dr. Kang also warned me about these uncomfortable feelings that may occur for the first few weeks. However, this no longer occurs and I feel completely normal now. I ride bikes at the same intensity now that I used to without any problem. Running, jumping, etc. during basketball hasn’t been an issue either.

[Colin M.]

Hi Alephy,

Thanks for your response. I was a patient who had no medical expertise, and I’d assume most patients don’t. I wouldn’t expect patients to know about the tissues involved such as the cremaster muscle previously mentioned, and I don’t think they would care much about that either.

I think what prospective patients care most about is if the surgery will be successful, and if they can live a normal life without complications afterwards. Younger patients may care about the surgical site’s appearance as well, as they could be self-conscious about that, as I was when I was a teen.

I hope my post can help inform some people needing hernia surgery by sharing my story. I think it is especially useful for people living outside of Canada. Had I not searched extensively for Shouldice alternatives, I would not have found out about the Gibbeum hospital in Korea. I was very close to spending thousands more to travel to Canada and get another Shouldice surgery or to take the risk of getting a mesh surgery.

[Colin M.]

I just thought after experiencing two leading hernia surgeries, I could compare the two.

A few doctors recommended me to do a mesh surgery before my second hernia operation, saying non-mesh is only for children (which I knew was wrong since Shouldice had many adults, but I couldn’t afford to travel back to Canada from Korea).

Luckily, I found out about the Kang surgery and had a great experience with that. Because of that, I thought I could compare the two since they seem to be two great non-mesh repair methods and they were both very successful. I also want people to be aware of their options and not almost get tricked like I did into getting a mesh 🙂

I will search the forums and see where I can contribute. I probably should have done that before starting a new topic. I appreciate your kindness and understanding as I’m a new user here.

[Colin M.]

Hi pinto,

Thanks for the feedback again.

In this case, would it be better to give a detailed walkthrough of my experiences with both hospitals and surgeries (or my most recent one, since Shouldice may be different these days) instead of evaluating the advantages/disadvantages? If you think that would be beneficial to readers, please let me know!

[Colin M.]

Hi pinto,

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure how I was not fair in my comparison. I can only compare the two based on my experience as a patient with both surgeries, and made sure to add my age for clarification. I think I was was completely fair there. I did mention that both were successful, and I was satisfied with both surgeries.

If I lived in Canada, I would likely opt for going to Shouldice due to proximity, saving on travel costs.

However, if I lived anywhere else, I would opt to get the Kang surgery due to the advantages. I couldn’t think of any advantage that Shouldice had over Kang, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good surgery. Like I said, I’m living a normal life after both surgeries and able to do everything like I’ve never had a hernia in the first place 🙂

[Colin M.]

I’m a bit late but everything Mike said is my experience as well. I was never asked to cough during the procedure as well.

I should mention that it’s been about 20 months since my Kang Repair, and I have started weightlifting again for the last 4 months. I have had no problems exercising 5 days a week and lifting 100+ kg weight for deadlifts, bench press, and squats each week. It’s probably not recommended to do this, but I figured I’ll be the guinea pig. So far I feel great and there’s been no discomfort at all by the surgery site.

[Colin M.]

If I consider ONLY the surgery, then for me, I feel practically the same right now after both surgeries, like I’ve never had either operation. The only difference is the incision size, which I mentioned at the beginning of the thread. And as a patient, I only care about how I feel after the surgery, if I can still do everything I did before, and to a lesser degree, what the site looks like. It’s basically a tie between Shouldice and Kang, with a small edge to Kang for the smaller incision.

But if we factor in other things such as recovery, I give Kang a greater edge. The fact I was able to go home after 1 hour and felt good enough to go to work after 2 days was really beneficial and also a surprise to me. I didn’t have that experience at Shouldice, but perhaps someone with a more recent Shouldice experience could elaborate on recovery time there to give you a more fair comparison.

[Colin M.]

Even if you’ve had your 2 shots, you still need to quarantine for 14 days. However, you can apply for an exemption from your Korean embassy/consulate, and maybe in the case of surgery they’ll exempt you.

Otherwise, starting in November, the government will be easing restrictions and gradually start treating covid similarly to the flu.