I was allowed back to racing and do out of the saddle efforts as of a few days ago. I went out and did a tempo ride with some not too hard sprints thrown in and didn’t have any issues.
Prior to this, i’d got in 9 relatively easy rides during the recovery period. These started out as just 30mins going around the local velodrome. By the time I was 4-5 weeks post op I did some trainer sessions with short durations at threshold and some gentle 2-3min leadout ramps (but not really exceeding about 600W).
By the end of the ‘official’/prescribed recovery period I was able to do a 30min threshold effort on the trainer without any issues (pain etc.) at all.
I effectively just stayed seated throught the recovery period and kept my power below 500-600W and used any sort of twinge or pain to indicate it was too much and dial it back a bit.
Apparently it’s more like 6 months for FULL recovery. So i’m going to continue to take it relatively easy - but i’ll be back to racing early in the new year. Looking forward to trying to build some fitness back by the end of my race season (April in Aus) and shed the couple of kg I added in the rtecovery time!
Two years ago I had an inguinal hernia on one side. I went with the mesh surgery. Some observations about cause, impact on activity, and recovery.
I got my hernia while cycling. For years my docs always told me “don’t lift anything heavy.” Apparently they’re not cyclists, as I was never warned about the strain on my core when peddling into the red-zone while trying beat my Thursday Night Ride mates to the top of a climb.
Ask around. You’d be surprised how many people (mostly guys) have hernias. Get multiple references. Go for the best.
Hernia happened in mid-summer. I couldn’t get an appointment with the specialist until November, so I rode with more care (especially when climbing). I am not a racer, so I wasn’t training hard. Though I definitely biked less that season, I didn’t stop cycling.
My earliest option for surgery was January. I scheduled it for April (note, this would be 8 months after the injury) so I could ski through the winter, with the full support of my surgeon. No issues with skiing (mostly xc, 2x alpine on teles).
Running was less tolerable than cycling. Harder to keep things, er um… tucked in, when pounding the pavement.
Post-op went fine. I was back on the bike in a month but went super easy for the next few weeks. Did a century 8 weeks later.
So far so good with the mesh. This year I put in nearly 3k miles on the road. Best year yet.
Now, I pay a lot more attention to my core. I actually do core exercises. Also, I’ve worked more on climbing out-of-the-saddle so I can mix it up and not always put so much strain on my core, which I find climbing hard in the saddle tends to do.
After my 1 week follow-up, Dr. was happy for me to go on the trainer to do easy rides, but no racing until 5 weeks and no riding up hills. But he also said I can be guided by any pain/pinching feeling.
It actually took another week for me to feel ready to get on the bike. That full 5 weeks had similar lifting constraints to yours.
Weeks 3 and 4 of recovery were really just noodling - keeping the legs turning over at <40% FTP and only for short durations (30mins gradually increasing to 1h). Only the past week or so did I start ramping up to more threshold stuff and hitting VO2 numbers.
!!Note that this was my doctor’s specific advice!! They also said you need to be REALLY careful, because it’s not the sort of thing you want to have open up again - and that that would be really messy! My biggest race for the year was actually the day after I was allowed to race again… However, I decided not to race it in order to get more recovery time.
I’ll continue to tick the legs over and build a bit of fitness back over Christmas and build during the second half of my race season. Based on that, I’ll effectively have 9-10 weeks before I get back to proper race intensities again and I will probably hold back from doing 100% sprints for a further month or so… just to be cautious and ease back into things one step at a time.
Also with what @JimA said - in discussions with people I race with after having my op, I’ve found that a lot of people have had hernias… and I’ve (unexpectedly) seen a lot more of people’s lower groin regions than I wanted, or needed to - as they’ve whipped out their scars in ‘we’ve-had-the-same-operation’ excitement!
I got mine pedalling on my trainer, doing a TR workout, following Chad’s forceful exhalation in-ride instructions (perhaps a little too enthusiastically…).
Just got home from surgery. Doc said everything went really well. Still numb so i’m not feeling any of the post-surgical sensations. I’m not looking forward to the pain that I anticipate will happen over the next 48 hours, but I’m really looking forward to the moment I can get back to training and gravel racing.
Thanks, and I will. I’m only 48 hours post-op, but so far so good all things considered.
I’m switching between ibuprofen and Tylenol every 6 hours. It’s been just enough to take the edge off. I’m much more mobile than I thought I would be and am trying to be as mobile (safely) as possible just to keep myself sane.
You know, I am skeptical in general, I am more skeptical when you kids say that. I had a right side inguinal hernia repaired in 2008. Doctor said verbatim “99% of the time, there are no issues”. In 2011 I had the exact same hernia repaired a second time. That doctor said “You are really rare, in 99% of cases there are no issues”. Im looking at a third repair soon, and I have pain all through the area, and some other issues including loss of sensation in my upper leg, and adhesions. I had an umbilical hernia repaired with stitches in 2015 and no issues. So of the three I’ve had, 66% were accompanied by issues i was told there was virtually no chance of me experiencing.
I was told recovery would be 3 weeks to mobility, and 6 weeks to riding agin with the first. That was not correct. I am not a sedentary overweight and untrained individual, I am a career US Paratrooper who at that time was in possibly the best shape of my life, riding 15k miles a year, and running at least 12 miles a week. I was accustomed to working through painful events and painful recoveries. My recovery from that first surgery was about 6 weeks to useful mobility and well over 4 months to riding.
The second time was a little worse, as I was told it would be upfront due primarily to the required repairs from the first. It was roughly 90 days to full mobility, and maybe the same for riding, though I was on a trainer the second time 6 weeks in.
I don’t think surgeons lie about this, I think they are very casual with statements that people are listening very closely to for information. It is very routine for you, and you are blasé about the effect of your statements. For us it can be a life changing event. I assume you do hundreds of these . a year based on the rate of surgeries my bariatric surgeon claimed, so it’s easy to be underwhelmed.
Both times I had problems I saw the original surgeons again afterward, and both times they reacted the same “Wow, I;ve never seen that before” and I was reminded of “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou” - Well, aint i just an oddity.
I’m sorry that you’ve had issues but it doesn’t change the truth of the statement. Inguinal hernia is a very common problem and I don’t think you realize how many repairs are done. It sucks to be the 1 out of a 100, we understand! But it doesn’t change the fact that 99% of the time, people recover and have no issues.
I am assuming you had the same surgeon for both repairs. A recurrence of a redo has 2 things in common. You and the surgeon. It’s possible that it may be you but I doubt it since you have a successful umbilical hernia repair. Make sure you have a different surgeon for the 3rd to take out the possibility that the surgeon is not good. The nerve issue you can’t do anything about. It’s possible that years later you may get sensation back there. Adhesions in that area shouldn’t be an issue.
Umbilical hernia are different than inguinal and up to 2cm in size, they are repaired with just sutures.
Friend of a friend had hernia surgery probably 25 years ago using a mesh. He went back in with flu symptoms a couple days later and got sent home. Ended up being septicemia from an unsterile mesh, and, although he survived, I believe he ended up as a quadruple amputee. Things can go wrong. You just hope they don’t, especially that bad. Surgery is a gamble. That outcome was undoubtedly a big outlier.
That is just a heartbreaking story!!! I am no defender of the mesh procedure in any way! BUT I am sure these days there are much tighter controls on the quality of products they are using for the mesh. I however will never have a mesh repair done because off all the other issues in the above documentaries.
Today marks 4 weeks post op. I’ve been feeling really good other than the fact I’m getting over a week long bout of influenza A, which has brought on a really poor-timed cough. I’m really hoping that it doesn’t somehow affect the mesh or undo the surgery. All this coughing really freaks me out.
I’m sorry your experience left you feeling not much better. I’m over 3 mo post-op and feel great. I do get some foreign body sensations every now and then, but it’s nothing. There still is slight soreness or tenderness to the surgical site if I push on it and I do get a touch sore after hard hard work, but it’s nothing to cause alarm.
So I joined the club today…opted for the incision process vs laparoscopic. One of my best riding buddies had 2 didn with the same doc and had positive outcomes.
Also, due to clotting concerns, going under twilight sleep was a safer option for me.
Have found a very comfortable position on the couch…legs elevated at the knees and head propped up. Very litttle discomfort like this…getting up to Lee, however.
I had open surgery with mesh approx 10 years ago. Was seriously painful for the first week or two and since then I’ve been fine. Was the most gross thing feeling my intestines falling out of my stomach I had to get it fixed ASAP when I started feeling it.
Kinda wish I had came across this thread a week ago! I had surgery for left inguinal hernia and umbilical hernia at the end of August. Doctor told me 4 weeks of recovery which I followed best I could with no lifting and nothing more strenuous than a walk. To be fair after the first week I had no discomfort at all. After 5 weeks I got back on the bike doing a couple of easy rides but pretty sure I ended over doing it. Although I reduced the intensity I ended up doing 5 rides in 6 days inc a ramp test and then the last ride I did was Goddard - I had no discomfort on the bike but later that day I’ve been getting some sharp pains near the inguinal repair. 3 days later and still not going away.
Spoke with the doc and he says rest a few more days. I’m hoping its just inflammation touching a nerve and nothing more long lasting, but should have taken it much easier for another few weeks I think.
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