Mesh is causing many hernia patients to experience life-altering pain 
The thought of undergoing surgery to get rid of terrible pain and ending up with even worse pain is a nightmare, but that’s exactly what’s happening with thousands of people who have undergone hernia surgery using mesh.
Anyone with a hernia should be warned about mesh repair. If you’ve been diagnosed with either an inguinal hernia or a sports hernia, beware of any medical doctor who uses the mesh technique.
What is the Mesh Technique?
Unfortunately, many surgeons use this method. After making an incision in the area where the hernia is, the surgeon will push the bulging tissue back into the abdomen and cover it with mesh to hold in in place.
It may sound harmless enough, but this mesh is causing many hernia patients to experience life-altering pain and problems.
Lawsuits and Recalls
From 2005 to 2018, more than 211,000 units of hernia mesh have been recalled, and thousands of lawsuits have been filed. This is because so many patients have reported all sorts of serious problems following mesh surgery including organ injury, agonizing pain, bowel obstructions, and more. Some post-surgery patients have needed ambulance, and have ended up having to permanently use a colonoscopy bag.
Hernia mesh is still very unstudied. Furthermore, many patients were never warned about the severe pain they were at risk for. This is the basis for many of the lawsuit claims.
Why Are There So Many Problems with the Mesh?
For one, the mesh itself is riddled with problems. It’s designed with a coating that is supposed to protect the bowel from the mesh. However, the chemicals in this coating can cause serious and painful infections, or it completely dissolves, leaving the mesh to eat into the bowel. Neither of those sound good, right?
Secondly, the mesh does not require a surgeon to have hernia repair skills. Once upon a time, hernia repair used to require a specialist—but now, basically any doctor can work on a hernia and put this mesh into a patient’s body. This is because “mesh kits” are being sold to physicians, and no special training is required to use them. These mesh kits are marketed to doctors as being 1-2-3 easy, but they come with an immense amount of risk.
Victims of Mesh Repair
Victims have reported infections, rejection, and hernia recurrence after being implanted with the mesh. The pain has been described as “someone scratching you from the inside, all the time,” as if something is “moving, loose, or puling inside,” and the feeling of being “stabbed with something hot.”
The mesh can become stuck to organs, causing horrible discomfort and the need for another surgery. Problems walking can develop. Bowels can become twisted. Some post-surgery patients can feel that something is wrong immediately, and for others, it can take years.
The number of patients whose quality of life has sharply decreased is another reason for the hernia mesh recall.
Why is Mesh Still Being Used?
Despite the alarming and sad number of post-surgery patients who are suffering greatly due to mesh, it’s still being used. In fact, many doctors refuse to believe that there’s anything wrong with it at all. But why?
For one thing, the mesh has been around for decades—in fact, since the 1950s. This is a big selling point that manufacturers use to advertise mesh kits to doctors, but what is being left out of the conversation is that the mesh being used now is different than it has been. Its progress has actually gone backwards due to the wildly experimental new mesh designs that have been created by manufacturers who are trying to get ahead of each other in the market share raise.
These new designs are untested and unstudied, and because of the attractive advertising, the “mesh boom” has exploded over the last decade or so.
And how exactly does a method so untested get on the market?
The FDA does not require studies for these to be done on humans, so no complaints had previously been made. But now they certainly are.
Stay Away from the Mesh!
It’s good to keep this in mind: A skilled hernia surgeon will not need mesh.
Dr. William Brown knows exactly how to repair the problem, as well as how to put patients on a physical therapy regimen so that their bodies can get on the path to healing.
Unfortunately, companies and manufacturers cannot make money on a doctor’s skill. They can, however, make money from “easy mesh kits.” Many experts believe that this is one of the biggest reasons that mesh has dominated the hernia repair world for such a long time.
Don’t be fooled. You may be told that the mesh is “always improving” and here to stay, but don’t put your body at risk. If you’ve been diagnosed with a hernia of any kind, beware of anyone who suggests fixing it with mesh.
Dr. Brown has been performing sports hernia surgeries using non-mesh techniques since 1999. As one of the top no-mesh hernia repair surgeons in the U.S., he is an expert on the subject and will be happy to answer any questions or concerns regarding hernia repair with mesh.