[Oceanic]

No Chuck the incisions are not gnarly, that’s what surgical incisions look like 5 days after you were opened up like canned goods.

The outer ends are raised because they put drains in to help prevent a seroma. This will flatten and vanish.

The incisions are raised because the suturing has been done so expertly its underneath the skin with disolvabale sutures as I wouldn’t be able to wait in Germany for 2 weeks for Dr. Conze to personally remove the stiches himself which he does with his domestic patients.

The bruising is from all the local anethetic that was injected, looks worse than it feels, the incisions look considerably better now at 14 days.

The incisions are only 5cm long, I don’t care if they are vertical or horizontal. Horizontal will blend better into the natural creases of the skin in that area, the scars will fade to nothing within a year and barely be visable.

Email Dr. Conze and ask him why he does the incisions that way if you really care, maybe it was based on the findings of the examination and ultrasound.

I based my decision to go with Dr. Conze from information on this forum and from reading his Google reviews and on Jameda and then having spoken to him a few times on the phone before flying to Germany for the examination/consultation.

You need to stop with all the hysteria, You are just frightening people reading this forum who are consdiering having this surgery done with all your sweeping generalisations and inaccurate information.

[Oceanic]

Charismatic would probably have been a better adjective to use

I’m fairly hairy to be fair, the incisions are 6cm above the base of my Penis if that helps you comprare the location to yours.

[Oceanic]

@ Pinto, the left side Hernia I didn’t know about but suspected due to testicle pain on that side, it was found at the consultation the day before the surgery, both with Ultrasound and a physical examination, there was no lump though

@ Watchful, Yes the Dr said he has seen this before. He thinks as soon as the swelling goes down it will resolve, he said 1-4 weeks post surgery should do it, I’m not even at 2 weeks yet. What are your tips if it doesn’t go away? PM me if you like but it may help others who read this thread in years to come if they have the same situation.

[Oceanic]

Thanks Jack, there are some understandably very traumatised people on here who skew the reality of getting this surgery, if you find a good hernia specialist the odds of getting an excellent happy result are hugely in your favour.

[Oceanic]

Just to clarify my incisions are each 5cm long, not huge at all

The suturing has been done so well by Dr.Conze the scarrring will be minimal, also I don’t care at all about some scars as long as the surgery goes well and fixes the Hernia, I’m too old to care about cosmetics and even in swimwear no one would ever see them, they’ll be faded to nothing in a year anyway.

Chuck you’ve got to calm down the hysteria a bit, the syress of all this is clearly not making you think that logically

[Oceanic]

Just to clarify my incisions are each 5cm long, not huge at all

The suturing has been done so well by Dr.Conze the scarrring will be minimal, also I don’t care at all about some scars as long as the surgery goes well and fixes the Hernia, I’m too old to care about cosmetics and even in swimwear no one would ever see them, they’ll be faded to nothing in a year anyway

[Oceanic]

Dr. Conze kindly got back to Me this morning by email and as expcted he has just been busy at a Hernia conference, he still thinks the problem is swelling fluid around the inguinal canal putting a stretch on the genitofemoral nerve when I stand up. He’s confident when the swelling subsides things will resolve and I tend to agree after the testicle lifting revelation that gives near complete relief. I’m now walking comfortably with a pair of socks wedged under my balls in some supportive underwear.

Who would have thought the answer to my salvation was a pair of socks!

[Oceanic]

I think that picture may be deceptive the area above my canals and the area in between is very puffy and full of fluid.

I’ve been doing regular red light therapy too which from past experience hugely helps with wound and internal healing.

[Oceanic]

Watchful my friend I owe you a beer, I just tried your tip of hoisting my testicles up and I really mean I had to yank them higher than they’ve ever been but 90% of the pain vanished immediately and I had pretty much free range of motion of my legs again.

Thank you so much, I have no idea why this works but it really does, this makes me much more hopeful for a full recovery.

Now I just need to find an undersized jock strap and I’ll be walking pain free.

[Oceanic]

Chuck I’ll take short term pain for long term gain over doing nothing and suffering for years, sure it’s a gamble we all know that but that’s life, everything is.

I can completely understand why you’re cautious though after reading of your lap experience. I’ve read your numerous posts agonising over this and I really feel for you, but just go for it and chances are it will be ok and you can start a new chapter of your life pain free and put this all behind you in a few months.

[Oceanic]

All the happy Shouldice procedure patients tend to just resume their lives and don’t feel the need to frequent forums discussing it, why would You?

Don’t let doom and gloom echo chambers put you off

Give it a few more months and I’l lift something heavy and tell you how I feel, I think a lot of the people who moan aren’t prepated to put the rehab in needed to make a full recovery and think sitting on the sofa doing nothing is all they need to do.

[Oceanic]

Incisions at day 5 just before I had the dressings changed again

[Oceanic]

Chuck- It was this forum that guided me to Dr. Conze, I’m in the UK so Germany was a 1.5 hour flight away, I exchanged a few emails with Stephen, Dr. Kangs assistant but the journey put me off and the fact he does 9/10 procedures a day

I just figured Dr. Conze was enough of a specialist that I was in with a fighting chance of not getting maimed by him.

I’ve read numerous accounts of Shouldice procedure patients feeling completely normal and like they hadn’t even had surgery within 3-6 months so it’s impossible to generalise, don’t discard Shouldice from your options would be my advice for what it’s worth, my right side is exactly as I could have hoped for and feels superb, I could easily do a 10 mile walk on that and there is zero pain apart from nerves tingling as they heal from being moved about.

[Oceanic]

Thanks for the encouragement Guys, I know it’s early days, I think the left side repair just may be a lot tighter than the right side for reasons I don’t understand.

@ Watchful, I feel completely fine laying down, sitting is ok (ish) but you still put tension on your groin doing this but I’m back at work today and have been sat in a chair all day and its only mildly uncomfortable, standing or walking causes the most discomfort. They were both direct hernias which I’ve read are more painful after a tissue repair. Not tried lifting my testicles (I will thanks) but the discomfort is mainly from under the incision site towards my thigh and down the inguinal ligament I think.

I’m taking collagen supplements, eating plenty of protein and pushing myself a little each day to let my body know what it needs to do, time will tell. As you all rightly say I think this is a jourmey of weeks to 6 months to a year full recovery.

I had a tendon graft in my arm done a few years ago and that was still improving nearly 2 years on, its a slow gradual process but I’d rather have the pain of surgery recovery than the pain of a hernia.

[Oceanic]

I communicate with Dr. Conze via Whatsapp so it’s fairly direct, he’s very open about all his patients having his mobile number which is refreshing.

[Oceanic]

Dr. Conze did personally drop some stronger pain killers to me in the hotel a few days after surgery to help get me home, his diagnosis was swelling and pressure in the inguinal canal stretching the genitofemoral nerve and it would resolve in a few days, it hasn’t and the pain is coming from a bit higher up I think but I’m no expert. He did message me again last Thursday to see how I was getting on and I did message him back saying still having problems do you know why and not heard back from him and it’s been 3 working days now so make of that what you will, he is busy I’m sure but I did just spend north of 11k Euros with him so hoped for a bit more of a timely response.

[Oceanic]

In hindsight I wish I’d had one side done and waited 6 weeks then gone back for the other side, double shouldice is a lot trauma. I only knew about the right side hernia although was getting testicle pain on the left but with no lump, Dr.Conze found a small direct hernia on the left side with the Ultrasound and by sticking his finger up my inguinal canal.

My right side feels great and is healing nicely but the left side is causing a lot of tension and discomfort, I can only walk short distances before needing to sit down. I can extend my range a little each day though, I’m hoping it just may be a long road of my tissues stretching and remodeling to accomodate the new tension, the key is movement so I’m doing gentle stretching and as much walking as possible, I managed 10,000 steps yesterday over the whole day broken up into segments.

The Clinic in Munich is very nice, the operating theatre is on the same floor and they kept me in over night for observation, I stayed in a Hotel virtually next door for 3 more nights before flying home with the help of some strong painkillers.

Everyone including Dr.Conze speaks excellent English, he gets a lot of international visitors I think. I had local anesthetic and sedation, didn’t know a thing about it, just woke up in the recovery room and it was all done. Anaesthetist and Nursing care was all top notch. Time from first contact to surgery was about a month, I travelled out in a reasonable anmount of discomfort so it was a bit of a mental challenge, the pain I have now is worse than the hernias but I still have a better sense of well being as my body now feels like it doesnt have bits protruding out of it that should be on the inside.

I’ll try and post weekly updates, I learnt a lot from this forums so it’s the least I can do if my ramblings help someone else here.

Lastly in case this helps anyone I’m taking BPC-157 and TB-500 peptides which are known to drastically increase/improve healing, be aware of options like this as when you’re older you don’t heal like you do when you were in your teens, these peptides will make your recovery much faster and more complete. This isn’t medical advice, do you’re own research and decide for yourself. Some specialist Doctors in the US can be found that prescribe peptides like these.

[Oceanic]

I’ve seen some of the latest mesh that are 50% volume dissolvable and have multidirectional tensile stretch to replicate the way the abdomen moves and I know I’d rather have that put in my body than mosquito netting.

[Oceanic]

I’m booked in with Dr.Conze for all the reaosns that have been listed on this forum, money isn’t an issue so I want the best possible chance of a full recovery back to a normal life and he looks like one of the best in the world for a tissue reapir, I do not want mesh. I’m in Europe already so not a long journey to see him, just a bit worried about travelling home 2 days after surgery but they seem to think I’ll be fine

[Oceanic]

Thanks for the reply William, would a weakness on the left side cause pain though?, I’m not really sure whats going on but I don’t think it’s a coicidence I have the hernia on the right side and now pain in my left testicle. I’ve never had any issues before like spermatic tube infection.