Hello all,
i am 22 years old and have noticed a problem for the past 2 years or so.

About 2 years ago, I had a double hernia (one on each side) which was very painful and because of the hernia I was rarely able to get an erection while I had it. Unfortunately, I noticed the hernia (it felt like a third testicle in the upper part of my scrotum at first), and never did anything about it, I just assumed it would go away. I ignored it for months, possibly almost a year until it finally got big enough to the point where I needed to get it checked out. (it was between the size of a golf ball and baseball on one side, the other side was liek a ping pong ball.) the doctor determined it was a hernia and I had surgery to have it fixed a month later.

Ever since the hernia and after the sugery, I noticed my erections seemed to be weaker and far between. It seemed to come and go. I would be able to get a good erection for a week and then for a week it would be harder to get one. The problem seemingly went away for a little while, but realistically I didn't have a girlfriend so I wasn't very sexually active.

Now the problem has come back and it's getting to the point where it's very embarassing and my girlfriend thinks it's her. I'm positive it has nothing to do with her. For the past two or three weeks my erections have been weaker and far between. Sometime I will even lose my erection during sex or while getting oral.

Truth is, i'm incredibly embarassed about this, and I get more embarassed about it everytime it happens.

I have a feeling the hernia may have affected my ability to get an erection in some way, because I ignored it for so long (6 months to a year). I've read that if you leave a hernia for a long time, it could possibly affect your ability to get an erection like it did while you had the hernia. I'm wondering if having the hernia for so long could have affected the blood vessels and whatnot, or the surgery could have.

I'm too embarassed to talk to my family about this, and i'm too nervous and embarassed to go to a doctor, so I don't know what to do. I stumlbed across this message board and had hoped for an opinion or two.