You don’t have to go ‘under’ or ‘go to sleep’ when undergoing a routine hernia repair surgery, unless it is the complicated type. When talking about hernia surgery, it can be done using a local anaesthetic and you are actually awake but pain free when the procedure is being done. The only down side is that you get to hear what the surgeons and staff are talking about. It can be a little scary listening to them talk about your intestines and other stuff in there. If the conditions are of a complicated type, then general anaesthesia has to be performed wherein sleep induction has to be necessary.
Be it a simple or complicated type of surgery, hernia surgery recovery can be a breeze for others, a harrowing experience for some. Depending on your constitution, you can recover with grace or irritate the staff. There are no restrictions following routine repair, just don’t do anything strenuous. A blow at the site can cause rupture of incision site. OUCH!
Pain medication like Tylenol is sometimes all that it takes post op and you may begin to carefully take baby steps and see how much pain you can withstand. After general anaesthesia, dizziness may be experienced, but that is not unusual or a complication. Moving around right after surgery can actually hasten the healing process. Not moving around raises more complications like adhesion of tissues and before you know it, you are back under the knife again. Running around is not an option. But some children who experience no pain after a day or two actually forget that they had surgery. Then again, children are more resilient than adults.
Infants who undergo surgery have an easier time in hernia surgery recovery. The parents are the problem. They are so stressed at the thought of their child going under the knife that sometimes they are the ones who need the recovery time. Even the nursing staff can get so strained that they will insist on recovery time themselves. Infants actually just wake up, are groggy for a while, and then scream for their milk. As if nothing has happened. Ingestion of solids and liquids come in two or three days later so in the meantime you will be hooked on to IV fluids. This may sound funny, but some patients actually ask if they should take a shower? Please do! Not only does it make you clean, but this could actually improve your chances of infection free post op. The nursing staff is only too happy to help you out.
Hernia surgery recovery for those patients who have underlying medical conditions can have a more difficult time. The complications may include from the most common to the least common are: infection, bleeding, wound dehiscence, and electrolyte imbalance. Needless to say, these can increase the number of days of stay in the hospital, more medications and antibiotics, etc. Those patients with diabetes and heart conditions may also have difficulty.
All in all, hernia surgery recovery depends on the outlook of the patient after a thorough assessment by the attending physician or surgeon. Barring complications, those who work, they can be back in the grind in about two weeks.