Hernia?

[Marshall 357]

Went to the Doctor's today and he said I have a hernia. Now the Check up was so I could start a new job and the lady at the staffing agency said I might not be hired because of it.So Iam kinda bumped out now. Anyone here had a hernia fixed? How long did it take to heal? Need some info. Thanks Guys

 

[gunsmith11]

I am no doctor, but have been to preemployment physicals, how could a Dr. know if you had a hernia, without some medical evidence, or you told him too much

 

[Peter J.]

2 years ago I had an "inguinal" hernia. A loop of my intestins were hanging down into my "sack". I had to stay in the hospital over night. It took me about 5-6 days of laying in bed 95% of time before I could really start moving at all. For that first week it took me about 10-15 minutes to get out of bed each time I had to go to the john, I was that sore. But after about the seventh day it started to feel a lot better, and by the 11th day I was moving around just fine. I had the hernia for about 6-8 months before I could get the time off work to have it done, and it was really getting worse slowly all the time. I knew it was bad, but I kind of got used to it. After I had it fixed and got healed, I never realized how bad off I really was before I had the operation.

 

[Marshall 357]

I didnt tell the doctor I had one,I didnt know I did. He told me to cough and said you have a Hernia. I was like What!

 

[ArcticFox]

I had an inguinal hernia about 12 years ago. Had it fixed through out-patient surgery and went home drugged up and happy. It hit me the next day but two weeks later I went back to work. For the first week I slept in the recliner so I wouldn't have to climb the stairs.

 

[WONTLETYOU]

had one about 6 yrs ago. was working about 3 weeks later, i had the mesh procedure. good as new, believe it or not the next day i was ay walmart looking for rifles with my son.

 

[WR Moore]

How long does it take to heal????

1. How old are you?

2. What do you need to do at work?

I had one fixed at 46 or so and was back at active work in 6 weeks. At 62, the doc didn't want me to pick up anything heavier than 15 lbs for 6 weeks and not to do anything that required heavy breathing for the same time. It took a couple of weeks more to get myself back into some form of shape and longer yet to stretch out adhesions.

 

[Bassamatic]

I've had two hernia operations. One in the mid 80's and the other in the late 90's. One on each side.

Both were a piece of cake. The one in the eighties was more invasive but I still went home the next day. The one in the 90's was an outpatient surgery, meaning I went home the same day. Advancement in technology I assume, and the scar was much smaller. The biggest thing is, don't take the pain medication they will give you, you don't need it. I say that because you need to start moving around as much as your body will allow. Pain killers make you drowsy and you will sit on your butt all day.

They told me to expect a 6 to 8 week recovery but with both surgeries I went back to work for half days after one week, full time the next week. Now, this was an office job with no lifting etc., so keep that in mind. Make yourself get up, walk around more and more each day, take it easy, but push yourself as much as you can.

It worked for me, I was driving my tractor and doing most normal activities after three weeks.

Good luck.

 

[Muley Gil]

"how could a Dr. know if you had a hernia"

The doctor probably found it during his exam.

I had two hernias in 2002 and had them repaired, one using the mesh. About six weeks after the surgery, I was unloading some horse feed from the back of the pick-up and a bag slipped and I caught it. Bad move. It tore the mesh loose. It took another month to heal somewhat.

It still hurts sometimes.

 

[WONTLETYOU]

i was 42 at the time, by job consisted of lots of standing and bending and walking. at the time i needed to get back to work as soon as possible, so i took the chance to go back early and it was fine. hasnt bothered me to this day

 

[Spotteddog]

Had four.
Three of the four were in different locations. One was a "repeat". 2 surgical, one mesh (the mesh was the repeat) Folks that haven't done physical work for a living over an extended period of time have little idea how much damage it can do after several decades. Ahem, especially as we age? The doc found something that you "had". Checking for a case of "one hung low" is a normal part of a thorough pre-employment work up.

 

[Texas Star]

My son suffered a hernia as a result of a mortar shell blast in Iraq. He was on the other side of a wall, but the blast or concussion tore him open. He was given initial care in Iraq, and airlifted to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington for the full repair. It was fairly extensive, and he told me that it was at least three weeks before he was back on light duty.
He is in excellent physical shape, probably better than most reading this. That helped.

I have a hernia that the VA has stalled on repairing, and he told me to try to get them to do the laproscopic surgery, as the incision is smaller and it heals sooner. Said that use of mesh reinforcement now often prevents recurrences of hernias.

T-Star

 

[orion1]

There are three types of hernia and they relate to the location in the muscle wall of the abdomin that tears. There are apparently three inherently weak areas where something else already passes through. The first is around the bellybutton. The second is lower, just inside the crease formed by your leg. This is an inguinal hernia. The third location is actually at the bottom of the abdomin, where the vasdefrons (sic) pass through the abdominal wall into the scrotum. I had an inguinal hernia that would pop out infrequently when I coughed or sneezed. I would just push it back in. Over time the tear grew larger and it got to the point where just standing there it would repeatedly pop out. I had mine repaired by surgery. They put a mesh on the inside of the abdominal wall to add strength. The first couple of days afterward were the worst. My doctor wanted me off work for six weeks. Within 10 days I was hanging drywall at home. After two weeks myself and two other guys pushed a 3500 lb. tractor out of a barn. I got back to work after 4 weeks and have had no problems since.

 

[BrianE]

Ive had a slight one for almost 7 years now and it hasnt "popped" thankfully, but my boss had one sometime ago and he was out for a week and then came back to work and was on light duty for 2 weeks. I know everyone heals different and theres different levels of hernias, but the average time Ive always seen is 3 weeks before youre good to go.

Sorry to hear about this... Seems like a good case of bad luck.