[Kristine]

Hello, I also have had concerns regarding the possibility of a reaction to permanent sutures and/or mesh implantation. I have autoimmune disease and was very reluctant to have any foreign object implanted into my body. I discussed this at length with my surgeon and we decided to do the surgery without the mesh but using permanent sutures. He made me aware of the increased risk of hernia reccurence because of not using mesh and we decided that permanent sutures would be better than dissolvable for preventing the hernia from coming back. Of course sutures are much easier to remove than mesh if a bad reaction were to occur. Anyways, the surgery (femoral) was done a bit over 3 months ago and all has healed well. I have had no bad reactions yet to the sutures and no increase in symptoms of my autoimmune diseases and no new autoimmune issues yet. I still have a bit of pain in the area sometimes, but it is mild and usually occurs after working on my feet all day. As far as I know the hernia has not come back yet.

[Kristine]

I have wondered myself if hernia mesh cause or worsen autoimmune diseases, as I myself have autoimmune diseases and a hernia. But what happens if the hernia is too big to be repaired without using mesh or is in an area where mesh must be used? What other options are there?