“Is it normal to have pain months after hernia surgery?”
I am a 38 year old male. I want to know if it is normal to have pain months after hernia surgery?
4 Answers
It is not normal to have pain months after hernia surgery, but it can occur. It depends on the location of the hernia repair and the procedure performed. The most common cause of pain after hernia repair is nerve entrapment or damage. This can be diagnosed with nerve conduction studies. If a nerve is transected (cut), it regenerates at a rate of 1 millimeter per day. If pain persists past 3 months, multimodal analgesia including nerve blocks can be performed. Patients with a positive response can be treated with weekly injections until pain relief is sustained. If more complicated and the pain persists, then a referral to a pain specialist is indicated.
What kind of hernia surgery did you have? It is not uncommon to have some discomfort that lasts, but not significant pain.
It is uncommon (maybe less than 10% of patients) to develop chronic pain. If you have pain months after surgery, I would recommend following up with your surgeon for persistent symptoms.
No, unless you have nerve damage or herniated or have bowels adhesions with bowel hernias.
