Nacly
Forum Replies Created
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Thank you for the reply, Dr. Towfigh! That helps put our minds at ease. Yes, the lum does reduce when lying down, and we’ll see about asking for an ultrasound on Friday when we go in for her 36-week appointment. Thanks again!
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I’m in a slightly similar boat. Had a bilateral TAPP performed about 2 years ago. After 1 year, I was pain free. While riding my bike, felt a pull, and had pre op pain again. After having COVID (and coughing a LOT), my left side now feels like it’s constantly strained, and the pain radiates to my testicle, which develops an almost distended epididymis at random intervals. I’ve had a CT, 2 visits to the surgeon, 1 to the urologist, and 1 ER visit, and they’ve all chalked it up to standard chronic post repair pain.I too am frustrated, as each visit makes you feel crazier for thinking recurrence.
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Update: pleasantly surprised. They found slight protrusion at the inguinal ring, but not enough to warrant immediate imaging. For now being chalked up to athletic pubalgia given my symptom progression and backstory.
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Update: Cautiously optimistic here, but I think [USER=”935″]drtowfigh[/USER] is right with the scar tissue. The pain has definitely subsided from where it was, and I just have the occasional twinge now where the mesh was implanted. I’ve been focusing on stretching with extension, and it has helped considerably. I’ll still keep the appointment just to touch base with my surgeon, but the anxiety has eased. We had a pretty active day at work yesterday with lifting and some dynamic movements, and no major pain afterward.
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I’m in a similar boat to yours. I’m at the 5 month mark, and my pain has been on a spectrum that moves back and forth. As of last week, I felt great after exercise, then I squatted too heavy, and had sharp groin pain for 5 days. Today, we’re back to hip soreness and dull aches in my groin. I think it really is just dependent on the person, as my coworker who had the surgery around the same time as me is almost pain free now.
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Got off the phone with the office RN. She thought this definitely warranted a visit, but could’t get scheduled until 12/23. I pulled up my operative report, and from what I can tell, it didn’t seem like there were any preventative neurectomies or adverse events during.
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quote Good intentions:Here are a couple of articles about wound healing that might help understanding of how things can change over months and years.
Notice that the new collagen/tissue formed during healing is weaker than “normal” tissue. So the inelastic mesh fibers are surrounded by weak and inelastic collagen. It’s not surprising that things tear and get strained months and years after the implantation, if a person considers the fundamental properties of the materials involved, the collagen and the mesh fibers, and applies some scientific and technical principles.
Anyway, you should be in the “remodeling” phase, which can last a year or more, apparently. Each tear or strain needs to reheal, which will probably cause more shrinkage, and might induce more strains or tears. Hopefully hings will level out for you at a place that works for you.
This is just my understanding, I’m not a doctor. Good luck.
Thanks for those resources. I’ll give them a read today. Luckily, there’s a few others at work that’ve had mesh repairs, so they’re a good sounding board to know where I’m at. Their collective opinion has been that it’s likely scar tissue involvement.
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Hey Dr. Brown, thanks for the response. I contacted the clinic today, and am awaiting a call back from the office nurse to discuss the pain, as well as the next step. I’ll let you know what she says. Thanks for the input though–after a solid 18 hours of NSAIDs, the pain is a little better today.
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Thank you for all of that, it helps clear up a lot. I found some AHS members in my state, and I made an appointment as a new patient with a local PCP, and I’ll give him the full story plus a request for imaging. Luckily, an ER visit pertaining to the pain made me hit my deductible, so that’s a less an issue. I’ll keep updating on progress.
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Yeah, as there seems to be a non-zero number of folks I’ve found in that situation. My hernia didn’t have a visible bulge, so I can’t exactly point to the location of the pain, but the new spot of pain onset is far away from the inguinal canal, and the pain actually moves around if that makes sense.
Based on the surgical notes, I got the classic 6×6 mesh coverage, so undersized mesh shouldn’t be the issue. I’d really love to have an MRI to see what the tube of truth can find for me, but I don’t know the hoops necessary to get it. I’m almost apprehensive to go back to my surgeon again.
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Basically spot on right down to my surgeon verbatim declaring “there is no recurrence here” in the exam room.
I did have pain for most of the first year on the left, and had about a 3 month interval of absolutely no pain. I did have an event while lifting a patient that led to a few weeks of pain, but nothing like this. The pain ebbs and flows, but weirdly, it gets better during exercise, whereas I couldn’t tolerate vigorous exercise pre op.
As far as the risk v. Reward of revision surgery, that’s my current dilemma. If there is a recurrence that hasn’t been detected, I’m
Scared to roll the dice on another repair that opens the door for a higher chance of worse outcomes.