"Sportsman's Hernia" - Anyone ever had one?

[Onz]

Bit of a random post for boxing day evening but I hate being injured and want to get an idea of what I'm looking at!

7-8 weeks ago after a normal football league game it felt like I'd pulled my hip abductor/groin area after overstretching and twisting at the same time for a ball. No problem I thought, played the next week and got through but it was sore, gave it a few weeks off buts its still no better really.

Anyway, off to the docs tomorrow to see what they say but in the meantime I found this article on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_pubalgia) which describes exactly the symptoms I have.

I quite often hear of professional sportsmen suffering hernias (as such) and undergoing an operation and back on the pitch within a couple of weeks. Obviously they have access to the best treatment, what I want to know is if this is what I have, how long will the whole ordeal take under the NHS (from docs to being fit again?). Any PHers experienced anything like this?

[Glassman]

No, but I put me Chalfonts down to too much scrummaging.

[Onz]

Glassman said:

No, but I put me Chalfonts down to too much scrummaging.

I thought they were called Farmer Giles me old china?!

[SimonV8ster]

A colleague of mine had a hernia, went to see the doc and he said 2 month wait for an operation. Unfortunately it wasn't two months wait for the op but two months wait to see the specialist. After he saw the specialist it was going to be another 3 odd months for the op but phoned a different hospital and has got it down to a two month wait. His level of a hernia was fairly minor I believe so it depeneds how bad yours is I guess as to how long it takes to sort out.

[aspender]

Not had one, but there's lots of excellent info on Physioroom.com:

http://www.physioroom.com/injuries/groin_and_pelvi...

[Glassman]

Onz said:

Glassman said:

No, but I put me Chalfonts down to too much scrummaging.

I thought they were called Farmer Giles me old china?!

Me old china - only 60+ old boys in the east end.

Farmer Giles - used by non-Londoners trying to give it Larry.

[Onz]

SimonV8ster said:

A colleague of mine had a hernia, went to see the doc and he said 2 month wait for an operation. Unfortunately it wasn't two months wait for the op but two months wait to see the specialist. After he saw the specialist it was going to be another 3 odd months for the op but phoned a different hospital and has got it down to a two month wait. His level of a hernia was fairly minor I believe so it depeneds how bad yours is I guess as to how long it takes to sort out.

That doesn't sound very positive, to say the least.

aspender said:

Not had one, but there's lots of excellent info on Physioroom.com:

http://www.physioroom.com/injuries/groin_and_pelvi...

Thank you, will spend some time looking through there.

Glassman said:

Me old china - only 60+ old boys in the east end.

Farmer Giles - used by non-Londoners trying to give it Larry.

I've only ever heard a 40 yr old Yorkshireman say me old china! Google's not my friend when trying to find out what Larry means so I'll give up now!

Edited by Onz on Wednesday 26th December 23:02

[jagdpanther]

Not had "Sportsmans Hernia" but have had "Weightlifters Kasplat"


Which translates to "Ive deadlifted too much weight and filled me underclangers"

[Glassman]

jagdpanther said:

Not had "Sportsmans Hernia" but have had "Weightlifters Kasplat"


Which translates to "Ive deadlifted too much weight and filled me underclangers"

Try squatting too much.

[TheCarpetCleaner]

Had 2

Both times saw specialist within a week, and had the operation 2 weeks after that.

Open surgary I would say back at your normal level of mobility etc within 3 months

Keyhole I would say about a month.

Those are based on my operations, of course every heals at different rates - I have heard of some (after keyhole) doign a marathon 3 days later - I certainly wouldnt

ETA - Ops and consultant were done pricately, I believe the avg waiting time to see a specialist is about 2 - 3 months and I was told by my last GP that they will not do the operation until it prolapses or causes major physical pain that prevents you from doing your job - which I think is a bullshit rule if they got it right

Edited by TheCarpetCleaner on Wednesday 26th December 23:18

[Onz]

TheCarpetCleaner said:

Had 2

Both times saw specialist within a week, and had the operation 2 weeks after that.

Open surgary I would say back at your normal level of mobility etc within 3 months

Keyhole I would say about a month.

Those are based on my operations, of course every heals at different rates - I have heard of some (after keyhole) doign a marathon 3 days later - I certainly wouldnt

Thanks for that, were those treatment times on the NHS or private?

[TheCarpetCleaner]

Onz said:

TheCarpetCleaner said:

Had 2

Both times saw specialist within a week, and had the operation 2 weeks after that.

Open surgary I would say back at your normal level of mobility etc within 3 months

Keyhole I would say about a month.

Those are based on my operations, of course every heals at different rates - I have heard of some (after keyhole) doign a marathon 3 days later - I certainly wouldnt

Thanks for that, were those treatment times on the NHS or private?

See above - just edited it as you replied

Be sure you ask the question about what circumstnaces they will do the operation when you speak to your GP - mine was very adamant that I would not get the surgery done if I was on NHS which would have killed my career at the time (field engineer) as I couldnt lift anything heavy.

[Onz]

TheCarpetCleaner said:

ETA - Ops and consultant were done pricately, I believe the avg waiting time to see a specialist is about 2 - 3 months and I was told by my last GP that they will not do the operation until it prolapses or causes major physical pain that prevents you from doing your job - which I think is a bullshit rule if they got it right

All great info! Were the ops and consultant covered by health insurance such as bupa etc or did you just pay cash, if so do you mind me asking what they cost? (Email me through my profile if you'd rather keep it private). Sorry for all the questions!

ETA: Yes, if that is correct than that is certainly a bullshit rule, how they can decide that such an op is at their discretion is amazing, it directly encourages a reduction in exercise and subsequently is detrimental to your health surely?!

Edited by Onz on Wednesday 26th December 23:34

[TheCarpetCleaner]

Onz said:

TheCarpetCleaner said:

ETA - Ops and consultant were done pricately, I believe the avg waiting time to see a specialist is about 2 - 3 months and I was told by my last GP that they will not do the operation until it prolapses or causes major physical pain that prevents you from doing your job - which I think is a bullshit rule if they got it right

All great info! Were the ops and consultant covered by health insurance such as bupa etc or did you just pay cash, if so do you mind me asking what they cost? (Email me through my profile if you'd rather keep it private). Sorry for all the questions!

Dont mind at all.

Full and boring details are

Fully covered as the company I worked for at the time had full private healthcare cover. Hernias are considered very minor operations.

First one was open, so they basically make an incision about 2-3 inches long and whack some kind of plastic plate thing in there and sew you up again (thats not exactly it but close enough ). Unbelieveably painful to sit up the first few days) Stayed in overnight and I think from memory it was about £2k all in with consultnats appointment

Second one was double hernia repair (first one partially bust open again) and the consultant I saw this time was a keyhole surgery specialist. They go in via a small cut under your belly button and 2 small cuts at either side of your stomache, and go down from there. Nowhere near as painful on recovery and to be honest was walking around relatively pain free after two weeks. That was also and overnight stay and I think ti was about £3.5k all in.

If you have private cover, do it. So much quicker and so much more plesant on recovery (own room, good food and nurses on good enough pay to actually give a damn )

[mybrainhurts]

Had one, circa 1971.

Ten days in hospital, no driving for god knows how long and bloody agony post op for far too bloody long...I think it was the terminal constipation that did it.

How they do it in a day, as an out patient, totally beats me...

[thetrash]

I had the 3 inch with a plastic gauze put in. I was in and out in three hours and thought that wasn't so bad.
After the anesthetic wore of it hurt luck f*ck! Go for keyhole if you get a choice.

[Ordinary Bloke]

Same as the previous posts, company BUPA paid, but I'd recommend NOT keyhole as ok there is a bigger scar but much lower chance of failure (means more pain and another op later on). Recovery time was 4-6 months, but it still hurts now sometimes, 5 years later, as there is some adjustment (tearing of internal scar tissue etc) to be sorted out over the years.

I heard NHS takes forever, but can't comment.

[renmure]

From a physio / rehab point of view you tend to be looking at a 4 week period. Generally takes a week to stand upright and walk pain free and a further week to be comfortably more mobile/jog. End of week 3 should be fairly well on the road to recovery and week 4 usually introduces fairly active twisting/turning type exercises. Lifting / bending best avoided for few weeks. I used to work in professional footie and have been in on the operation for a nosey a couple of times. Generally seems successful but around half of the patients ended up needing the other side done at some point later. NHS would put it at a very low priority so expect to wait. It should be around 120 quid for a private consultation with a specialist, in this case usually a General Surgeon since they will have more experience.

Edited by renmure on Thursday 27th December 09:28

Edited by renmure on Thursday 27th December 09:34

[52classic]

For my 2007 'resolution' I decided to get a hernia repair having lived with the problem for far too long, mainly due to lack of bottle! ....White coat syndrome!

I settled for local BUPA at the going rate which was under 2 grand for a mesh repair - which is essentially a small parachute shaped gadget made of the same stuff as a shower exfoliator. Popped throgh the hole, opened out and presumably stitched it's job done.


Can't speak highly enough for the team at Cardiff BUPA. In midday Thursday and home in time for evening TV with a calming scotch in hand!

Home rest on Friday. Driving/walking Saturday and back to work on the Monday.
Nothing worse than slight discomfort, no pain whatsoever - although tackle displayed some strange colours and shapes for a week or so.

Bonus was that the surgeon was a Morgan owner - A useful distraction to take my mind off what was happening!

[TheCarpetCleaner]

52classic said:

- although tackle displayed some strange colours and shapes for a week or so.

I had various wierd colours for about 3 weeks afterwards...