Since November I have been having quite a bit of pain in my groin/pelvis area. At first I thought it is probably a pulled muscle, Christmas came and was still noticeable. In Janaury one day the pain was really quite bad and although I had a GPs appointment it wasn't for another 2 weeks. I went to the NHS walk in doctor, he said it wasn't a hernia but a pulled muscle. Take pain killers and it will go away.....
The pain did seem to go so I cancelled my GPs appointment. Two weeks later after carrying a load of heavy shopping I was in pain again, by now my anxiety was making the pain worse. I walked into the walk in centre again, this time saw a nurse, she didn't know it was and suggested I need an ultrasound but it could be a hernia. I went back to the GP last week and he finally diagnosed the hernia, I felt it too for the first time.
My dilemma is he said I can just leave it as it is so minor there is no risk of any complications and the only reason to have any surgery is to relieve the pain. The type I have is an inguinal hernia. This summer I have a lot of things booked, Torquay in April, Blackpool for a classic computer games exhibition in May, Milton Keynes for a business conference (well one which involves a lot of beer) in May and Spain in June.
For this reason I don't want the operation yet, I have also read that the operation for a minor hernia can be worse because it can take a bit of time to find it. I have had a hernia opp before but that time it was a lot more urgent and serious. Last time it took me about a month before I was up and walking properly again.
I am planning of arranging the operation in September, with a few of having it early next year. I just wondered if people here have any experience and if I should trust what the GP is saying? He has basically told me there is at current no surgical reason to have the operation but if the pain gets worse I may want for that reason. Incidentally it seems the travel insurance company agrees, my hernia is covered and it will add just £2.20 onto my premium for 10 days.
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Some car seats give me a pain in the nethers if I sit in them for long. Volvos, Vauxhalls and Citroens in particular. My Renault however, caused the most pain further back.
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My Panda seat is actually very good, a lot better than my old Corsa B which always seemed to give me back ache. As I say most the time my hernia is not causing any pain, and when it does now I know what is causing it is nothing a few pain killers won't deal with it.
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All joking aside Rats, as the years advance, stuff does hurt more. If you're not already doing so, try to make time to keep yourself at least reasonably fit and you'll be surprised how many ailments take fright and retreat.
For work reasons I've not done much exercise for a week and everything feels like it's seizing up. I'll go for a bit of a swim tonight though and it'll untangle most of it.
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Assuming you can get it seen to on ther NHS (ie it's bad enough) then next question is how long will you wait? Might not be done until late summer even if you 'book now'!!
I've been walking around with a painless one for years but I understand they can only get worse. If the protruding intestine gets trapped then it can be a blue light and major surgery job.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 15 Mar 15 at 15:17
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Hernias are up there with prostate trouble as complaints of men of a certain age. Given the age/gender profile of this site there'll be somebody along shortly who's had theirs seen to.
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Brompt that is what I posted on here. I asked about strangulation and the GP said because the hernia is so small there is no risk of that. I have had a hernia opp before when I was 22 but that was a different kind and a lot more serious.
The GP said there is a 6 weeks to 2 month waiting list for the op, but I know things get pushed back and cancelled etc. The doctor said the opp can be done on the NHS, but it is not always recommend for small hernias unless it starts to get worse etc. He said it is really up to me but there is no harm in seeing how it goes.
I know long term I need it done though I am only 32 so too young to have this for the rest of my life.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sun 15 Mar 15 at 15:31
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In 84 I suffered with continuing pain in the groin area (that would make me 28). Miners strike and working many many hours. I was in a medical scheme at the time and went to see a Consultant. Don't know if it was connected but he shoved his digit where the sun don't shine during the examination.
Couldn't pin it down to anything and it eventually went away of its own accord.
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>> Don't know if it was connected but he shoved his digit where the sun don't shine
>> during the examination.
Probably just for fun.
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Also - do you want easy surgery with a roughly predictable date or spend the whole summer wondering whether you're going to find yourself an emergency admission in an unfamiliar place?
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>> Don't know if it was connected but he shoved his digit where the sun don't shine during the examination.
>> Probably just for fun.
More than likely, but if you questioned him he'd have said he was checking for prostatitis.
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I guess there's a sweet spot for strangulation - if the hernia is tiny there's little chance of anything getting stuck - if it's too big then even if a loop of bowel goes into it, it can slip back out.
You're a (relatively) young chap therefore it'll need fixed at some point I imagine.
Count on 3-6 weeks of gradually improving discomfort after it gets repaired.
Assuming you don't get necrotising fasciitis and need your penis amputated*
*not likely.
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Some of the research I have been reading suggests it is best to wait for the hernia to get a little bit bigger as that makes the operation a bit easier. As usual though I am reading lot of conflicting things, the doctor did keep stressing the hernia is so small it won't become strangulated and the statistical risk of it happening is very small. My travel insurance company are happy to insure it for just over £2.00.
I will see how it goes, then maybe when I get back from Spain in mid June I will go back to the doctor. If it does get worse before then I will get the surgery done sooner.
All I know is the doctor did keep saying there was no medical reason to have it operated but he also said it won't get any worse and that I don't understand.
Lygonos I thought I had prostitus too, the symptoms are very similar at one point I thought it could be even something worse, but statistically that is very rare at my age although not impossible.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sun 15 Mar 15 at 15:56
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"I guess there's a sweet spot for strangulation"
Zero's neck???
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>> Count on 3-6 weeks of gradually improving discomfort after it gets repaired.
Don't overdo anything for a while after the op.
That said, I was walking around a National Trust property 2 days after my 2nd hernia op.
And I turned up to the final checkup on my motorbike.. (car was off the road at the time..)
The look on the doctors face was a picture!
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>>Don't know if it was connected but he shoved his digit where the sun don't shine during the examination.
>>
He didn't have both hands on your shoulders, did he?
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>> He didn't have both hands on your shoulders, did he?
{facepalm}
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Had hernia issue in 2004 - was painful and GP said he would make hospital appt.
Saw a Junior Dr there within 2 weeks and he agreed an operation was needed BUT it could be 6 months........4 months and I asked again and was told "it could be 6 months".
Bit the bullet - paid £2500 and had it done within a week. Done on the Wed evening and home on the Thursday morning.
Phone rings on Thursday afternoon - Hospital here can you come in 8.30 am on Monday!!
Yet 2 weeks earlier they said it could be another 6 months. C'est la vie!
Good news is that the fix was successful and no further issue until 2010 - this time BIG operation - in /out within a few weeks - when I was really really ill the NHS was top notch.
Privately it was £41,500 + extras that could vary by up to £10K depending how I rallied / did not rally after the operation. 54 months on I am well apart from the after effects of my treatment.
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I think I had a hernia operation a few years ago. All I can remember was the foul steamed fish and potato dinners I seemed to get every day.......mind you, it was in 1949 !
I recall, in the mid sixties, doing a Coroner's sudden death report on a man who'd snuffed it on a Manchester corporation bus in Piccadilly bus station. I think that was some sort of intestinal strangulation. I know he made a mess...shat all over the upstairs seating. Not easy to get him down the stairs either !
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This is appalling. I had no idea so many people had ruptures.
Surely it takes more than lifting something heavy to tear your pelvic girdle or whatever it's called? If that's all it takes I've been lucky so far.
Do look after yourself and heal the damn thing Sheikha. Stand square when you lift things, weight evenly balanced on both feet. Don't rush it.
Best to you (and Ted and all the other sufferers).
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"I had no idea so many people had ruptures."
I've got a 'herniated hemi-diaphragm' - anyone else got one of those?
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>>I've got a 'herniated hemi-diaphragm' - anyone else got one of those?
I use to come across plenty of those back in the day, I found the answer was to always to use genuine Stromberg ones, as the pattern parts were made of a much thicker rubber.
hth.
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"I found the answer was to always to use genuine Stromberg ones, as the pattern parts were made of a much thicker rubber."
Yeah - that's what the doc said.
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>> Surely it takes more than lifting something heavy to tear your pelvic girdle or
>> whatever it's called? If that's all it takes I've been lucky so far.
Think that's now ruled out as a bit of an old wives tale. Might give you piles though.
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>>shat all over
Doesn't that normally happen at the point of death? Something to do with the sphincter muscle relaxing.
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Getting it fixed tomorrow might be a scheduling pain but it avoids anything untoward.
Getting it fixed 6 months from now is almost certainly perfectly fine. Its not likely to suddenly impact your life.
But, if it does, the pain will be excruciating and immediate.
So, if you're delaying it for a good reason, then personally I would feel comfortable were it me with the low level of risk for doing so.
If you're delaying it because you can't be a***d, that would seem an unnecessary undertaking.
I dislike risk without reward. But for reward I'll go with most risks. And that's the judgement you're making.
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p.s. I waited about 2 yrs 6 months.
2 years 5 months would have shown I was smart.
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Thanks, what I am thinking is to go back to the GP in late May just before I go to Spain, while I will have pre opp appointments etc, the operation is still not likely to be to August at the earliest but it means I can do all the stuff without cancelling anything but also not leaving it too long before anything becomes a risk.
The doctor did stress at the moment there is absolutely no danger of anything serious has happening as it is so small but I can keep an eye on it myself. It is so small it took three doctors to actually diagnose it but the pain can be quite bad when it does occur.
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>> before I go to Spain,
Tell your insurer that you are awaiting an operation - it might cost you a premium increase but better that than being stuck with a bill if anything goes wrong!
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Falkirk I already have, the hernia is covered and will cost me an extra £2.20! They obviously feel the statistical risk of anything going wrong is low but I have an E11 card and there is an state hospital where I am staying. I know a lot of English people there, so I am going to find out exactly how it all works before I go, but I know somebody that broke their leg and went to that hospital and they had no problem at all getting the treatment paid by the NHS via the E11.
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Base on my own recent experiences I would say the sooner it's sorted the better.
You are young enough for the NHS to see your health as an investment worth making.
There is, I think, a cost/benefit element left unsaid in the NHS culture these days.
As I have said before, the demographics of the UK's population, mean that the NHS, as currently funded, cannot treat every single ailment from every single person who presents.
We could have the best "free at the point of delivery" Health Service on the planet if people were prepared to see their taxes increase sufficiently to pay for it.
They are not, so it won't happen.
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>>We could have the best "free at the point of delivery" Health Service on the planet if people were prepared to see their taxes increase sufficiently to pay for it.
They are not, so it won't happen.
[muffled] I agree. [cough][cough]
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Hernia - what to do? - Runfer D'Hills
