Yes, SJA is giving terrible advice when he says that a hernia can heal without surgery and that mesh repairs result in more pain than having a hernia. That is pure BS.
Oh, and a couple of points--for a single hernia that is small, open surgery only requires a small incision. And you aren't out of work for 2 weeks. I was moving around fine after two days and back at school.
I know this because I just had an open procedure after seeing 3 different surgeons. The first two found an umbilical hernia. The final surgeon I went to, and decided was the one to use, found a second hernia (epigastric) just about 1.5" above my umbilical. During the surgery, a third was found and fixed.
We discussed the different methods used to fix hernias, and he said that throughout his years of successfully performing hernia surgeries that the safest and most reliable way was to do a "tension-free" mesh repair. This is done by making a small incision, then pushing the intestinal or other tissue back through the defects, then covering the defects with a single piece of mesh placed on the INSIDE of the abdominal wall. Using this method, the mesh integrates itself into the abdominal wall and the defects heal over time, since there is no longer any intestinal matter spreading them apart. And it results in a pain-free, tension free repair that is very strong with a very low failure rate. You can't tell it is in there b/c only a few sutures are needed to keep it in place while the tissue grows into it, and the defects arent stitched shut--they grow back together on their own.
This can also be done using the laparoscopic method, and a bonus is that there is slightly less trauma to the abdominal wall as well as a smaller scar. However, the chances that a nearby organ or tissues may be accidentally traumatized are higher. Plus, you have to be pumped up with compressed carbon dioxide and a staple gun is used to secure the mesh to the inside of the abdominal wall. That made me opt for the open procedure.
Usually the incision is pretty small, but because I had two hernias (that we knew about), the incision was larger than normal (it is about 2" long), but I don't care because I don't shave my body, and my hair will soon cover the scar. And if the scar still bothers me, I will use that new dermabond stuff to heal it. My skin is pretty good at healing anyway.
Anyway, there ended up being a second epigastric hernia/defect between my umbilical and previously known epigastric. So I had 3 hernias corrected with the tension free mesh. After the second day, there was hardly ANY swelling. It has been less than a week and my mobility is great, there is very little pain, and no discomfort.
There is a lot of misinformation about hernias on these sites. As long as you have the defect corrected properly and by a good surgeon, you will be far better off than trying to lift around a hernia. Just be sure to get a tension free mesh repair, whether it is laparoscopically done or an open procedure. Don't let them sew mesh on the outside of the defect or use the even older method of just using stitches to sew up the defect--those both result in lots of tension/pain and high failure rates.
Most laparoscopically and tension-free mesh repairs that are performed competently, correctly, and without complications have very low failure rates as long as the patient doesn't rush back into strenuous activity. An existing hernia has a much greater chance of becoming large, painful and dangerous than a previous hernia that was properly corrected has of re-occuring. And the larger a hernia becomes, the harder it is to fix--and the more likely it is to re-occur after being fixed. That is why I had mine fixed before they became any larger.
Just posting this to reinforce the fact that hernias can be safely and comfortably fixed with mesh if done properly AND that they never get better on their own, the ALWAYS will get worse in the long run.
