Has anyone else’s child have an inguinal hernia?

[user1473456714]

My child is. 7 and since Saturday has had a swollen lump near his groin with slight pain. He’s been diagnosed with an hernia and waiting for the surgeon to be in contact. How long is the waiting list roughly?

Yep, one of mine had that, but he was much younger, around 20 months. It was 3 weeks from diagnosis to surgery, but we are not in the UK.

Not a child but this happened to me (I was 37).
not sure what the wait time for a child would be?
But for me recently as an adult.. I think it was about 2 years from the first appointment to the surgery.
This was very recently. Hopefully for a child wait times are different!

Yes my son had two as a baby, the wait list was 4-6 months for a none urgent surgery a couple of years ago.

Sorry can’t help on the waiting list as we went private but DS had one from about age 2, we did a year of “watchful waiting” then he had surgery aged 3. It was really straightforward and simple with such a tiny scar in the crease of his groin that we couldn’t see it at all after a couple of years.

Thank you all! I’ve heard that hernias tend to disappear when they relax and lie down etc but my child’s has been constantly there. No pain redness etc but tonight has started to feel warm to the touch hopefully the wait list won’t be too long!

My son was 14. The first swelling went down quickly but he occasionally had aches afterwards.
The initial consultant appointment came through in about 8 weeks and the op 6 months later. Once i was on the hospital system i made it clear to outpatients that i would take any cancellation at short notice (my job is very flexible) to get it all done as soon as possible. We are in zone 2 London i think we are lucky with wait times.
I flagged it with the school and put it on medical forms for scout trips etc until the op sorted it.

If the swelling does not subside i imagine he'll get treated faster. Fingers crossed.

Keep an eye on it. DS had one at 6 weeks and ended up having emergency surgery as it had blocked his intestine (swelling) and cut off blood supply below to his groin. All fine, he’s an adult now. But if the swelling increases, or he’s in pain, or starts vomiting, go to A&E.

This.

Should I be concerned that the swelling doesn’t disappear at all? He is sleeping at the moment and I can clearly see the bulge. We do have an ultrasound on Wednesday afternoon to 100% confirm the hernia so I will ask then!

They told me, if the bulge was soft and I could gently push it back in, it was fine and nothing to worry about... but if the area was hard and he was clearly uncomfortable, it was not OK, and should be treated as an emergency.

However, my child was an infant who couldn't talk yet, so slightly different situation. Definitely ask your doctor what you need to be aware of, for your situation.

How is he today OP?

The above sounds about right. My DS was tiny but basically the hernia was a bit of intestine poking through the abdominal muscle wall. It would go in and out, but then it got stuck, swelled and blocked his intestine.

I think it’s ok as long as you are vigilant and prepared to react quickly.

Hi he is good, wouldn’t know he has the lump no pain etc. He had an ultrasound which said it wasn’t a bowel hernia but was a fatty tissue hernia and will need more investigations. However they didn’t explain much about that 🙈

Good that they’ve had a look and you know a bit better what it is. That sounds more comforting/ less worrying.