Training and Recovery After an Inguinal Hernia Operation (mesh)
- Nov 26, 2014
- 3 min read
Training and Recovery After an Inguinal Hernia Operation (mesh)
This article is based solely on my own experience recovering from an inguinal hernia repair in March 2014 and is a rough guide only. Everybody recovers at different rates so bear this in mind before jumping on a treadmill or doing a one legged squat.
For the first week walking was a major struggle and I did not attempt to go upstairs until after the first week. I also slept on the sofa because I found lying flat very uncomfortable. On the fifth day I managed a short walk outside of no more than about 70 meters and I gradually walked further and further. By the end of the second week I could walk normally but not briskly. By the end of the third week I was able to walk on a treadmill for over half an hour. I did try the X-trainer and jogging early in the third week but I found them quite uncomfortable and was not sure if I was doing damage to the repair so I stuck with brisk walking until the fourth week.
This is where things got a little confusing. On the leaflet I was given by the hospital, it said no heavy lifting for at least six weeks. When the surgeon spoke to me before the operation, he said to be absolutely sure of no complications, there should be no heavy lifting for at least three months. Heavy lifting meaning, if you cannot push the weight with one hand standing up, do not push it, and if you cannot pull the weight with one hand standing up, do not pull it. Bearing this in mind, I was starting to put on body fat so I decided in the fifth week to begin some basic isometric exercises which I knew wouldn’t cause a problem, as well as try some light weight exercises. The exercise I relied on most was the static wall squat which I would do for a few minutes and for a few sets, supersetting with the yoga right angle pose. I carried this routine on for the next couple of weeks and at the end of the six weeks I tried a basic mini bootcamp with body weight exercises. The bootcamp went ok but press ups and planks still made the areas tingle a bit. I also tried heavier compound movements like bench press (60kg not super heavy). I stuck with weights that were well within my capabilities and did not overload at all. There were still some exercises that were uncomfortable even after 3 months. One of them being bicep curls for some reason and the other being deadlifts. From 3-6 months I stayed with 50-60% 1RM weight or body weight exercises such as dips, one legged squats and chin ups, occasionally feeling scar tissue tingling on the chin ups.
It is now eight months since the operation and I have gone back to lifting heavy on everything but I still feel cautious with heavy squats and heavy deadlifts. I tried heavy deadlifts for the first time this week and got the tingling sension again so that I had not felt for months. Whether this problem will ever go away remains to be seen, I also do not know if heavy deadlifting is causing any long term damage. My advice is go slowly, so far I have not had any major problems other than the tingling, but be extra careful with the deadlifts and squats. One thing I did discover was that a lot of fat can be burned going on 3-4 long one hour walks per week. So if you find getting back to lifting a little more challenging, stick to the walks.
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