Inguinal hernia

Talk to your regular doctor about it.  A surgeon will tell you that you have to get it fixed.

I often tell patients to leave it alone unless it is causing problems.

If you choose to get it repaired, it's usually an elective thing and can wait.

It sucks.  Your testicals will swell to the size of baseballs and your junk will look like a sweet potato.  If you sit in a recliner you will likely be trapped like a turtle on it's back until someone rescues you or you tip it over and crawl to safety.  You will curse the day you were born.

The only saving grace is that after about 2 weeks you'll feel like a new man and be able to go on with your life pain free.  I had 3 repaired at the same time, 2 on the left and one on the right side.....I was swimming in 2 weeks and running/biking in 3 weeks.

Avoid getting medical advice on the internet.

That said, I say leave it alone unless it gets bigger and/or starts to cause pain.

It won't go away, though, unless you get it repaired.

I appreciate your thoughtful reply.   I have found myself spending too much time on the internet since getting this.   I think I will meet with the surgeon, consider my options and, then, take some time making my decision.

I had no choice but to get it done.....I was pretty miserable with constant nagging pain.  If I had no pain, I would have to be like you and think twice about letting them cut on me.

I had the same thing happen to me, meet with a good doc to have it looked at.  Mine was only 1.2 centimeters and after a run I thought my junk had grown 3 sizes.  In the mean time wear compression shorts when you run, they worked like a champ for me. If you are in Fl I know a GREAT doc who has done thousands of these. 

G*

There have been several recent medical studies that are recommending a 'monitoring' approach as opposed to immediate surgery.  There was no real benefit to the patient from the surgery, but I don't think the studies were focused on athletes.  Never the less, I'm going on two years with one and have no pain, no increase in size, and it hasn't restricted any activities (including squats).

My husband had a double operated on a year ago January as it was really very painful to lift anything.  He was supposed to stay off work for 6 weeks (he's a mailman has to ride a scooter and lift bags etc).  He only took two weeks and then had a real setback and had to take a further six weeks.  He was back in the gym pretty quick but just cycling no running for a while longer...

He still talks about it a year later - oh I better not lift that coz of my hernia....

Inguinal hernia--been there, done that. It will only get worse if you ignore it.  If you ignore it and lose your job/insurance somehow, you will be up the creek and handicapped. 

1.  Make sure you have good insurance.

2. Sit-ups are NOT advised, but if you cannot resist, make sure you use an incline bench with your head down.

3. If you have to have screen, do what I did--tell your surgeon you want kevlar screen.  :-)

Good luck and hope this helps

Just went through this two months ago.  If I ever need to have the other side repaired, I will check into having laparoscopic surgery (http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/laparoscopic-inguinal-hernia-repair).  Otherwise you end up with a hefty incision and painful / numb area beneath.

My fitness has taken a pretty decent hit in the short-term because the medical provider that provided the confirming diagnosis recommended I stop running / cycling until I could see a surgeon.  That, and he also insisted that I have an ultrasound done to verify the diagnosis.  While waiting for all that, I stopped running for about 4 weeks before I could get in to see a surgeon.  Surgeon looked at it, said I'd need to have it repaired, and then told me no problem at all running until the surgery in a week.  There went four weeks down the toilet for no good reason.  He also said he wanted me running on the treadmill and cycling on a stationary bike within 7-10 days after surgery.  I didn't feel like running at all afterwards, and only started doing a little bit on the stationary bike after about 2 weeks.  After 3 weeks and my follow-up with the surgeon, he gave me some grief for not getting after the exercise more aggressively.  So I'm back training again, running and cycling.  Exactly 2 months after surgery I am doing 30 miles / week running, albeit at a much slower pace than before it all.  Another month and I should be back to 40 mpw, and I know that eventually the things will return to where they were.

Missing part of the tri season certainly can be a bit depressing.  I had to pull out of the HIM that I'd been training for.  I've gained about 10 lbs., too, largely due to getting laid off the day after my surgery and being home around food all day long for the past couple months.  Anyway, once you start training again afterwards, you will feel better, and the depression will lessen once you can focus on your workouts.  Except when you see people's race reports from the race that you were planning to do, that is still a bummer.

So just do like me and refocus on getting in some late season races.  And if you're really lucky you won't get an email while you're in surgery telling you that your job ends tomorrow.  And your anaesthesiologist won't walk up to your bed beforehand and tell you that your ECG showed an abnormality, but not to worry about it because people drop dead during marathons all the time anyway, so just go live your life and don't worry about it.

I had it a few years ago and have another one as I type.  The surgery is really not a big deal, they'll do a lapriscopic and you'll be down for a week.  I was resuming running after 2 weeks. The dr told me that I wouldn't do any damage and it was simply a matter of how much pain I could endure as to when I could resume normal activities.  

Of course weight lifting is another matter, but I had the surgery in may 2006, and ran my first marathon in october. So it really wound up only being a minor inconvenience.

You suggest to avoid getting medical advice, then go on to give him advice of leaving it alone?  Interesting...

They might, they might not.