I've Googled this for ages and can't find anything that I'm looking for so I'm asking the wise folk of EF to see if they can help me.

My ex (father of my daughter) has had a lot of problems with dislocations of his shoulder. He had an operation around 8 weeks ago to pin it together to hopefully prevent future occurences. He has now developed two hernia's, one in his neck and the other between his neck and shoulder blades. They are going to operate on Monday.

Can someone please help me answer these questions:

* Is it likely to be linked to the surgery that caused them? if not how do these things happen?
* What does the operation involve?
* How long is he likely to stay in hospital?
* What is the recovery period after?
* When can he start lifting anything heavyish?

The reason I need to know this is because I can't get any info from him (even when he is well, getting info from him is like trying to get blood from a stone) and I want to have an idea of how it will affect visits to his daughter i.e. when I can expect them to start again and when he will be able to have her alone without my supervision.

By the way, I would take her to him but he doesn't want her there.

Thanks everyone

You are too good for him!

I can't help you about the hernia. I did have this surgery for my shoulder and in my case, just that operation and rehabilitation, it took me a 6 months to get my hand, fingers and arm back in shape again.

Did you Google simply Neck Hernia? Might be a Herniated Disc. That threw up a good few possibilities on Google.

My medical knowledge on this is zero but I've heard of a herniated disc in the back and thought it might apply in this case.

Mimi,

So he is kind of a pain in the neck, eh?

Sorry for the joke.... couldn't resist!

Spot on Sandgrounded, they must be herniated discs or disc hernias.
About the questions for Mimi the procedure should be simple, I do not think that these hernias are a results of the previous surgery but maybe the previous problems were a result of the hernias (??) as these hernias can cause neck and shoulder pain. About how long he will stay in the hospital I really could not tell but I am guessing no less tahn 5-7 days.
Best wishes!

Yes I did but with the limited info he has given me I don't know if it's a herniated disc or what

Just hoped maybe someone might know if there are other kinds of hernia's in the neck apart from the disc.

@Nil, I'm not too nice to him, I'm trying to find out for myself as I'll never know otherwise!!

You are too nice to try to organised yourself around his situation while he doesn't help you at all to make it easier! Too in the sense of Very good!

Hi found this for you,

1. Neck hernias start out as a mere stretching of the hypopharynx, a "rubbery" membrane inside the throat, just above the larynx (voice box). If the stretching becomes too great, the groups of neck muscles around it may separate, causing a hernia. Sudden, large hernias are very painful, but neck puff hernias are usually very gradual and do not hurt.

2. Hernias do not heal. They must be surgically repaired.

3. The only real problem is that if the hernia becomes very large (Dizzy Gillespie or more), the tissues in the throat can create folds that trap food and become infected. Theoretically, the hypopharynx could expand until it tears, an extremely serious condition.

4. If the rings of cartilage surrounding the larynx expand and break, a "blowout" (laryngoceles) occurs. They can cause inward bulges that obstruct the windway. Hoarseness of the voice can also occur

And here is another wee bit

This is caused by expansion of the saccule of the larynx. The saccule is a blind-ending sac arising from the anterior end of the laryngeal ventricle. A laryngocoele is an air-filled herniation of this structure. This can expand, and either remains within the laryngeal framework (internal laryngocoele), or part of it may extend outside the larynx (external laryngocoele). It escapes through a point of weakness in the thyrohyoid membrane.
There is a rare association with a laryngeal cancer of the saccule, and all patients should have this area examined and biopsied.


Hope this helps.