I've had an umbilical hernia probably for the last 10 years. In the last 2 years the pain level is very minor and easy to live with. As I get older (60 now) the pain is increasing. Not constantly but the regularity is more often. The size has increase slightly. If this get worse I can see myself doing something about it. So, those of you who have done something about it tell me about your experience.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goose5,

Get an operation to avoid sepsis infection and death.

Not evacuating the bowels for over a month from Thanksgiving to past New Years would have been enough to scare the shit out of me if my guts were not bulging out above the belly.

just had mine done one month ago, I had a 2 inch round baseball looking mess above and to the right of my belly button about 3 inches also had some really thin muscle area, the surgery which was major had about a 10 inch incision right down the middle of my stomach top to bottom and around the belly button. he put in a large mesh basically in my entire stomach.

The Pain after the surgery was pure hell, trying to roll out of the hospital bed with two nurses for support so I could go to the bathroom was one of the most painful things I have ever felt, really thought I was going to bust open and my insides were going to fall out. this was a 4 times per day thing, At times I was in so much pain I couldn't push the nurse button or even lift a drinking cup. I was on the typical pain meds thru Iv and the nurses were great, but when that crap wears off things get serious real quick. I spent two days in the hospital probably should have gone three. getting a tickle in your throat and thinking you are going to cough thru it was probably the worst, I would curl up into a ball to try and give my stomach support, it's just nearly impossible. Having a Bowell movement is probably the another thing that wasn't allot of fun, it took 5 days for that to happen, I was getting pretty worried to say the least, they will give you a softener for that.

One thing that saved me was a powered recliner after I got home, without that sleeping would have been impossible. Three days later I developed a rash that I thought was an infection, back to the hospital for some antibacterial Iv. I ended up with welts on my stomach area that looked like I had ran thru a hornets nest. I was given a cortisone 2.5 cream for that because the itching was horrible.

From that cream I ended up having anxiety and thought I was losing my marbles, I had to have the lights on at night could not sleep in the dark the only thing that made me feel better was constantly walking around the house. I had no idea what was going on until we went to emergency care and found a great doctor. she put me on Lexapro and just like that my life came back to normal.

After the two week ordeal things everyday drastically improved. one thing I wasn't expecting was getting got winded easily, walking short distances was difficult but that too has improved. I'm glad I had it done but more then anything I'm glad the worst part is behind me. I'm sure after reading this you will say to heck with that, my case might be extreme but it happens. the scar is pretty ugly they did super glue me back together so maybe not as bad as stiches. They did put a drainage stint in me that I needed to have removed about 3 days after surgery. the tube was about a foot long, the nurse tells you to take a deep breath and she just yanks it out.

Doctors says I can only lift 5 lbs for the first 6 weeks then I can increase it about 10 after that. I'm taking 3 months off to fully recover the last thing I want to do is start over tearing it apart again. I'm 60 years old as well.

Ray

Most hernia surgeries are simple, easy and quick to fix. Most are outpatient and the recovery is easy enough.

I’ve had 4 hernia repairs, don’t worry about it.

Just go see your Doc ASAP so that it doesn’t go badly. Get it fixed now.

Don’t fuck around with this. Repeat, go to tour a doc ASAP.

Catch it early and get it fixed.

Best wishes to you.

goose 5, it sounds like you and I were in similar conditions. In my case, I probably had my hernia for 2 or 3 years, not really knowing what it was when it first happened, before finally having it diagnosed. On a check up for a separate health issue, as an afterthought, I had my PCP take a quick look just as I was heading for the door and a few seconds later he confirmed that I had a minor umbilical hernia. He told me what symptoms to watch for, but otherwise told me to just let him know when I was ready to do something about it.

Life and career intervened and as it didn't cause me any real problems, and progressed slowly for the first 12 or 13 years or so and I put it off. Then serious health issues set in and, according to a different PCP, most likely aggravated my hernia making it progressively and noticeably worse, and to the point where it couldn't be hidden. But, due to my other health issues the doctors did not want to do any surgery or put me under any more anesthesia procedures then was absolutely necessary.

Over a period of several years I went through several procedures and meds and while my health issues persisted they improved to the point where one of my doctors suggested that I might be able to deal with hernia surgery and referred me to a general surgeon.

The general surgeon (former career Army) brought me in, took one quick look, explained that out of the @ 450 hernia surgeries he had performed, I had probably one of the top 4 worst hernias he had every treated, there was serious risk of rupture and strangulation and that he wanted me in surgery in two days.

My hernia surgery was considered serious enough that they intended to keep me overnight. I not only was left with an "S" shaped incision scar @ 14" long, but they had to install two drains, one on the left and one on the right sides.

I was prescribed some fairly heavy duty pain killers, however I'm not a fan of taking pain killers or most meds unless absolutely necessary so I declined them. At first the nursing staff thought that I just had some of the anesthesia remaining to help me, but as the hours wore on and I still didn't need any pain meds they were truly surprised, given how large and serious my hernia had been. Can't be certain, but I believe that the hernia killed or dulled some of the nerves in my abdomen so that I couldn't fully detect much pain. They were extremely concerned that for the first 12 hours after surgery that I not exert any of my abdominal muscles in the least. No sitting up, no twisting to lay on my side, no standing up, no walking to the bathroom. Which means that when I had to pee the nurse had to come in and help. My back actually hurt from laying in the same exact position for so many hours in a row.

The morning after surgery, before breakfast arrived, the doctor partner of the doctor who performed my surgery showed up with an entire room full of med students to remove the bandage and inspect the site. He slowly peeled the surgical tape just enough to get a hold of a tag end, then suddenly and without warning ripped the whole bandage off my belly, which produced the sudden and most excruciating pain I felt during the whole ordeal, but there were several hot nurses and female med students present so I managed to stifle a scream and settled for a wince.

I was discharged but wasn't allowed to drive for a while so a family member picked me up, filled my prescriptions, and shopped for groceries for me before delivering me home. Previous to my hospital stay I had my recliner positioned near the front door and to my bathroom, so I spent most of my recovery time in it.

The following two weeks I had to empty and record the fluid output from each of my drains, on a daily basis. These outputs are an indication to the doctor that your fluid levels are decreasing and that he can remove the drains. A couple weeks later he was satisfied with my output levels and removed the drains while I was in his exam room by ripping them out, and while it didn't hurt as bad as the bandage removal it definitely got my attention. A week after that he removed the staples from my belly while in the exam room, which also got my attention as it took about 15 minutes with a set of pliers.

All in all, it wasn't the worst or most painful medical procedure that I've been through and I never needed the pain meds prescribed, but I let the issue go WAY too long, to the point where other health issues interfered with and exacerbated the hernia, and I now realize that putting off dealing with it made it much worse, and quite honestly it was a source of social embarrassment, not to mention a physical impediment for me that I wouldn't have had to deal with if I had dealt with it sooner.

Totally understandable to want to put off something like a hernia surgery if the hernia isn't bothering you, especially during the C-19 pandemic...but my advice would be to talk to a doctor and have them assess your situation. If you decide to deal with it, I would advise dealing with it sooner rather than later, on your schedule, rather than letting the condition deteriorate to an emergency in which you no longer have control of the schedule or the severity of the procedure.

I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that I no longer have a belly button and am now forced to keep my lint in my pockets.

Damn. There are some real horror stories here.

I've had three different hernia operations over my lifetime. The first was in the mid 1980's. 4 inch scar over my lower abdomen. Recovery was slow but not too painful. Everything turned out fine after a week. The second was in the mid 1990's. Small one inch scar on the other side. Recovery was very quick. The last one was three or four years ago and it was totally microscopic. They went in thru my bellybutton and he repaired two different hernias while digging around in there. Recovery was pretty quick but my bellybutton was tender as hell for a month.

Get her done...you will be fine.

Had mine repaired 15 to 20 yrs. ago. Had no problems at all. Just follow Dr's instructions concerning recovery period and all will be well.

I had one done last year. Pretty simple and straightforward. Surgery was quick and easy, outpatient.
Recovery was a tad bit painful, and I was sore for a while.

Here is a thread about my hernia.

I will be the odd ball out in this discussion because I have had lingering problems from my hernia surgery that i got in the spring of 2010.

What I have resentment over is that I knew something was wrong and I went back to the doctor like five times over three months. I was naive and did not go for a second opinion. I just thought I took it easy for too long and then over did it.

What I will recommend is that after surgery get physical therapy. It was never recommended, offered and I had never read or heard it mentioned before that an individual should consult a PT to help re-strength and heal the area.

It was within the past year that I heard it twice on you tube work out videos and then my pelvic floor specialist asked me about it when I went for my first visit.

Wow - There are some horror stories here. I had my umbilical hernia repaired about 10 years ago, It was about the size of a quarter and preventing me from wearing a polo to work. It was outpatient surgery and I was out a few hours later. I drove myself home and was back at my desk a day later. I couldn't life anything heavy for a few weeks. Easy Easy Easy.

Not an expert, but had an inguinal repaired about 10 years ago. I could "feel" the mesh for a couple of years when I'd eat a big meal, but nothing now. Recovery was no big deal.

Just do it.

Had mine repaired two years ago and should have done it sooner.

Hernia Story:
When my first one was diagnosed I was referred to a Surgeon who does nothing but hernia repair. Cheerful dude who operates on Monday, Wednesday and Friday doing multiple surgeries on those days and its golf on off days. When discussing getting the operation scheduled, (this was in June) I said I wanted to wait until November so I would not miss any motorcycling time. Cheerful Doc said "No problem! But you could sneeze and your intestines could drop into your Scrotum. Then I will see you in the ER".
Holy shit! Cut me now, Doc!
The procedure went fine and it took about three weeks until I was up and around.
At my last appointment, Cheerful Doc told me he will see me in five years to repair my other side. He was right. Almost to the day.
Get yours dealt with. Its pretty risky to let it go. I hope you get a good Doctor like Cheerful dude. He was great!

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Not an expert, but had an inguinal repaired about 10 years ago. I could "feel" the mesh for a couple of years when I'd eat a big meal, but nothing now. Recovery was no big deal.

Same for me. I never was able to pinpoint exactly what it was or what exactly triggered it, but for the first two or three years after surgery, every so often, I could feel a slight amount of pain in the area as if the mesh was poking or rubbing on something.

The surgeon did emphasize to me that losing weight would go a long ways to reducing the chances of having a repeat hernia and I have lost a fair amount, which might explain why I haven't experienced the slight pain in a couple years now.

Piece of cake. I had my umbilical done wide awake with bilateral nerve blocks and some local in the incision site. Didn't feel a thing.

The hard part is remembering to not lift anything over 10# for a few weeks after.

I’ve never had a hernia repaired but I’ve repaired 500 or so. There are a variety of techniques used to repair hernias. Open surgery as some have described above as well as minimally invasive where 3-5 incisions are made with the largest being a little less than an inch. Depending upon the size of the hernia defect will dictate the use of mesh. Everyone has heard the mesh horror stories but they’re actually not very common and for this particular surgery they’re extremely rare. The risk of not using mesh is increased risk of recurrence of the hernia. Imagine sewing weak fabric together and hoping the weak fabric will hold its strength. Regardless of the repair you should plan on no heavy lifting for at least a month. I usually say 10 pounds. I hope this info helps and you have a speedy complete recovery.

I had mine done 25+ years ago with the mesh. As others have said, I could feel the mesh for a couple of years, but it wasn't an issue and wasn't unpleasant.

I'm very glad I did it. As I got older, the pain became more frequent, and more significant. I don't want to think wat it would be like now. Mine was like half a grapefruit sticking out, and I would have to push it back in with my hand.

No point in putting off the inevitable. The older you get the harder and longer it takes to bounce back and issues get worse.

As a three time expert on the subject the choice of a doctor is extremely important. You want someone with a great reputation rather than the person who is trying to learn the trade by practicing on you. My first guy moved it to another place. My second gal's work lasted for about one sneeze. I finally went to Barnes in St Louis and he got it mostly right. The first guy who botched mine probably saved my father's life when my dad had an incarcerated hernia.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Most hernia surgeries are simple, easy and quick to fix. Most are outpatient and the recovery is easy enough.

I’ve had 4 hernia repairs, don’t worry about it.

Just go see your Doc ASAP so that it doesn’t go badly. Get it fixed now.

Don’t fuck around with this. Repeat, go to tour a doc ASAP.

Catch it early and get it fixed.

Best wishes to you.

This. I had a double repair and was ambulatory in 24 hours. Just get it fixed.