Hi Helen:
I think the truth is that no one really knows WHAT adhesions do! Some people can have extensive adhesions with no problems and others have extreme pain. The adhesions that caused an acute crisis for me I had for at least 12 years. I had surgery in 1986 and had no problems whatsoever from adhesions until 1998. Some of the adhesions I may have had for 20 years! So did these adhesions get worse over time? I don't know. They weren't particularly "dense" when they did the lap. Also, just because your pain feels identical to the pain you had before your surgery doesn't necessarily mean the adhesions (if they are back) are the same. The adhesions that were released at my first lap had not reoccurred 6 months later yet I had reoccurrence of the pain and it felt exactly the same as the first time. I had complete relief for 3 months after the first lap. On the other hand, adhesions attached to organs and the pelvic/abdominal wall must cause inflammation and that process might be enough to keep adhesions forming, so this would support the "getting worse as time goes on" theory. You could go crazy trying to figure them out! After my last lap they prescribed 600 mg ibuprofen three times per day for 10 days. I tried this again recently and it really helped the pain. But I wonder, how long can you keep that up safely? 1800mg ibuprofen per day is a hefty dose. This is one of the many questions I am going to ask the colo-rectal guy when I see him next week.
Chris S.