Training & Nutrition - surgery and cycling

Has Anyone Had Hernia Surgery And Reurned To Cycling? What Was Your Recovery Time? Did It Affect Your Riding Or How You Ride? How About A Recurrance, Can Cycling Cause One In Your Groin Area? I Just Got Back Into Cycling 2 Years Ago And Now This Has Me Worried. Any Help?

I've had a hernia repair, as well as several other abdominal open surgeries. Mine was just beneath my sternum however, not in the groin, and was done in conjunction with a massive abdominoplasty and excess skin removal.

Generally you're out of commission for six weeks or so. Is it being done open or laparoscopically? The latter would allow a quicker recovery. I wasn't allowed to run for six weeks, but your doctor may give permission to ride sooner than that.

If it's repaired properly I don't see any reason why there would be any on-going problems, but then I'm not a doctor obviously -- just a frequent patient :)

i know a few guys who've had hernia surgery and it's pretty routine. ONe of them was a guy who worked at the gym as a spinning instructor, and he's a cyclist. He said it would be six weeks before he could sit on the bike again. THat's why he had it done in the middle of winter! that's probably the best scenario...have it done off season and expect to take off a few weeks. Apparenlty, the first week or so, don't even try to open a drawer!

I had abdominal surgery a few years ago and they said six weeks before i was on the bike. In fact, riding was the only thing i could do comfortably because of my incision. I couldn't do situps for six months, running was too hard, it was hard to do certain exercises at the gym- the only thing that was comfortable was riding!
It was actually seven weeks because the weather was crap,but i was on the trainer. But don't rush anything and do what they tell you in terms of recovery. ANd take those painkillers!

I had open inginual hernia surgery a few years ago. I rode for the first time post-op 3 days later (about 20 easy miles) with the OK of my doc. On post-op day 5 I rode 50 miles. My doc is a hernia specialist - it's the only surgery he does - 800+ a year. He's pioneered some techniques. His rehab protocol is to begin moving around (he suggests walking but thought cycling would be great) for a few hours a day beginning the day after surgery. Moving around keeps scar tissue from forming. During the pre-op exam I asked him what I could and couldn't do. He told me that there was basically nothing I could do in typical daily life that would harm the repair. If I wanted to do sit-ups or lift weights a few days post-op he was fine with that, however, he said, there would be some pain but no harm would come to the repair. So, I took him up on it and began riding as soon as I returned home to Colorado (the doc is in Ohio). I was doing sit-ups on post-op day 7 - there was some pain but manageable. I was living normally - no caution about exercise or picking anything up - almost immediately post-op.

Notwithstanding my above comments, you need to follow the rehab protocol and restrictions given to you by your doc. There are many hernia repair methods and your doc knows what his methods can take in regard to post-op activity.

My recommendation is to find a specialist. Ask the doc lots of questions: how many hernia surgeries does he/she do a year. What method(s) does he/she use? What is the failure rate he/she has experienced? What is the rehab protocol? Though HIPPA rules have made docs wary, you could ask for referrals. Use the internet to investigate the hernia methods the interviewed docs mentioned. Some states collect statistics on docs and the types of surgeries performed. Knowledge is power in your case.

To sum up, the hernia surgery had no negative effect on my riding. I average about 10,000 miles a year so I would have known if something had been amiss.

there's a hospital in ontario famous for doing nothing but hernias...it's an excellent hospital but basically like a hernia assembly line.

I know one guy who had to have a double hernia, i can't remember which kind he had. He's not a cyclist but does a lot of other sports, including karate. He thinks it was karate that aggravated the hernia, which had been kind of bothering him for a while. I think it was a while before he went back to karate though....