Permissible activities after an inguinal hernia op

[geordief]

I had surgery 4 days ago . Not too much pain now.I am ,as they say "busting a gut"(pun intended) to resume work in my own garden.

Weeding ,watering ,sowing seeds ,picking veg.etc.

I feel that with care I should be able to do a lot but I can see that a heavy wheelbarrow might well be off limits.

Would the same apply to digging new beds.?

Does working on one's knees provide extra protection ?

If I very carefully carry heaviesh things with the hand on the opposite side to the hernia repair is that also fairly safe (say a bucket of water,[provided i don.t swing it around)

And all movements as regular as possible/stop if feeling tired?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Hi Geordief,

While we are unable to tell you activity limitations for your specific case, the current recommendations for inguinal hernia repair post op return to activity is to not limit patients at all. In other words, there should be no restrictions. You should follow up with your physician if you have any questions.

-Jordan

[geordief]

Hi Geordief,

While we are unable to tell you activity limitations for your specific case, the current recommendations for inguinal hernia repair post op return to activity is to not limit patients at all. In other words, there should be no restrictions. You should follow up with your physician if you have any questions.

-Jordan

Thanks v much Jordan

That really is a big surprise,though as I admittedly did not get told any specific activities to avoid from my hospital ward or the doctors on their rounds , but I have read everywhere that eg lifting heavy weights is definitely to be avoided.Are you saying that I should simply undertake those activities I feel comfortable with and use commonsense when it comes to putting strain on that groin area?

Maybe I should talk with the nurse who comes around after a week to change the dressing since my normal activities include what others might well see as pretty strenuous ,such as cutting trees on the land and hauling them back across the field on my shoulder for cutting up etc.

I am pretty resigned to foregoing that (and other) activities as I do not want to risk a recurrence

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

I am not telling you to do (or avoid) anything, as I am not your physician and would need more information and a more extensive relationship with you to feel comfortable undertaking the position for giving you advice.

The current guidelines explicitly recommend no activity restrictions and post op activity is not associated with recurrence.

I would talk to your provider, for sure.

[quark]

Out of curiosity, where are the current official guidelines?

A google search for "hernia post op instructions" resulted in three general categories of advice from various hospitals, etc. (1) no restrictions (but be sensible), (2) don't lift more than 20 pounds until follow-up visit (usually two weeks) and (3) initial 20-pound limit, gradually increasing until 30 days at which point there are no restrictions. Everyone I saw decided to explicitly recommend against driving while taking narcotics. One might hope for uniform advice (absent special circumstances), but that doesn't seem the case.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Out of curiosity, where are the current official guidelines?

A google search for "hernia post op instructions" resulted in three general categories of advice from various hospitals, etc. (1) no restrictions (but be sensible), (2) don't lift more than 20 pounds until follow-up visit (usually two weeks) and (3) initial 20-pound limit, gradually increasing until 30 days at which point there are no restrictions. Everyone I saw decided to explicitly recommend against driving while taking narcotics. One might hope for uniform advice (absent special circumstances), but that doesn't seem the case.

I did a whole video about this and linked them in September of 2020.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E13KaMOiV6M

Guidelines: 2018 International Guidelines for Hernia Management: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

[quark]

The guidelines also found a lack of consistency: "Surgeons’ recommendations for physical activity restrictions and/or sick leave duration are highly variable, rarely evidence-based, and greatly affect the duration of absence from normal activity. No study has demonstrated that early return to normal activities and work after IH repair increases hernia recurrence risk or complications." See discussion at KQ15.a

I do wonder why so many doctors do not follow published guidelines. It's not as if the issues of recommendations being variable and without support in research are limited to hernia surgery.