Inguinal Hernia

[Slipas]

Ok, so I’ve been having this thing for a long time now. I think I discovered it around 3-4 years ago - not even sure about the exact time. Anyway, I think I want to get rid of it maybe later this year or next year and need your input.

1. What are my options? Mesh or no mesh
2. How dangerous is the operation? Cost? How long to heal
3. Recommend some good doctors please. I’ll appreciate!
4. How do I manage it in the meantime because I feel like I have a golf ball in my nuts when I’m in a standing position and I hate it? I wouldn’t say it’s painful, but I feel there’s a foreign body in my nutsac and it sucks. I want it out!

Honestly, any kind of advice will be appreciated at this point as the internet is overloaded with information about this subject and it’s overwhelming. I think @Mundu mulosi had the operation done, but he didn’t share much details.

Note: I haven’t gotten checked by an expert btw, but I discovered I have this thing after reading the web. Asanteni.

[thesavage]

@Slipas

Ok, so I’ve been having this thing for a long time now. I think I discovered it around 3-4 years ago - not even sure about the exact time. Anyway, I think I want to get rid of it maybe later this year or next year and need your input.

1. What are my options? Mesh or no mesh
2. How dangerous is the operation? Cost? How long to heal
3. Recommend some good doctors please. I’ll appreciate!
4. How do I manage it in the meantime because I feel like I have a golf ball in my nuts when I’m in a standing position and I hate it? I wouldn’t say it’s painful, but I feel there’s a foreign body in my nutsac and it sucks. I want it out!

Honestly, any kind of advice will be appreciated at this point as the internet is overloaded with information about this subject and it’s overwhelming. I think @Mundu mulosi had the operation done, but he didn’t share much details.

Note: I haven’t gotten checked by an expert btw, but I discovered I have this thing after reading the web. Asanteni.

If you have not been checked by an expert, you could easily mistake a hydrocele, a varicocele and an indirect inguinal hernia. An epididymal mass could also confuse you. So could a testicular one. Many of such masses would be benign. If you are 100% convinced that it is an indirect inguinal hernia, then the options you are talking about apply. Mesh it is. Operation not dangerous. Please have the diagnosis confirmed first. Will not recommend any doctor. I will leave that choice to you.

[Azor_Ahai]

I think on matters health, you should consult actual professionals at the hospital instead of ktalk vimenyis.

[Slipas]

@thesavage

If you have not been checked by an expert, you could easily mistake a hydrocele, a varicocele and an indirect inguinal hernia. An epididymal mass could also confuse you. So could a testicular one. Many of such masses would be benign. If you are 100% convinced that it is an indirect inguinal hernia, then the options you are talking about apply. Mesh it is. Operation not dangerous. Please have the diagnosis confirmed first. Will not recommend any doctor. I will leave that choice to you.

Thank you! Which specialist would I need to see?

[captain_obvious]

Just go to India, incompetent Kenyan doctors will sew your scrotum to your kisogo.

[thesavage]

@Slipas

Thank you! Which specialist would I need to see?

Any doctor in any county hospital should be able to confirm the hernia. But for the surgery, he will likely refer you to a surgeon. Similarly in a private hospitals you are likely to be seen by a medical officer first, then you will be referred to a surgeon. No imaging is necessary for a simple straight forward indirect inguinal hernia. But if the doctor suspects something else, there is a possibility they may request imaging, usually an ultrasound (scrotal ultrasound). Going for a specialist straight up is common in Kenya, but it has been shown by numerous studies not to be the best approach.