Story: A few years ago I was into weightlifting.  I concentrated on my upper
body and made good progress.  After a bit I decided to turn to my lower body
because my scrawny legs were beginning to become even more glaring in
comparison to my upper body.  I did the usual assortment of leg excercises --
leg extensions, curls, etc.  But I did not do squats.  Unfortunately, I found
out that, unlike my upper body, my lower body seemed to be somewhat resistant
to the excercises I was doing.  I made gains, but they were relatively small.
So at this point in time I began doing squats.

For the record, the squat is pretty much accepted amongst bodybuilders as the
king of excercises when it comes to building lower body muscle mass.  As it
turned out, I was not doing the squat for long at all when I began having a
burning sensation in the left side of my groin every time I did the excercise.  
I would not call it painful, but it was clear that something was amiss -- so I
quit doing squats.  I continued with the rest of my regimen without incident.  
About a year later I quit lifting entirely, mostly due to a lack of time.

After that I took a physical as a requirement for a new job.  The doctor told
me that I had a slight inguinal hernia on my left side, and that I didn't need
surgery.  At that point I realized just what that burning sensation had been.  
I don't know if I acquired the hernia during squatting or at some time
beforehand, but I guess it doesn't really matter.  I asked him if it would
restrict me in any way, being that the hernia was slight, and he said no.  
Somewhat surprised by the lack of restrictions, I asked him if he thought I
could do squats.  He said that he would recommend doing strengthening
excercises such as situps and leglifts for a period of time first.

It is now 3 years later and at 24 I am getting back into weightlifting again.  
I really would like to be able to do squats as part of my regimen.

Questions: Do the doctors on this net agree that I may be able to do squats if
I first do strengthening excercises for a time?  Do you know any excercises
that would be better than leg lifts or situps for this purpose?  Could you
give details such as suggested number of repetitions (as well as the weight
required, if any) and the period of time needed before squats could be
attempted? Incidentally, my hernia must indeed be slight, because I've had a
few physicals since the original diagnosis and most doctors cannot detect the
hernia even if I tell them that I have one! I might suspect that the original
diagnosis was wrong were it not for the consistent burning sensation I got
while squatting.

I realize that no matter what precautions I take, squatting will entail some
element of risk.  What I'd like to do is to understand that risk as well as
possible beforehand, including the possible consequences.  Is it likely I will
worsen the hernia, possibly to the point of requiring surgery?  If surgery is
required, will I be back to 100% ? Does corrective surgery for inguinal
hernias often have to be repeated?  If so, why?

Does anyone else on the net have any experiences that might shed some light on
this matter?

Thank you in advance.

--  
Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!129!26.0!Tim.Welsh

--
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged

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Ref your "slight Inguinal hernia" on the left side.

Inguinal hernias don't get better.  The physician who examined you may
not have been a surgeon and, therefore, not the best person to evaluate
your hernia.  Believe me, as I learned from bitter experience at about
your age, the longer you let the hernia go, the worse it gets.  And the
worse it gets, the more invasive the surgery.  And the more invasive the
surgery, the longer you feel miserable after it.

When I had that surgery, the patient could recover in hospital.  Today,
most inguinal hernias are repaired on an out-patient basis.  You get a
ride home, a few hours after the surgery.  If infection develops, you've
got to go back to hospital, sometimes in discomfort or pain.

I'm not competent to tell you to have an operation.   But I am competent
to suggest that you have this thing evaluated by a surgeon who has done
about 400 of them in her/his lifetime.
--
_Brinton Cooper

Just to let you know a little about hernias.  I am not a physician, but I do
teach human anatomy (and give a hernia lecture) to first year medical and
dental (yes, they have to learn about hernias too) student.

Simply and colloquially put, a hernia is a protrusion of something into an
area that the something doesn't belong in.  In the case of an inguinal
hernia, it is a protrusion of the guts through a "weakening" in that part of
the body (inguinal region).  The inguinal region in males is essentially
part of the route taken by the {*filter*}atic cord from the testes to the {*filter*}.
It goes through the abdominal wall and "creates" a "weakened" region through
which guts can protrude.

There are two types of inguinal hernias, direct and indirect.  Direct hernia
(also called an acquired hernia) is a protrusion of the intestines through
what is known as the superficial inguinal ring.  It is usually not very
prominent.  An indirect hernia (also called a con{*filter*} hernia) is one
which essentially protrudes into a structure called a "patent processus
{*filter*}lis."  The processus {*filter*}lis is an embryological structure that
usually disappears in children and {*filter*}s (not present in females).  A
"patent" structure means that the "hole" or "tube" is is open.  Thus, an
indirect hernia is one that protrudes into this tube (processus {*filter*}lis)
that should have disappeared, but didn't.

Mild hernias can disappear with lack of stress into the region.  However, if
you intend to exercise, it will probably return.  Hernia operations are the
bread and butter of many physicians.  It is a common and well established
surgery.  It is very likely that when you do squats (and even other
exercises), the hernia will return and you will require surgery.

Good luck!
Tere

--
Terence P. Ma, Ph.D.                    VOICE:  601-984-1654
Department of Anatomy                   FAX:    601-984-1655

Jackson, MS 39216