Ok, from 1st hand experience... I had a surgical repair to the ole hernia on 31 Jan. I felt kind of miserable the first week and, of course, did no running or exercise of any kind. Second week started feeling a lot better. Ran 5 miles on 12 Feb with no pain. Basically 12 days recupe time for me. So, I guess time off is going to depend on severity but I have had very positive results.