Hernias occur more often in men than in women. They are uncomfortable and can even be life threatening if your bowel is involved. Once a hernia is diagnosed, your doctor will offer you treatment options.

A hernia is a weakness in the abdominal muscle at the area of the pelvic inguinal region. That is the area just above the crease where your hip meets your pelvis. There are many reasons why a weakness occurs there: congenital, injury, previous surgery or straining frequently.

No matter what the reason, a person with any type of hernia usually presents with a bulge. This is the result of something protruding through the weak spot in the muscle. It might be omentum (fatty “lacy apron” covering organs of the abdomen), fat or even bowel (intestines) that protrudes.

After the bulge, there may even be pain. That is often what brings someone to the doctor. If that pain is accompanied by swelling, fever and problems with bowel movements, then it is often that the bowel is herniated through the muscle.

After diagnostic tests, your doctor can confirm if you have a hernia or not. Then you will discuss possible treatment options.

There may not be anything that needs to be done. If the hernia is not giving you pain and is not causing any problems with digestion, defecation, urination or anything else, the doctor may decide to observe it for a while.

Your doctor may also try to manipulate the hernia non-invasively. If he can reduce it (push the protruding contents back into the abdomen) by pressing on it, then he may do that. The fat or whatever was protruding will move back into its original position and the bulge will disappear. You will still have the weakness and it will have to be watched to be sure it doesn’t return.

In either case you may be advised to avoid straining when using the bathroom or during lifting. Lifting may even be against doctor’s orders to prevent the hernia from returning.

Truth be told, for hernias such as inguinal hernias and umbilical in adults, surgery is inevitable. If you can avoid it using the two options above, you might be able to put it off longer, but since the weakness still exists, surgery will come into play at some point.

One incidence of hernia that almost always requires surgical intervention is a hernia where the bowel becomes strangulated. This can lead to dead bowel which can cause peritonitis and requires a bowel resection to remove the decayed portion in addition to the hernia. You will most likely encounter pain and fever when the bowel is involved.

Surgical intervention will release the trapped bowel and repair the weakness. The doctor may stitch up the defect or reinforce it with a material called mesh to avoid future defects.

There are a few treatment options for hernias, but surgery is usually the final outcome. Talk to your doctor about how soon and what is involved.

What Causes an Inguinal Hernia?

Has anyone ever told you that if you strain you might get a hernia? Well, it’s true. Inguinal hernias are more common than you think.

What is a hernia? A hernia is a protrusion of tissue like muscle through a weakness in the abdominal wall in the pelvic region. We all can have a weakness there and it is not always due to lack of exercise, although that does play a part. When you exercise, specifically performing core exercises like crunches, you strengthen the center of your body.

When the abdominal muscles are strong, they can support your body in a variety of different positions without injury. The abdominal muscles run along the front of your body down to your pelvis. They are also wrapped around the waist of your body to protect you and help you move side to side and front and back.

How can weaknesses develop? Well, they can occur due to previous surgery on the abdomen. Sutures are used to stitch muscles back together when they have to be divided. Moving too much during the healing process can weaken that muscle and cause it not to heal as strongly as before.

Weaknesses can also be genetic. Men are more likely to develop inguinal hernias than women. When men are just babies, their testicles form inside the abdomen. Right before birth, those testicles descend into the scrotal sac.

The opening in the abdomen that allows them to descend then closes up again so they can’t move upward back into the abdomen. However, the opening doesn’t always close properly, creating a weak spot.

Improper lifting is another cause for weakness in the inguinal area. When you lift, do so properly from your legs. This way, all of the weight is shouldered by them and not your lower back. The abs are kept tight to keep you balanced. When you strain instead of tighten, the muscles can tear, leaving room for herniation.

Hernias are often discovered because someone notices a bulge in the groin area or there is pain there when you move certain ways. If the bulge is present without pain, your doctor may simply watch it for a time to be sure that nothing vital is trying to escape your abdomen.

Sometimes, your bowel can become herniated through this muscle and get strangled. Strangled bowel can lead to dead and decaying bowel which is a serious problem that requires medical and surgical intervention.

If you are experiencing pain from the inguinal bulge, see your doctor immediately. They can run tests to see if surgery is needed. During surgery many doctors insert a piece of mesh to reinforce the weakness, preventing future hernias in that area.

Do you think you have an inguinal hernia? The tell-tale bulge is one of the first signs. Make an appointment with your doctor.

When you were a child, did you hear people talk about “innies” and “outies”? They were referring to the belly button. In medical terms, an “outie” may be in actuality an umbilical hernia, which may require treatment.

Most umbilical hernias occur in babies. Your belly button represents the place where you were attached to the placenta in your mother’s womb. Usually once the stump goes inside the body, it stays that way. Sometimes, though, the intestines can protrude through this weakness in the abdominal muscle and cause pain and perhaps even result in a twisting of the intestine and intestinal blockage.

Babies are notorious for straining. They don’t have command over their muscles yet, so when they use the bathroom or try to roll over or even cry, straining of the abdominal muscles occurs. This can cause the intestines to push towards the bellybutton opening when it is not yet fully healed.

In infants, the umbilical hernia usually closes by the time they are a year old. As the child gets older, they strain less and the intestines usually settle back into their normal position. Some parents even strap a coin to the belly button if they notice that it is starting to protrude when the baby cries.

However, if your baby’s belly button is sticking out in a more and more pronounced manner, you might want to take your child to the doctor. As long as there is no pain associated with it, they may advise watching it for a few more years before treating it in any way.

Umbilical hernias are also seen in adults, although not as commonly. They might be the result of unresolved hernias from childhood that never healed but haven’t caused trouble until the present time when symptoms appear. The signs are the same, including a protruding belly button with or without pain. If there is pain, consult your doctor right away.

In either adults or infants, when there is pain associated with the protrusion, it could mean that the bowel has become strangulated, that is, trapped . In that case, the intestine does not return to the abdomen when the person stops straining. It is wedged in between the two sides of the hole in the muscle, and food that passes through that portion may have a hard time getting through, if indeed it can pass at all.

In children, this could mean excess crying from pain. If the baby is not hungry, wet or sleepy, there could be another cause – an umblical hernia. Your baby may even become sick, vomiting on occasion. When you touch the hernia, it is swollen, warm to the touch or causes the baby to cry.

In this situation and in adults, surgical intervention is the best treatment. It repairs the defect so that the bowel is not as likely to get trapped and twisted. Also, if the defect widens, more of the bowel can become strangulated, causing more serious problems. After the surgery, the belly button will be an “innie” permanently.

Does your baby’s belly button protrude when they cry? Are you an adult with an “outie” that hurts? You more than likely have an umbilical hernia and if you have any pain in that area, you should consider getting it looked at by a doctor.