Not one but two hernias a femoral and inguinal. Due for surgery end of August, don't mind the wait as winter surf is usually better. Question is realistically how long before paddling, my surgen says approx six weeks until full recovery. I love that word appoximately? Anyone had the op with experience to share ? Tell me everything I don't scare easy as I've watched my wife give birth 3 times
Hey mick, I had a double inguinal myself at 47. In the months before my surgery I went into a pretty intensive abdominal routine to help speed recovery and ease the pain. It worked wonders. The doctor was amazed when I walked in 48 hours after surgery feeling great. At the time I was a pretty hardcore whitewater paddler, so yeah, I took it easy. You want to give everything time to heal. That said, you'll know. Your body will tell you if you're pushing it.
And remember, before they put you under tell the nurses it's bigger than it looks....it's just that you're both a little nervous. I'm sure they haven't heard anything like that before.
good luck!
I had bilateral inguinal hernias done about 14 years ago - button hole with mesh over the herniation holes so quicker recovery but found it hard to do much for around a month. Pretty funny with me and the wife (8 months pregnant) walking out of the hospital like a couple of cowboys about to have a gun fight.
I had to buy a new higher firm mattress bed too - I got in the old water bed and I couldn't get out.
Got back on the short board after 5 weeks and back learning how to windsurf after about 6/7 weeks - sailing was the killer back then as i was a late starter (36 yo) to w/surfn and it involved uphaulin which tweaked and pulled at the groins a bit in the first few sessions. SUPng could be similar due to constant balance adjustments through the core
Its not a bad idea to be a bit conservative as if it all pops and traps your gut you could be out for a hell of a lot longer with a lot more pain
Good luck
The suggestions of a planned exercise, weight loss and strengthen core routines prior to the operation are a good way to go.
It's also really important to have a slow return to activities after the operation - be conservative and let your body guide you.
If you rush back too soon you may end up like one of my friends who was back under the knife 6 weeks after the first op because he couldn't take the steady return approach
I had two fixed about 4 years ago. Didn't do anything for 6 weeks. Then started with easy flatwater paddles and gradually over a few weeks did more. I don't think I went out in the surf until it was 2 months (not sure about this).
Even tho you feel OK, you shouldn't push it because you don't want anything to rip. Be cautious.
Also be careful when lifting and taking the board off your car.
Good luck
When you say intensive abdominal routine what exactly is that, sit ups?
As it is after a surf or even after riding the bike home from work it feels like someone has got a firm grip on the nuts and bolts.
thanks for the suggestions and reply
cheers
If I was you I'd take my time getting over it. I had an inguinal hernia operation last year. I was told keep out of the water for 6 weeks........ but !!!!!!! about 2 weeks after I got out I was feeling great no pain and no probs and thinking what's all the fuss about. That weekend the swell kicked in and it was shoulder to head high and really glassy. I thought why not I'm sure it will be ok. Famous last words I can tell you. After a couple of bad wipe outs the pain kicked in and I had to get out of the water and try to carry myself and my board up a sand dune to the car park. After a while the pain hadn't go away but got worse and I was forced to sheepishly go to the docs and explain what I had done. Turns out I had partially torn the scar open and had to have another 4 weeks off work plus it kept out of the water for longer. The pain was at times bloody horrible and every time I turned over in bed to tried to get up I just about fell on the floor in agony. So take your time and don't rush it, you might regret it, I certainly did
Have to agree with the taking your time advice. I had a repair done last year and can relate to itching to get out in the water. At 6 weeks it still was not up to scratch for paddling. The combination of abdominal pressure and movement around the surgery site through flexion/extension is quite pronounced with SUP. I managed to paddle through making myself use poor technique-which is way harder than it seems. Was using more upper body strength, and less movement at the hip, and abdominal pressure. Would normally never recommend it, but it's good to get out there just for your sanity-expect to go easy for a little while.
Whilst you will need to strengthen the area, you don't want to hit it straight away. There's some good evidence that correcting any assymetries in the hips, and looking at range of motion and strength in the hips, glutes and adductors can be beneficial for avoiding hernias and for post surgery rehab.
Your best bet will be to get in touch with a good physio post surgery if you want to make sure your on the right track to get back in the water safely.
The key is to definitely not rush back into anything strenuous. I was out for about two months.
Check with your health fund you may be covered 100% for compression pants which I found to help both before and after the surgery,
you may need a letter from your doctor.
I still sometimes wear them under the boardies when downwinding.
Same as a couple of the blokes above unfortunately,
Had an inguinl whatever (ha) and went back to work too soon, ripped it apart again,
Young, dumb and fu........,
Had a second op, it felt like they left a pair of scissors in there ! Pain Plus !!
After a few months all the dis comfort was gone, and have been able to do anything ever since,
TAKE YOUR TIME !!!!!
inguinal hernia repair with keyhole and mesh 10 yeaRS ago
recovery was 8 weeks before i would of wanted /could of gone windsurfing, thats light wind sailing not high wing waves etc.
\ felt like a grab/ pull sometimes inside for months later while healing took its time.
oh yeah and no sex for at least 3 months or you will blow apart!!
Thanks guys, some good advice in there. Definitely taking it slow.
Interestingly surgeons have gone back to the open surgery as opposed to key hole. Well mine has anyway, he says they have had more long term success i.e. not as many reoccurring hernias. Sounds like there's a lot of hernia recipients out there. I'm not quite sure of the exact time of the femoral but the inguinal was after a sneeze attack.
cheers peoples
Lordkuzz not quite sure if there is something in that, throw me a Pauline hanson
Hey Mick. Seems like my surgeon was correct when he said that more than 10% of men suffer at least 1 hernia in their lifetime - there's obviously good money to be made in this area. It's a bummer that you have a couple to deal with.
Morning coffee not kicking in yet, so I'll wander off topic slightly....I'm no doctor, but I understand that the inguinal hernias occur because when we are still in the womb our balls start off somewhere up in our stomach area and before we are born they 'descend' down into their proper place [so that they are conveniently placed where we can have a lifetime of being able to scratch them, play with them or just check that 'they are still there' etc]. This creates an inherent weakness in the tissue or whatever that forms outside the gut area. So the bulge is your intestine (I think) poking through the tear in the gut wall. You may remember me telling you that when you and I were surfing in the Vicco finals earlier in the year I had my hernia then - I still surfed with it before the operation, just was a little careful in turns etc (and had to 'push' it back in again after each wave. A few times while surfing I had someone ask if I was ok when they saw me doubled over and holding my stomach, lol. "Just pushing my gut back into place" I'd say).
Anyway, I had my operation for my inguinal hernia in March - keyhole. They booked me in to stay in hospital for 2 nights afterwards. I didn't want to stay in hospital at all and was thinking, I'll go home that night. In retrospect it was absolutely sensible to stay in for at least 1 night. I don't know what concoction they put into modern anaesthetics, but you are gonna feel really cruisey for hours afterwards.
Surgeon said do nothing but lie on the couch for the first couple of days, with some frozen peas etc to reduce swelling. You need to take at least a week off work, even if you are feeling great and have no pain. Gotta let it all settle down. After a few days you need to start walking around and commence v light exercise, but listen to your body. As soon as you feel pain, stop what you are doing. After about 2 weeks start to build it up gradually. Be particularly careful with lifting.
I think I went for a couple of v gentle flat water paddles in week 3. I think I had my first surf at about 4 weeks - but then was in Japan for almost a month, with no paddling. By the time I was back from Japan (7 weeks from the op, I think) I felt fine for proper surfing.
I don't know about an open operation because I didn't have it, but one big advantage I found with keyhole is that there are no dressings to deal with. They just superglue over the incisions and the stitches dissolve over time, too. So its waterproof and you can shower straight away and not worry about it.
Mmmmm bit of a rant, sorry....need more coffee!
Hi Ross, absolutely remember the conversation and thinking your game and I hope I don't have to rescue you.
I'm still surfing but does get a little sore afterwards.
My job may mean I could have to be off work for several weeks (what a shame) not quite sure what I'll do yet.
cheers Ross
Good to read this thread.
had mine down three days ago and have been feeling very soft and sorry. Managed a day without pain killers today and a 15 minute walk. Was able to walk around after day one, but the body sends some clear signals. I try to walk through discomfort, but stop at pain.
i have the Tas state titles in 11 weeks, so fingers crossed.
Can be simple but can be painfull I had one in belly button
Went home that day , next day back in hospital for a week in a drip full of nice pain killer
Everyone if different
has been 6 mons since my inguinal hernia surgery [ reg. incision doc said less chance for repeat ] still painful, surgeon said a nerve got intertwined in the mesh ,sent to a pain management dr.put me on pain and nerve meds says next step is a nerve block injection totally SUCKS
Five days later and Im pretty good so far. I can actually imagine surfing and SUPing again. Just localised pain, the odd stab. But no so bad.
Tough break with the nerve fish etc
Hey Ben don't push it mate, slow and steady is better than a return visit even if it means a dry spell.
Chill Ben,
As Mick says and I know let you body recover in time, pick up a guitar or something for a few weeks !
Then you'll be good as
Useful info in this thread as might need an op at some point too. But didn't realise how long the recovery is so might have to be proactive and plan it for winter so don't miss out on quality water time.
I had a double op when I was 20. Three things to avoid after the op:
1. Sit Ups
2. Laughing
3. Coughing or Sneezing.
I had keyhole surgery with the mesh stapled in. Recovery for me was around 6 weeks to come right but I couldn't lie on a board and paddle for at least 8. Make sure you don't have a cold or cough going into surgery. Don't watch comedy's and be prepared to do nothing. Good luck.
For pretty much any operation, the recovery times that doctors will quote will refer to typical times until everyday life activities for the average person can be resumed. The average person does not engage in hard athletic activity, and everyday life activities does include things like SUP. So it's best to bear in mind that when a doctor quotes you a recovery time, it probably only means the point at which you can bimble around doing nothing much. It doesn't mean the point at which you could do the M2O. The point at which you can do things as you did before might be eg. double the quoted recovery time if you are a competitive athlete.
On the upside, fitter people generally mend faster. But better to take an extra month to recover than end up back at square one. So be kind to yourself, and good luck.
For pretty much any operation, the recovery times that doctors will quote will refer to typical times until everyday life activities for the average person can be resumed. The average person does not engage in hard athletic activity, and everyday life activities does include things like SUP. So it's best to bear in mind that when a doctor quotes you a recovery time, it probably only means the point at which you can bimble around doing nothing much. It doesn't mean the point at which you could do the M2O. The point at which you can do things as you did before might be eg. double the quoted recovery time if you are a competitive athlete.
On the upside, fitter people generally mend faster. But better to take an extra month to recover than end up back at square one. So be kind to yourself, and good luck.
Bimble. Great word. First heard it from pommy I14 sailors.
My translation - fully occupied doing nothing.
I bimble a lot.
1st Hand experience, currently @ week 4 post double Inguinal open hernia. About to start 'gentle' yoga...Surgeon recommends NOT getting on SUP for at least 2 months...and i tend to agree, very touchy and sensitive thus far, would hate to go through this again (one side was a repair on failed 15 year old key hole fix. I was told my in-house physio @ hospital not to lift anything heavier than a loaf of bread for 6 weeks!
Goodness .....half the forum has hernia issues.
Yeah but it's 'fair wear'n'tear' eh.