Is hernia surgery painful?
We take the extra steps that most surgeons do not to make our patients comfortable before, during, and after surgery.
We try to customize our approach to anxiety, anesthesia and pain control for each and every patient as much as possible.
Just as our approach to hernia repair is advanced and cutting edge, so is our approach to management of pain control.
Depending on each and every individual patient and their individual hernia, we try to offer the patient options for anesthesia during surgery, as well as pain control directly after surgery, and for after you go home. We will make recommendations based on the individual situation and give you your own options to choose if possible.
Most people choose to be completely asleep (general anesthesia) during surgery and will not experience any pain. They will have no recollection of surgery or even about waking up. Some patients who do not wish to have general anesthesia and may choose to have surgery under local anesthesia with or without IV sedation. All laparoscopic or minimally invasive procedures require general anesthesia.
During surgery, we inject long-acting local anesthesia that will "numb" the area and can last for hours to days after surgery, depending on the hernia type and location. We have fairly standard "multimodal" pain control medication regimens with which we send patients home, but because every type of hernia is different and each patient is different, we often will customize the medication regimen for individual patients as well. Because of the way we perform surgery, and the extra steps we take, over 90% of our patients will not require narcotic pain medication after surgery. But we will always give a prescription for narcotics and leave it as an option for the patient to fill it or not.
Every type of hernia is different and the amount of discomfort a patient will have during recovery most often depends on the location, size, and type. For the most common smaller hernias like umbilical (belly button) and inguinal (groin) hernias, most people are up and around on the day of surgery, and back to their daily activities the next day. A patient's only restrictions are typically those activities we request patients not to do during the recovery period. See "Recovery time after surgery." After a couple of days, most people are functioning very well, and after about a week, they are fairly back to normal.
Are you considering surgery?
If you have a hernia and would like to learn more, give us a call, or come and see us at Advanced Hernia Specialists. Call at 904-808-5658 or email us, use our online Contact Form, or Book Online.
