Umbilical hernia surgery

I had it a year ago.
I wasn’t in pain, but my belly button was an “outie”.
Simple procedure, but the pain afterwards (for me) was an 8 out of 10 for like 3 days. Wasn’t prepared for it.

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hernia

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Gross

It’s awful per my wife. Had it 3 weeks ago and dr said she’d be able to get back to the gym after 2 weeks. Def not happening. Lots of pain still

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Got the robot surgery with mesh a few years ago

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I have one and am going with the robotic surgery. Wife had the same surgeon and the robot for an inguinal hernia - no problems and the scars were minimal and are now gone. I'm trying to get it done this year since my out of pocket on insurance is paid in full.

My husband had one — surgery on a Friday and he was back to work I think early the next week. No lifting for six weeks is the main restriction I remember. Wasn’t bad recovery for him at all.

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Tell me your experiences.

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Can't speak for myself, but my brother-in-law just had the very same surgery a couple weeks ago. They did it laparoscopically and he had absolutely no issues. He told me the other day he now has an "innie" where he had an outie prior to surgery.


I had a double hernia in my lower abdomen done the same way over 20 years ago and it was a snap. I wouldn't hesitate to get it done as it is an easy surgery and one you can recover from quickly.

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Umbilical hernia surgery

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Something you have never heard of and all of a sudden, 5+ people, on a message board are like "Yeah, been through that". This place never ceases to amaze.

Wife had it done about 6 months ago. She claims it was easy, and she was back to normal pretty quick. Good luck.

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This is not medical advice.

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It’s usually a lot easier, not to mention less painful, if you relax your muscles when trying to reduce a hernia



A few things for the OP:

-umbilical hernias are common, and they can be repaired directly, laparoscopically, or robotically.

-if your lifestyle involves a significant amount of strenuous activity (job involving lifting or manual labor, lift weights regularly, etc), robotic repair with mesh would be best IMhO.

-postop pains varies. The larger the defect and the more the hernia is scarred in, the more work it’s going to take to fix it…the more discomfort you’ll have afterwards.

ETA: “direct” repair meaning the entire operation is done through an incision around your belly button.

Also, many smaller community hospitals don’t have a robot. A laparoscopic repair with mesh would be my preference in that situation (and overall/ultimately would be just as good a robotic repair)