It's important to know how to recover from hernia surgery for optimal healing and prevention of future hernias. The Penn Hernia Center offers a thoughtful and personalized hernia surgery recovery process to get you back on your feet.
Elements of Hernia Surgery Recovery
Penn Hernia Center offers the following post-operative rehabilitation services:
- Physical therapy - Physical therapy will start during your hospital stay and transition into the outpatient setting. Therapy will focus on core and hip strengthening, scar tissue management, and education on abdominal precautions including body mechanics, posture and lifting. The primary goal of therapy is to allow you to return to your prior level of function quickly and safely while promoting wound healing and maintaining surgical integrity.
- Nutritional support - While you don't necessarily need to follow a special diet after your hernia repair, you may need to make some modifications. Our nutritionists will discuss with you the importance of adequate fluid intake and foods high in fiber that will help to alleviate symptoms such as constipation following repair.
- Follow-up monitoring - Your hernia repair team will follow your recovery for two years post-surgery to make sure that everything is going well.
As with any surgery, you may experience post-operative pain in the area of your hernia repair. You may also experience some swelling and bruising in the area. It's not uncommon to feel sensations such as burning or tugging in the surgical area. This is considered normal, however, it's important to communicate these symptoms to your provider.
How Long Does It Take to Recover from Hernia Surgery?
Each person recovers differently from hernia repair so it's important to listen to your body. Hernia surgery recovery time will vary from patient to patient, depending on a variety of factors including the type of hernia treated and how invasive the surgery was required to be. However, those undergoing surgery may expect an average recovery time of 2 to 6 weeks, with significant improvement in the first 1 to 2 weeks.