Good hernia repair

When moving home I acquired a left-side inguinal hernia. There was a sharp pain for a moment and nothing else. But then when walking more than 100 yards I’d feel a pain so I looked it up online and found it was a hernia. A search for a natural cure found some exercises to prevent a hernia, so I did these but they didn’t help. In fact they may have made it worse. The exercises to prevent a hernia strengthen your core muscles so I’m sure they work great for prevention, but once you’ve torn your abdomen, even a little bit, those exercises come too late.

I don’t think there’s a natural cure for a hernia. You could try lying on your back for hours on end, wearing a brace while moving around and taking it very easy to give your body a chance to knit together both sides of the abdominal tear. You will gain weight with so much inactivity, however, and to lose it you will need strength exercises. Strength exercises all tend to put pressure on the core, so can make the hernia worse, so you’d have to be very selective of the exercises you do. Any pressure on the core would counteract any progress your body is making in healing the abdominal tear and I don’t know how long it would take for the tear to fully heal, if it would ever heal at all.

So I had to apply for a hernia repair and about 12 months later I went for the op. Lucky for me, but not for the taxpayers, it was performed at a private hospital (because the NHS are overloaded so they outsource many operations). I was nervous — this might be my final farewell — but the doctors put me at ease, then put me out for a few hours, and when I awoke smiling angelic faces were looking down at me. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven!

I suppose I was high from the anaesthetic and I felt very relaxed with not a care in the world. Kind attentive nurses checked on me regularly and a good meal was brought to me in my own little room. Sleep came easily that night. The anticipation of going home the next day and, after six weeks, being able to move and exercise as normal again was so promising. The pounds had piled on with not getting out and about so much and so I was really looking forward to getting back to full fitness and thriving once more. But I hadn’t allowed for a slight snag that freaked me out! Read more in Part 2.