Inguinal Hernia in the U.K.

Not to be confused with Anarchy in the U.K., of course.

Well, I've got an inguinal hernia.  I don't know why that's slightly shameful to say.  Hernias sound a little silly, like only young kids are supposed to get them, or that you're too weak to successfully pick up a heavy load without sending yourself to the hospital.  Or that it's in the groin area.

But let's assert the manliness of a hernia:

25% of men get them.  My U.K. doctor said "this is an athlete's injury," and I was like "damn right it is."  He assured me that well over half of the Premier League soccer players have had hernia surgery, which makes it seem like the league is just a field full of protruding bowels kicking a ball back and forth.

I'm not really in pain, just some discomfort.  More than anything I feel that something's going on down there, like my intestines are unspooling in my body cavity.

But if I do need surgery, it seems like I'll be in good foreign hands.  The UK actually has two hernia specialty clinics in the London area (read this with a British accent):  The Oxford Hernia Clinic and The British Hernia Centre.

That's right, England is the land of great history, great poets, great novelists, great theater, great museums, and great hernia care.

I do have the option of doing nothing and waiting until I get back to the states, where my regular health care kicks in on February 1st.  The problem is, I planned to travel in December and January--exotic, strenuous trips like volunteering in India or an outdoor trek in Australia.  The risk of an inguinal hernia is that it could become strangulated (very low probability, but very serious if it happens), and what it hits in the slums of Calcutta or in the desert of Australia with poisonous crickets all around me?  Then again, some people live for years with untreated hernias.  You just don't know.

It's strangely unnerving to be in a foreign country needing serious health care.  I mean, I know it's the U.K. and the first world and they could be even better than U.S. doctors, but being sick or injured always infantilizes you some ways--you just want to be home with the care you're used to.

Finally, a quick note on universal health care:

Yes, the U.K. has universal health care.  Everyone I talk to CANNOT BELIEVE that we don't provide health care for everyone in the U.S.  That we would let something like health and medical treatments hinge on how much money you do or don't have.  It's all rather embarrassing.

Here's the good part of universal health care:  my hernia was diagnosed FOR FREE.  Even though I'm not a citizen.  It's just walk on in here mate, we'll take care of you.

The not-so-great part?  I now need to see a surgeon, and since my hernia isn't life-threatening, it would take 3 or 4 months (and I'm only here until November 30th).

But wait!  That's only if I want to see a National Health System doctor. I can pay for a private doctor and see one right away.

Which means the U.K. system is a lot like the U.S. system, only they take care of their poor.  People in the U.S. who are opposed to universal health care always complain about the long waits and inferior care.  But those are always rich people who, in a country like England, can just pay for their better care anyway.  Which means they've lost nothing.  The only difference is, in the U.K., there's a safety net for the low-income citizens.  Seeing a doctor for free or waiting a few months for an appointment is far better than having no health care at all.  Like the millions of Americans who haven't had any insurance for decades.