Much like our triathlon article, this is another email exchange that I think is excellent. I love to share info with our readers. Eric Krueger, another site member recently underwent surgery for a hernia and sent this email to describe his situation. The cool thing here is that I think the work that we are doing on the site is helping people and this is a great example.
Hi, Mike ..
We traded some messages awhile back. I had a hernia issue I was trying to figure out, and committed to report back on how it turned out. Hopefully, my experience can help others.
I had laproscopic mesh repair Aug 18th for an inguinal and small femoral (3 mm) hernia. Both tears were minor, and symptoms really mimicked what people refer to as "sports hernias". Turned out, I had the real thing after all. It was small, and the first Doc who looked at me (the head of our local Medical Society, but not a hernia specialist) missed it. I knew he was bullocks when he suggested "I try some stretching". So, I sought someone else, who nailed it on the first try.
So, there's two lessons right there: you may think you have a "sports hernia", but have an actual inguinal hernia. And, you have to get diagnosed by a real pro if your condition isn't real obvious. I think there are a lot of people walking around out there with minor hernias that just aren't being seen by the right people.
The surgery went smoothly, and the whole thing was really quite tolerable. Between the minimal incision and the pain meds, pain tolerance was not an issue. I was able to walk right after, and able to walk slowly around the block to stay loose right from the first day. I was able to do some light cycling after the first week, too.
I started your "Phase I" at about 2.5 weeks. The only time I had any issues was when I tried to do something outside the progression, like pull-start my weedeater. I'm at 8 weeks now, and just starting Phase III and introducing ballistics. I'm back to squatting 200lbs comfortably, running 30-40 minutes, or cycling 2 hours without issues. There's a couple things I still wouldn't do yet, like chop out an old stump by hand, but I'm almost back to where I was before I got hurt, pain free, and gaining confidence daily. It's sweet... I'm writing you at 1:00am because I'm too stoked to sleep.
I thank you immensely for your PT progression - so nicely laid out and effective. When you go thru it step by step with a real hernia recovery, you really see the beauty of how it works. It helped me a lot, too, before surgery by identifying a whole host of weaknesses and imbalances I didn't know I had, but now I'm working on those big-time.
So, there's the other lesson for everyone: have yourself evaluated for function, balance, etc regularly. Don't assume that just because you feel or look good, all IS good.
My Doc was Dr David Pardieck in North Charleston, SC. Google "Lowcountry Hernia" and he pops right up. Super-simple operator -- hernias are all he does. All I can judge is mine -- seems to have been done expertly. Every person I saw go in and out of that office looked happy, so that's a little something extra. The Doc wasn't much on post-op PT and such; basically told me not to worry about it. He's done thousands, so maybe mine really was so minor as to have recovered fine without it and hey, we all have to take personal responsibility for our outcomes anyway. I decided to bring it back as "right" as I can.
My Doc retires next July, so if you know of anyone in need of his services in the Carolinas and such, now is the time.
For what it's worth...
Eric Krueger
("Aquatic1")