Riding after Hernia Surgery

[kdavid44]

I had surgery for a right inguinal Hernia on December 15. The doctor suggested I wait at least until after New Year before I start back on the bike. Mainly because of the clipless pedals. Has anybody else taken such a short layoff from riding. I rode with it til December 14th. I am 60 years old and in reasonable good condition and not overweight. I can return to swimming and running next week.

[terry]

had mine (hasn't everbody?) when i was around 45, i think. i was off the bike for 4-5 weeks and then it was small gear spinning for a few more. i couldn't get used to the feeling i was gonna split my gut if i went too hard. hurts like hell to sneeze/laugh doesn't it? hang in there it goes by fast.

[kdavid44]

Terry,

Thanks for the information and your sense of humor about your experience. I am still sore. I keep laughs to minimum and hope to hell I don't get a cough in the midst of this cold snap in Miami.

david::crap:

[David Berry]

I have unfortunately had the surgery 4 times. I can tell you every time my recovery has been different. The first two surguries I recovered relatively quickly from. The last two, I had pain for months.

The general recomendation is 6 weeks after surgery. That would put you around Feb 1 in terms of getting back on the bike. From my experience, depending on how you feel, you may be able to do some light pedaling after 4 weeks, or mid January in your case.

I would tell you two things. One, its better to take more time and let your body rest and heal. It takes time for the abdominal muscles to grow back together. If you do something too fast, you do risk tearing the sutures or musce again. Also, what you may think is a 'light' effort, may really hurt the next day. Not just do you lose strength in the abdominal wall, but flexibility.

Second, whatever you choose to do, listen to your body. If it says stop, stop, not in a mile or two--now. Your main goal should be to recover, so pay attention to how you feel during any activities and after.

If you want to get in some activity, I would say do some walking. A 30 minute walk may help you gauge how much your body can handle. Personally, I would stay away from running or swimming. Running is too high impact and swimming stretches the abdominals too much, which will result in pain and you heading to shore.

Hope this helps. Don't feel bad about taking it easy. The roads will still be there to ride on in another month.

David

[D-Squared]

But how much time is hard to tell.

A year after my hernia operation I was playing with the kids in the pool and throwing them up in the air and oops I ripped open both spots where they had previously patched me up.

I'm waiting now to go back under.

Good luck with your recovery.

D2

[kdavid44]

David and D Squared.

Thanks for the advice. Will most likely follow it for the bicycle. As for running, I only do that on the treadmill and at a slow pace and I was told by the doctor that swimming would be OK if I use my upper body only. I still am going to wait at least two more weeks before I start that, I have been walking since day one and that helps. Also I am on vacation from work until January 6th so I can take everything slowly. The doctor that did the surgery uses the newest techniques and they only do hernias. Recovery time is a lot faster than my previous experiece in which I had pain for nearly two years. I stopped pain meds after second day with this procedure and only took Motrin for two days after that. The Doctor is a cyclist and he told me to wait three to four weeks before I get on the bike and to take it easy and spin only.

:beer: