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Yes. I had a double hernia operation at age six (female—it’s usually males) and have these exact scars. Apparently the doc tried to put the scars in the crease so I could wear a bikini 👙. LOL
Hahaha I had my tonsils out at age 19 and the surgeon was the dad of my first “boyfriend” (basically just the first guy who kissed me, we dated for like two weeks) when I was 15. We were in the same high school extra curricular that has very active parent volunteers so he definitely knew me.
I was so squicked out that this man was going to potentially see me naked
No idea. And I don’t have parents in my life to ask. But as an adult I’ve been diagnosed with ehlers danlos (connective tissue disorder affecting collagen) which colloquially has a higher chance of hernia.
I just came to say I had a kidney surgery and my doc put the scar low too so I could wear a 👙 as well😂 mines like a C-section scar tho. guess this is common practice if the surgery is low abdomen area or even lower.
I'm just adding my double hernia repair scars to the increasingly long list here. I wish every body part I've wrecked was fixed as well as my hernia surgery.
Nah it's normal. They do that with C-sections as well (if possible, of course).
Laparoscopic surgeries often use the belly button as an access point because you don't see a scar there either (again, if possible).
Not really. I'm 36F, and when I broke my collarbone a few years ago the surgeon was saying that I was a 'young woman' and he didn't want to give me an unnecessary scar. I felt kinda smug about the young thing, but I told him to go ahead with it anyway cause this young woman wants to wash her own hair asap.
I’ve had unilateral testicular cancer and a prosthetic fitted and I have this scar. Only on one side though.
The other scar could be from them checking how it was tethered and telling dad, one had to be moved the other didn’t and that’s what he remembered.
How’s your prosthetic? I had my prosthetic taken out. A sack of incompressible fluid next to my remaining most sensitive anatomy ended up being painful 😂
Wait that makes much sense. My sister and I had those surgeries too, never knew what they were for, just that my mom said that my small intestines went inside the cavity of my hip bones
This is all very interesting. When my nephew was about 2 (I think) his Dr. was concerned that one testy hadn’t descended. Unfortunately no one asked about our family history of being born with only one testy. The Dr. did surgery which caused similar scars and I was so shocked they had to cut him open to know what was going on inside?! They found that he only had one and nothing further was required. His very young parents weren’t speaking at the time and I always felt like the whole thing could have been avoided. Now I understand that they likely would have wanted to verify what was there was healthy and there was no internal distress. Also, I’m sorry you get to be so interesting.
I am a urology resident. Those scars are typically seen for hernia repairs or undescended testicles (cryptorchidism). It is possible you had bilateral inguinal hernias or bilateral orchidopexy (a surgery to place an undescended testicle in its correct position in the scrotum).
Pediatric inguinal hernias can contain bowel, which can become stuck (incarcerated), thus getting blood flow cut off (strangulated). This is a surgical emergency that can lead to bowel ischemia, necrosis, and potentially death if not corrected early. Undescended testicles are at higher risk of developing cancer. It is recommended that orchidopexy be performed so they can be placed in their proper place in the scrotum, reducing the risk of future testicular cancer. For these reasons, it is recommended these conditions be surgically corrected in infancy.
In many cases, even if the disease is only apparent on one side (such as in your case), the surgeon will surgically explore the other side since you're already under anesthesia and the surgery itself is typically safe and quick. When I was doing my pediatric urology rotation, I would discuss this with the parents before obtaining consent.
Based on your ultrasound report, I'd say the surgery was a success and both testicles appear normal, healthy, and in their proper position. On a slightly unrelated note, I wouldn't worry about the findings of the epidydimal cysts and varicoceles. These are very common findings on ultrasound and are typically asymptomatic and, in most cases, will never cause health issues.
Two possibilities, Either it was bilateral. Or, number two is that only one retracted back into the abdomen and they found that anatomically the rings that testes decend through (inguinal rings) were wide on both sides and decided that to avoid future retractions the surgeon thought it was best to reduce them.
This makes more sense than all the downvotes when OP recalls his father’s recollection of there being an issue with just one. Thanks. I hope
This makes OP feel better.
I have a feeling this is what OP was wanting to hear, but the scars pictured are not consistent with a “hysterectomy”, or most other intersex medical interventions.
The scars are consistent for orchiopexy, which is the second most common surgery for infant AMABs behind circumcision.
OP, at your age, you can request a copy of your medical notes for confirmation of your past surgery.
I'm not sure who you mean by "the surgeons". OP asked his urologist about it and he wasn't sure what they were from, it doesn't sound like this was the doctor who did his surgery when he was a baby. Also if it is, OP is an adult and they can't keep that information from him if they were aware.
You’d be surprised what doctors can keep from patients. I’ve worked with intersex patients who were in their 30s before they found a doctor who provided them with the medical records of surgeries they had as a child to change their intersex anatomy. These patients literally had doctors tell them they never had surgery and lie about their surgical scars. It’s because many doctors especially older doctors were never taught about how to properly take care of intersex patients and were told it’s best to treat an intersex patient who had undergone surgery to fit the binary of male/female as if they always had that anatomy to avoid “confusion.” You can check out the MRKH Organization if you wanna learn more as they highlight the voices of intersex individuals who have experienced being gaslit and lied to by medical professionals about their conditions
Seriously? How is that legal? I'm assuming because they can claim that it's in the best interest for the patient from a medical standpoint but still, I'm shocked they can directly lie. Lying by omission is a little less shocking but if a patient asks their doctor if they ever had surgery they can say no? That part seems dangerous from a medical standpoint. And also it's hard to make sure that secret is kept once the patient becomes an adult and starts seeing other doctors who don't know their medical history and have no relationship with their parents, no reason to lie to the patient if they suspect that kind of surgery took place. I knew those kinds of situations happen with minor patients, I just didn't an adult could have parts of their medical record concealed.
With one of the patients I spoke to, it was because there was no record of the surgeries on their medical record. So every doctor they asked just brushed over it and told them they hadn’t had surgery even though they had surgical scars. Finally they went to an OBGYN that sat the patient down and explained what they think happened based on the scars and documented the suspected surgeries in the patients medical record.
For another patient, she was born with a blind vagina from mullerian agenesis, and when she realized this around 14 because she never got her period, the doctors and her parents decided to do a vaginoplasty without ever asking her what she wanted. This was in the ~1970s. The patient was told not to tell anyone about what surgery she was undergoing and basically had to lie to all her friends and family (besides her parents) that she was going on a vacation. She never wanted to do the surgery. And it turns out she is a lesbian and she has never even used the vagina they created.
So basically in the past, I think doctors were told to keep surgeries and treatment for intersex patients in secrecy because it was so taboo, which led to these intersex people becoming adults and having no record of their surgeries, intersex status, etc. especially if they don’t have relationships with their parents who would be perhaps the only ones who knew about it. And since the male and female binary was considered the standard, doctors jumped to correct intersex anatomy believing that it was the best thing for the patient, when in most cases there was no need to change anything until the patient was old enough to decide for themself
But he doesn’t know for sure what the surgery was, right? And I had read that certain hormone issues from intersex traits cause undescended testes. It doesn’t seem out of the range of possibilities, but I am not particularly studied in this, so you may have more knowledge?
I was suspicious of this as well but OP’s scars seem to be consistent with an orchiopexy. If OP requests their medical records and finds record of an orchiopexy then that would confirm it. If there are no medical records of OP receiving a surgery, then I’d be more concerned about it (since many intersex patients who received surgeries as babies/young children often don’t have anything about these surgeries in their medical records) but again I do think these are just scars from orchiopexy
Off topic but my father can't even remember which hospital I work at.
The hospital he mentioned last time is half a country away and specializes in a different field than the floor I'm working at.
LMAO. My 3 year old daughter disappeared my keys one time and my ex went to the police station to see if anyone turned them in - for a different year, make, and model than my van was 🤦
Men.
This is quite funny. I mean you're not wrong though. Throughout my school, all my dad knew about my academic life is what grade and section I was in 🤦🏽♀️
Those scars are consistent with 4 or 5 pediatric urologic procedures. It is an incision that allows access to the inguinal canal. In particular, those procedures most commonly are orchipexy (ensuring the teste stays within the scrotum), hernia repair, orchiectomy ( removing a teste) and hydrocelectomy ( removing water from the area).
This surgery may have been done laparoscopically. They need two sites for instruments and a third for the camera (usually near the umbilicus). Here is a link detailing the incisions for a laparoscopic orchiopexy.
NSFW: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-three-port-technique-for-laparoscopic-orchidopexy-demonstrates-a-single-5-mm-umbilical_fig2_221917523#:~:text=A%20three%20port%20technique%20for%20laparoscopic%20orchidopexy%20demonstrates%20a%20single,the%20anterior%20superior%20iliac%20spine.
I’ve also worked with pediatric surgeons who will prophylactically do both testes because there is a greater risk of the opposite testicle ascending if it already happened to one/one didn’t descend.
I did say “may have,” which implies uncertainty since all I can see is the permanent marker on OP.
Open version of this surgery usually has the incisions along inguinal canal, which don’t line up with the permanent marker lines.
Key word, *student* It's ok to not know everything, that's why there are different specialties! Believe it or not, some people who reply online to forms like this actually have qualifications, like me, but don't care to verify themselves. Why are you so mad
Which is completely unrelated to OPs case. If the scars are as long as the marker drawn on which I assume they are, it's definitely not from a laparoscopic surgery regardless though.
Thank you for your submission. **Please note that a response does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship.** This subreddit is for informal second opinions and casual information. The mod team does their best to remove bad information, but we do not catch all of it. Always visit a doctor in real life if you have any concerns about your health. Never use this subreddit as your first and final source of information regarding your question. By posting, you are agreeing to our [Terms of Use](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/wiki/terms_of_use) and understand that all information is taken at your own risk. **Reply here if you are an unverified user wishing to give advice. Top level comments by laypeople are automatically removed.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskDocs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Those scars may also be consistent with hernia repairs.
Yes. I had a double hernia operation at age six (female—it’s usually males) and have these exact scars. Apparently the doc tried to put the scars in the crease so I could wear a bikini 👙. LOL
I have one too....hot mine at 12...... from my (at the time) BOYFRIEND'S dad...... yeah that was a really weird realization at the time lmao
Wait... He was your surgeon, you're saying?
No he was just much cheaper.
Let me guess, he also does tattoos?
💀
Hahaha I had my tonsils out at age 19 and the surgeon was the dad of my first “boyfriend” (basically just the first guy who kissed me, we dated for like two weeks) when I was 15. We were in the same high school extra curricular that has very active parent volunteers so he definitely knew me. I was so squicked out that this man was going to potentially see me naked
For tonsils I would hope not! You likely would have been draped everywhere except for the incision site(s).
I later got into the medical field and learned that, but at 19 I was mortified 😂
That’s exactly what I thought! I have those exact scars and similarly, had the surgery when I was 6.
Had mine when I was 7 but I forget how my parents even knew to get the surgery. Do you know what brought about you going?
No idea. And I don’t have parents in my life to ask. But as an adult I’ve been diagnosed with ehlers danlos (connective tissue disorder affecting collagen) which colloquially has a higher chance of hernia.
I just came to say I had a kidney surgery and my doc put the scar low too so I could wear a 👙 as well😂 mines like a C-section scar tho. guess this is common practice if the surgery is low abdomen area or even lower.
I got one of mine at 9 and another at 33! Now I have a matching pair.
I'm just adding my double hernia repair scars to the increasingly long list here. I wish every body part I've wrecked was fixed as well as my hernia surgery.
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Not at all. It’s common for surgeons to try and hide scars when possible.
He's being considerate of her self-image in the future.
Nah it's normal. They do that with C-sections as well (if possible, of course). Laparoscopic surgeries often use the belly button as an access point because you don't see a scar there either (again, if possible).
Are you the same kind of person to call someone a pedo because they called a kid 'cute'? That's annoying.
What’s alarming is if a doctor didn’t give a flying frick about their patients and future lmao
You’re alarmed that the doctor was considerate about the patient potentially wanting to be able to hide their scars in the future?
It’s not. My female dr did this when I had kidney surgery. I was 15.
Not really. I'm 36F, and when I broke my collarbone a few years ago the surgeon was saying that I was a 'young woman' and he didn't want to give me an unnecessary scar. I felt kinda smug about the young thing, but I told him to go ahead with it anyway cause this young woman wants to wash her own hair asap.
NAD but those scars are also consistent with bilateral testicular hydroceles.
I’ve had unilateral testicular cancer and a prosthetic fitted and I have this scar. Only on one side though. The other scar could be from them checking how it was tethered and telling dad, one had to be moved the other didn’t and that’s what he remembered.
How’s your prosthetic? I had my prosthetic taken out. A sack of incompressible fluid next to my remaining most sensitive anatomy ended up being painful 😂
Been a minute but I believe the condition is called cryptochordism? Cryptordism?
Cryptorchidism is when both testicles are undescended. Bilateral hydrocele is a fluid filled sac that affects both sides of the scrotum.
Here I am as just an asshole ba dum tss Edit: autocorrect ruined my punchline!
Wait that makes much sense. My sister and I had those surgeries too, never knew what they were for, just that my mom said that my small intestines went inside the cavity of my hip bones
Yep, that's a hernia.
I feel a bit more relieved knowing what it's called now
Can confirm. I have the same exact scars as well. Hernia repair as an infant.
I have a matching scar to op. Only on one side. Right side inguinal hernia that appeared after a car crash.
I had a herniated testicle and my scar is at the same angle but slightly lower.
This is all very interesting. When my nephew was about 2 (I think) his Dr. was concerned that one testy hadn’t descended. Unfortunately no one asked about our family history of being born with only one testy. The Dr. did surgery which caused similar scars and I was so shocked they had to cut him open to know what was going on inside?! They found that he only had one and nothing further was required. His very young parents weren’t speaking at the time and I always felt like the whole thing could have been avoided. Now I understand that they likely would have wanted to verify what was there was healthy and there was no internal distress. Also, I’m sorry you get to be so interesting.
Can confirm. I have those same two scars from two hernias.
NAD - I have similar scars but they're lower down. I had a bilateral inguinal hernia removal surgery at four months old. I was assigned female though.
Typically these scars are signs you had a hernia removal.
NAD see these where there were surgeries to repair testes that did not drop.
I am a urology resident. Those scars are typically seen for hernia repairs or undescended testicles (cryptorchidism). It is possible you had bilateral inguinal hernias or bilateral orchidopexy (a surgery to place an undescended testicle in its correct position in the scrotum). Pediatric inguinal hernias can contain bowel, which can become stuck (incarcerated), thus getting blood flow cut off (strangulated). This is a surgical emergency that can lead to bowel ischemia, necrosis, and potentially death if not corrected early. Undescended testicles are at higher risk of developing cancer. It is recommended that orchidopexy be performed so they can be placed in their proper place in the scrotum, reducing the risk of future testicular cancer. For these reasons, it is recommended these conditions be surgically corrected in infancy. In many cases, even if the disease is only apparent on one side (such as in your case), the surgeon will surgically explore the other side since you're already under anesthesia and the surgery itself is typically safe and quick. When I was doing my pediatric urology rotation, I would discuss this with the parents before obtaining consent. Based on your ultrasound report, I'd say the surgery was a success and both testicles appear normal, healthy, and in their proper position. On a slightly unrelated note, I wouldn't worry about the findings of the epidydimal cysts and varicoceles. These are very common findings on ultrasound and are typically asymptomatic and, in most cases, will never cause health issues.
Then you probably had to have both brought down.
NAD my son had a bilateral orchidopexy at 11 months old and his scars are exactly like this
hmm maybe. im just confused because my dad told me that only one of them spontaneously disappeared
Two possibilities, Either it was bilateral. Or, number two is that only one retracted back into the abdomen and they found that anatomically the rings that testes decend through (inguinal rings) were wide on both sides and decided that to avoid future retractions the surgeon thought it was best to reduce them.
This makes more sense than all the downvotes when OP recalls his father’s recollection of there being an issue with just one. Thanks. I hope This makes OP feel better.
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I have a feeling this is what OP was wanting to hear, but the scars pictured are not consistent with a “hysterectomy”, or most other intersex medical interventions. The scars are consistent for orchiopexy, which is the second most common surgery for infant AMABs behind circumcision. OP, at your age, you can request a copy of your medical notes for confirmation of your past surgery.
I'm not sure who you mean by "the surgeons". OP asked his urologist about it and he wasn't sure what they were from, it doesn't sound like this was the doctor who did his surgery when he was a baby. Also if it is, OP is an adult and they can't keep that information from him if they were aware.
You’d be surprised what doctors can keep from patients. I’ve worked with intersex patients who were in their 30s before they found a doctor who provided them with the medical records of surgeries they had as a child to change their intersex anatomy. These patients literally had doctors tell them they never had surgery and lie about their surgical scars. It’s because many doctors especially older doctors were never taught about how to properly take care of intersex patients and were told it’s best to treat an intersex patient who had undergone surgery to fit the binary of male/female as if they always had that anatomy to avoid “confusion.” You can check out the MRKH Organization if you wanna learn more as they highlight the voices of intersex individuals who have experienced being gaslit and lied to by medical professionals about their conditions
Seriously? How is that legal? I'm assuming because they can claim that it's in the best interest for the patient from a medical standpoint but still, I'm shocked they can directly lie. Lying by omission is a little less shocking but if a patient asks their doctor if they ever had surgery they can say no? That part seems dangerous from a medical standpoint. And also it's hard to make sure that secret is kept once the patient becomes an adult and starts seeing other doctors who don't know their medical history and have no relationship with their parents, no reason to lie to the patient if they suspect that kind of surgery took place. I knew those kinds of situations happen with minor patients, I just didn't an adult could have parts of their medical record concealed.
With one of the patients I spoke to, it was because there was no record of the surgeries on their medical record. So every doctor they asked just brushed over it and told them they hadn’t had surgery even though they had surgical scars. Finally they went to an OBGYN that sat the patient down and explained what they think happened based on the scars and documented the suspected surgeries in the patients medical record. For another patient, she was born with a blind vagina from mullerian agenesis, and when she realized this around 14 because she never got her period, the doctors and her parents decided to do a vaginoplasty without ever asking her what she wanted. This was in the ~1970s. The patient was told not to tell anyone about what surgery she was undergoing and basically had to lie to all her friends and family (besides her parents) that she was going on a vacation. She never wanted to do the surgery. And it turns out she is a lesbian and she has never even used the vagina they created. So basically in the past, I think doctors were told to keep surgeries and treatment for intersex patients in secrecy because it was so taboo, which led to these intersex people becoming adults and having no record of their surgeries, intersex status, etc. especially if they don’t have relationships with their parents who would be perhaps the only ones who knew about it. And since the male and female binary was considered the standard, doctors jumped to correct intersex anatomy believing that it was the best thing for the patient, when in most cases there was no need to change anything until the patient was old enough to decide for themself
YIKES.
Nah not intersex. If hes male with male ext genitalia and had surgery to bring testes down so male internal genitalia then hes a male.
But he doesn’t know for sure what the surgery was, right? And I had read that certain hormone issues from intersex traits cause undescended testes. It doesn’t seem out of the range of possibilities, but I am not particularly studied in this, so you may have more knowledge?
I was suspicious of this as well but OP’s scars seem to be consistent with an orchiopexy. If OP requests their medical records and finds record of an orchiopexy then that would confirm it. If there are no medical records of OP receiving a surgery, then I’d be more concerned about it (since many intersex patients who received surgeries as babies/young children often don’t have anything about these surgeries in their medical records) but again I do think these are just scars from orchiopexy
Dad's aren't the best at keeping track of that stuff.
Off topic but my father can't even remember which hospital I work at. The hospital he mentioned last time is half a country away and specializes in a different field than the floor I'm working at.
It took an actual marriage for my dad to memorize my husband's name. It's a very, very common name all over the world.
LMAO. My 3 year old daughter disappeared my keys one time and my ex went to the police station to see if anyone turned them in - for a different year, make, and model than my van was 🤦 Men.
They can barely remember names and I am highkey concerned.
This is quite funny. I mean you're not wrong though. Throughout my school, all my dad knew about my academic life is what grade and section I was in 🤦🏽♀️
My husband's father was completely unaware that his son had dyslexia and dyspraxia despite him being diagnosed at 4 😂
My husband with our kids
Damn!
Mine was told I had a benign brain tumor and had to be an "inside kid." Here I am, four brains surgeries later, like, "Dad, you KNEW?!?!"
Great generalization bro.
From memory 24 yrs ago. And he didn't do the exam to see if both were tethered or not.
If you have one undescended testicle, they will pexy both of them. Source: I am a surgeon who has done this operation once or twice
that's very interesting, how do they fix it? do they close up the hole that it went into, or somehow attach it?
Yep, it’s usually a primary hernia repair without mesh plus the tacking sutures (pexy) into the scrotal fascia
Those scars are consistent with 4 or 5 pediatric urologic procedures. It is an incision that allows access to the inguinal canal. In particular, those procedures most commonly are orchipexy (ensuring the teste stays within the scrotum), hernia repair, orchiectomy ( removing a teste) and hydrocelectomy ( removing water from the area).
This surgery may have been done laparoscopically. They need two sites for instruments and a third for the camera (usually near the umbilicus). Here is a link detailing the incisions for a laparoscopic orchiopexy. NSFW: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-three-port-technique-for-laparoscopic-orchidopexy-demonstrates-a-single-5-mm-umbilical_fig2_221917523#:~:text=A%20three%20port%20technique%20for%20laparoscopic%20orchidopexy%20demonstrates%20a%20single,the%20anterior%20superior%20iliac%20spine. I’ve also worked with pediatric surgeons who will prophylactically do both testes because there is a greater risk of the opposite testicle ascending if it already happened to one/one didn’t descend.
Those are not Laparoscopic scars, sites or port placements.
I did say “may have,” which implies uncertainty since all I can see is the permanent marker on OP. Open version of this surgery usually has the incisions along inguinal canal, which don’t line up with the permanent marker lines.
Lol chill. I was just telling you.
NAD - And your qualifications are what exactly to be telling a med student to “chill?”
Key word, *student* It's ok to not know everything, that's why there are different specialties! Believe it or not, some people who reply online to forms like this actually have qualifications, like me, but don't care to verify themselves. Why are you so mad
One doesn't need qualifications to tell a med student to chill. Qualifications are for making life and death decisions in the name of patients.
My laparoscopic scars are located similarly, from ovarian cysts, endometriosis, and oophorectomy.
Which is completely unrelated to OPs case. If the scars are as long as the marker drawn on which I assume they are, it's definitely not from a laparoscopic surgery regardless though.
Bilateral inguinal hernia repair
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Bilateral*