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This is great reading all of this information regarding the post hernia surgery swelling and complications. I am sorry for all of the pain you lads have endured, but thank you for this information as I myself just underwent laproscopic surgery for a bi lateral inquinal hernia repair just on November 12th. I was looking for some answers however on post surgical issues...

The surgery went fine. Into recovery than out to home. Picked up my pain pills - percocet. Went home, felt great actually. Started feeling woosy a couple hours later, took a phenagrin and went to bed. My problems began around day 2 or so post surgery when my scrotum swelled up to about 4 times it's size. The skin very tighlty swollen and painful (due to the swelling) and Completely black, the full sack. Some of the blackness spread onto my penis, lower part of the shaft and all around it. Very scary. I have been back to my surgeon's office twice now since my surgery. Each time they are not concerned about the swelling and bruising and have advised while they don't see it in all patients or even many patients it still can happen to some. You can opt to get an ultrasound of the area if you are really concerned - but in general I am being told it is accumulated blood and body fluid from the abdominal post surgery drainage to the area of least resistance (your sack). A hematoma can also result around your testi (which is the large hard piece). According to my surgeon's once your swollen there is nothing you can do about the swelling or brusing except just wait it out. Applying ice and than heat in 20 min intervals... ice 20 on, off, on.. etc and than later heat 20 on, off, on..etc can be helpful in providing some comfort from the pain. Take your pain pills as needed (if you are taking oxycodone, percocet, etc.. remember to be also popping some exlax so you can actually have your bowel movements - gas may be painful, especially post op from the laproscopic surgery (remaining gas in the body very painful the first nite). Also doc says take ibuprofin round the clock to help with the swelling. As there is pain due to the swollen nature of your scrotum - hitting the chair first, knocking against your legs). I am being told it will take 2 to 4 weeks for my scrot to return to 'normal'. 10 days post op the color is now coming back to normalish - now modeled between blue's and pinks, versus black. My pain is minimal now. The swelling is about half of what it was but my balls are still really large probably x2 what it usually is. Contact your physician if you have questions. Push your doc for some answers if you arent not getting them, as most doc's seem to take this surgery very casually since it is so common. I wasn't told by my surgeon that I should be prepared for swelling of the scotrum or steps that i could take to prevent the swelling - Steps are - following your surgery, for several day's - keep your scrotum raised above the rest of your body - above the plain of your legs and body. Do this by rolling up a towel and placing underneath your scrotum - pushing your scrotum up as much as you can above your abdomen (but remember this post issue only affects some men anyway). Had it not been for this swelling i would be back to 100% as the recover from the surgery pain is fine.

I noticed that many talk about this issue but not too many post how it turned out. I will try to do so, as I was very curious what the internet had on this since my doc's office didnt seem too concerned and was lacking answers other than - hmm we don't see this too much. They didn't seem that concerned about the gear that is part of the most important thing on my body! Which is very irritating.

Good Luck!
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Having the same issue here, had lypro inguinal surgery 3 days ago and my scrotal sack is swollen and bruised, they said it should go away and swelling was normal, but its pretty shocking to have a giant blue/black sack! Go in for follow up monday and will make sure to get real answers as it seems most everyone here is getting brushef off!
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Surgurey recommended or not? :-(
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I have had the same surgery and its been 7 full days and I still have swelling in the right testicle and pain. Still bruising and numbness. I am concerned. Dr. placed mesh to help prevent any further problems. I have a repair done 20 years ago on the left side without the Dr. putting in the mesh and have none of the prob;ems that I have with this one on the right side. I didn't have swelling or bruising, I was playing softball again after just three weeks and I felt good. Now 20 years later yes I am older but don't feel that this is the reason for the problems that I am having. Has anyone from the discussion get any better and how long did it take.
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Hello everybody,

I had a right side Inguinal hernia repair done (open). I have had a fair number of different surgeries over the years but his one sure takes the cake for pain. I am now nearing 6 weeks post op and continuing to have burning (nerve) pain. I happen to work as an emergency room trauma nurse as well, and I do understand what is happening in many of your cases. The bruising you are explaining to the scrotum is very normal since your scrotum is dependent to (below) the surgical site. Blood will drain into the scrotum post-op and stay there due to not having anywhere elso to go. The pain that you guys are describing is much the same as my own. This pain is generally caused by an entrapped ilioinguinal nerve. It becomes trapped in the scar tissue and swelling that occurs from the incision closure and patch used to block future hernias from happening. Continue to take Anti-inflammatory meds (Advil) and carefully ice the site for 20 minute intervals. Don't leave the ice against bare skin or on to long, as you can get frostbite. Good luck! This is a long process guys.
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I am on day 6, and my scrotum feels as if it is in a constant vice. I have a Dr. appt tomorrow, so let's see what he thinks. I would rate this pain a persistent 8.
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I just had surgery on St.Pats day 3 days ago. Left side above testical. Pretty hernia. Got the mesh done.
Day one was not to bad.
Day two was soar and started to swell and more pain.
Day three swelling bigger and black n blue.
This is normal to happen for a week or more depending on your diet and if you move or not.
Don't be dumb and lift anything for a month.
Walking is good if you can tolerate it.
Sneezing or coughing needs to be careful. Press down gently on area and breath out the lung instead of diaphram.
Take two Exlax on second day and eat soft foods. I expect to poop later today.
It's been 4 days since last poop so I'm paitently waiting for Exlax to kick in.
Percocet pain meds contribute to constipation so expect it.
Stretch legs and keep blood moving through your system to prevent any booed clots. This can happen very easy.
Breath exercise and stay positive. Try not to laugh but smile a lot.
I expect the next five days to be swollen and soar. Follow up with doctor in two weeks.
Don't lift for six.
Good luck and don't worry. Just heal and expect a painful recovery.
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Had pain in the testicles bad enough to wake me up at night and prevent me from going to work. It would feel better in the morning usually. I had been misdiagnosed with an STD, been given anti-biotics, been to ER twice had 2 ultrasounds and a catscan. Finally a doctor felt a marble sized lump on the lower left side of my groin. Pushed up surgery for open left inguinal hernia. Had the swelling and briusing after 3 days . Now 2 weeks and 2 days later swelling is down but left testicle is lower, slightly larger and pain returns :'( .Nerves??? exerted myself a little too much??? Some bruising, redness and generally still uncomfortable. Basically not doing much. Gonna hope and wait it out until follow up with surgeon in a few days. Read somewher testicular pain is difficult to diagnose and cause sometimes unkown . Hoping this is fixed for me!
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Day five. I went to work yesterday for a about 6 hrs. Just walking around supervising.
It was soar and I got shooting sharp nerve like pains down my left groin and femur area.
This was due exerting myself. That was dumb because I'm paying for it today.
Listen to the doctor and do nothng for a week.
Now I'm back to more ice packs to care for moreswelling and pain.
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Men!!! All of you should really calm down. You had surgery, a major surgery. No one heals in 1 day or 5 days or even 10 day. Recovery from any surgery usually takes a good 6 to 8 weeks.

Relax about the black and blue looking scrotum and penis. My husband had surgery yesterday and his entire penis and both testicles are black and swollen. THIS IS NORMAL.

Take it easy, let someone wait on you and take care of you! All will be good again. Just let yourself recover!
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It's been good reading this thread. Not because I enjoy hearing about other people's pain but to get some re-assurance that there are others with similiar symptoms (and worse symptoms).

Managed to get myself a right hand side inguinal hernia. The surgeon has said most people are back at work in 2 or 3 days & so despite it being a busy time at work I thought I'd go for the op. Surgeon warned me of the side effects of surgery but said nothing about post operative recovery. So, I had the op on Monday. Today is Sunday, 6th day post-op amd I'm laid up.

Monday night post op - needed some good strong pain killers in the middle of the night (codeine perhaps I don't know).

Tuesday - felt generally OK thanks to general anaesthetic in the system & diclofenac (aka voltaren / voltarol).

Wednesday - experiencing sharp searing pains when making certain movements, like sitting up, walking. Pretty much any movement in fact. This burnign pain was roughly 1-2 inches below the incision line. Roughly at the top & slightly to the right of the old fella.

Thursday - no improvement on the burning pain. Main scar seemed to be healing OK. I had a shower & left the dressing off afterwards. Rang the doctor: "Hmmm. Could be referred pain from the scar site. Probably not nerve damage. Keep taking pain killers". Thanks Doc. No improvement other than a marginal improvement when taking the pain killers. Walking almost impossible other than left foot forward then dragging the right leg up parallel. Heavy feeling in the scrotum. Which makes most positions uncomfortable. It feels like "the twins" who have co-existed happily for 45 years now cannot get on with each other & keep being in the wrong place.

Friday - Perhaps a 2% improvement so I went back & saw the surgeon. "Not nerves as you'd feel that over a wider area. Could be where the deep stitching is anchoring the mesh. I'll jab you with a local anaesthetic to numb the pain. Keep on the painkillers." Had the jab, hardly any difference. Perhaps I'd pointed to the wrong place as the surface skin is numb and the pain seems to lie deeper.

Saturday - managed to scoot to the park (about 300 metres) on my bike, by lowering the saddle and carefully ensuring I didn't turn my balls into flat discs. Walking still almost impossible apart from the left foot forward approach accompanied by serious swearing & wincing.

Sunday - Lying in bed typing this, using some tight underwear to offer some support to the crown jewels. Still getting sudden burning pain when moving. Wondering if the operation had involved a mistake of some kind until reading this thread. Will speak to the doc again tomorrow but at least I can see that these side effects, even though not mentioned in advance, are in fact quite common.

So much for back at work in 2 days.
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Gentlemen...I totally appreciate all that have posted here.. It has helped me immensely and actually some are quite hilarious.  It is good to see maintaining a sense of humor when your balls are the size of a basketball and dragging behind you on the floor.  I just found this thread...perhaps a little late (I'm on day 5 now) I had already been to the ER on day 2 after literally watching my scrotum fill up (in about 3 hours) like a blood water balloon to the point it was unrecognizable.  My penis disappeared. It really freaked me out (especially after the first two days of basically very little pain... I was planning to go to work the next day)  But then my entire groin turned into a huge blood blister. Did I mention that my penis disappeared.  Anyway, after the 2 hour wait in the ER, the PA comes in...yes a PA (my insurance dollars at work..and I have very good insurance).  She looks at my incision and goes "cool" (I guess she hasn't seen one of them before).  Clearly, you guys are getting that this was a wasted trip.  When she finally decided to look she asks me "did you call your Dr?" (It's Sunday night on Easter) I said "no". She said "Why didn't you call your Dr.?" and I said "because it's the evening  of Easter Sunday and I didn't think he would pick up his office phone and besides that for the last three hours I've been watching my groin turn into a bowling ball and got a little concerned, like, if I might be bleeding out or something so can you please stop treating me like an id**t and tell me what's going on??"  She goes, I'm not sure to which I responded "can I see a Dr. now?"  Anyway, the Dr. wasn't much better and didn't seem all concerned and said I should call my Dr tomorrow.  I left.  Called the Dr. the next morning and of course I would only get to the nurse. She said this happens...not too often, but does.  I'm like REALLY??  Don't you think it would of been better if the Doc would let me know this "can happen?"  Then she offers if I have enough pain meds..I go "thats it?" "You have no concerns for this at all?? She goes "nope, it just happens to some.  But I can get you more pain meds." She called in the pain meds and Ive been living on them since. I now just found this forum and am so grateful.  I now have a course of action and know I'm not an id**t.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.  I'm also gonna give the Doc a little whatfor for all this BS I'm going through.  Tell him what the correct course of action to take and how to help his patients. 

Tomorrow is day 6 and hopefully when I look down I will see a cantaloupe and not a bowling ball..

Best of luck to everyone

I'm out
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Rust I am curious to how you are feeling now?  I just the surgery on the right side and the usual swelling in the nuts but having the same problem with shooting pains in upper right leg.  Hard to walk faster then a 80 year old on day 6 now.  Would be great to hear if it went away for you.  Cheers
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Hey Everyone, Just some info I am on my 16th day now and nuts have lost the swelling and hurting.  Also I posted right above about pulling pains in my upper leg.  I went back to the doc and he said its because I was being to careful when walking and straining the muscle and just told me to walk normally.  Which I did although sore it was fine and feel much better now.  :)  So if you have pulling pains in your upper leg no worries and try to just walk normally.  Wish everyone luck!  Cheers
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On March 17, 2011, I was emitted into the ER for an inguinal hernia on my left side. The ER wanted to attempt to push my intestine back in; I assured them that it was not a possibility, that immediate surgery was necessary, but they insisted. After I woke up from the twenty minute anesthetic, the doctor told me that they were unsuccessful in pushing my intestine back in, and surgery would be necessary as soon as possible. I was so relieved that they were going to do in-service surgery, for I did not want to wait any longer to be referred weeks later.
After surgery, I felt a bit nauseous, but I assumed it was mostly from the antithesia. I could not hold my food down and I requested that I stay at the hospital for an additional day until I felt strong enough to leave.
After discharge I went to stay with my brother for recovery , for it was more peaceful than my house. I am well aware of what post-op is like for an inguinal hernia, for I had one repaired when I was eleven, on my right side though.
To my surprise, the following days were awful. I could not hold any food down, I felt nauseous, and had stabbing pains in my lower back, and I also felt extremely sore in my groin.
I called my surgeon and explained my symptoms and he explained to me that it was particularly normal to feel the way I was feeling. I trusted my surgeon, for I thought he knew what was best for me.
On day 3, I noticed an swelling in my left testicle. I also felt "stuff" in my scrotum; some of it felt like fluid, but there was other foreign particles floating around and it made me feel very uncomfortable. I can't describe the pain, but all I know is I was doubled over in the bed, and no position made me feel better. It felt as if my left testicle was on the verge of exploding. I called the surgeon again and explained my updated symptoms. He advised me that I had a pretty serious surgery and that the "stuff" I was feeling was fluid. He told me to take motrin and put either an icepack or frozen vegetables (wrapped in a towel) underneath my scrotum and keep the lower half of my body raised. I did as my doctor told.
On day 4, My left testicle was the size of a cadbury egg. My scrotum was a dark purple; it looked as if it had been punched repeatedly for hours on end, and believe me, it felt just the same. I called my surgeon again and explained my symptoms. He assured me to calm down and to understand that these symptoms were completely normal. He said he understands my concern and worry, but assured me I had nothing to worry about, and the pain WOULD SUBSIDE eventually. I never left the bed for the rest of my time at my brothers. My ex (an RN) continued to advise me to go back to the hospital, but I told her I trusted my doctor.
On day 5, I called my doctor once more. He told me if the pain had increased by the next day, to call him again, and he'd check me out just to make me feel better. I ignored my doctor this time and forced my brother to take me back to the hospital.
I went back to the same hospital that did the surgery, for I figured it would be best, since they had all of my records and recent history of the operation. I waited for three hours in the waiting room and when I was finally put in a bed, I waited another hour for a doctor. The doctor was very arrogant in her response when I alluded to the fact that something was wrong. They ordered an ultrasound, and I'll never forget this very moment. They moved the instrument on and around my right testicle first, you could hear pulsating sounds and flowing blood. Then the technician told me she was going to test the left testicle now. She moved the instrument around the swollen purple testicle and all I heard was static and crackling. I knew instantly that something was wrong.
After an hour of returning from ultrasound, suddenly, the doctor who was so negligent and carefree entered the room alarmed followed by the director of the hospital, my surgeon (who had driven to the site), and a urologist. They asked my family to leave the room, and then began to divulge the bad news. They never admitted to any wrong doing, but simply stated that something had occurred that resulted in cutting off the blood flow to my left testicle, and it was past the point of salvation. They later removed my left testicle that evening.

I have read plenty of testimonies of those who suffered from scrotum/testicle pain after an inguinal hernia surgery. Many of you have described the symptoms that seemed so similar to mine, but seemingly you all wound up fine, or perhaps the same thing happened to you, but I'll never know, because the majority of testimonies are never followed up.
If there is anyone out there that has had a similar circumstance resulting in the removal of their testicle, I would really appreciate your time to discuss your experiences. It has been nearly over a year since the surgery, and I am struggling to get my life back together. I feel as if I have lost the greater part of my sexual drive, my erections do not last as long, and I have lost 90% of the feeling in my orgasms. I still produce semen, but there is not overwhelming climaxing feeling. I am not sure if it's trauma or not. All I know is I hate what they did to me, and I would love to speak with someone who is familiar with my experiences.

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