Hernia Repair: How to Stop a Hernia from Popping Out?

Stop a Hernia from Popping Out

Normally, the wall of our abdomen is strong and its muscles hold our intestine in place. A hernia is formed when there is a weak spot through which the intestine can squeeze through. You might have been born with a weakness in that region, or the weakness might have developed over time later in your life.

Getting a hernia in the abdomen is quite common. Infants, children, and adults are found to be affected. Most often, males over 40 years are getting it.

One of the first signs of a hernia is a small bump from the lower abdomen. You can see it only while standing, coughing, jumping, or straining. It’s because these activities elevate the pressure without your abdominal region. That elevated pressure would make a part of the intestine to pop out of the area of weakness. You can often see that the bulge goes off when you lie down.[1]

So, do you think you have a hernia? What can you do to stop it from popping out?

Read the following article to know how to deal with a hernia here:

How Can You Tell if You Have a Hernia?

If you suspect you have a hernia, talk to your doctor. If you don’t have any symptoms, your doctor may discover a bump in your abdomen or groin during a physical examination.

Most often, individuals with a hernia will see a lump or tenderness along with pressure/pain while bending, coughing, and straining. This lump may feel easier when he/she stands up. This denotes a reducible hernia. This type of hernia can be pushed back into your abdomen. To do this, your doctor may carry out a massage so as to put your intestine back into place.[2]

To put it simply, a hernia, which is small and soft and that doesn’t cause a pain may not require any treatment right away.

Other symptoms of a hernia are:

• A feeling of heaviness in your abdomen or groin
• Pain and swelling in your scrotum (for males)
• Pain during a bowel movement and/or urination
• Pain while lifting or transporting something heavy
• The pain felt later in the day, particularly if you are standing a lot

In children, you can will notice a bump when your baby cries, coughs, or strains during a bowel movement.

How Can You Treat Your Hernia at Home?

Generally, all cases of hernias are candidates for surgery. Unless you cannot have surgery due to other medical conditions or delayed, a surgical repair will be prescribed. If surgery isn’t possible or delayed, you can use a truss or an umbilical hernia belt to keep the bulge of your hernia in. These umbilical hernia belts will work for certain types of hernia by helping to keep your hernia from popping out.

In addition to wearing an umbilical hernia belt, you can also try to gently push your hernia into the abdomen. You might feel it easy to do while lying down.

While this is the case for the people who have a reducible hernia, there is another condition called irreducible hernia, meaning that it can’t be reduced. In some cases, the intestine can be trapped, which can be fatal as it will cut blood supply to the region. This is called strangulated hernia. This is the case of medical emergency and needs an emergency medical care.

Tips to Follow at Home:

• If you have the problem of constipation and need to strain for bowel movements, start adding fiber to your diet so that you don’t have to strain.
• If you have a cough, ask your physician to treat it so that you are not coughing, which causes the hernia to pop out.
• Avoid doing any activities that can elevate abdominal pressure like heavy weight lifting.

How a Hernia is Medically Treated?

Are there any medications to treat a hernia?

No, there are no medications to treat the hernias directly. However, your doctor may prescribe medications in order to decrease the risk of worsening your hernia. These include stool softeners and cough medicines.

So, how do the physicians treat hernias?

If your hernia is small and without pain, you and your physician can decide to wait. On the other hand, if your hernia grows and causes pain, you may need surgery.

In general, treatment of your hernia would depend on whether it’s reducible or irreducible and potentially strangulated. In this, even the reducible hernias should be repaired in order to prevent the strangulation. Only if the patient has some other medical conditions that make the surgery impossible, the physician may not repair the hernia, instead, he/she will suggest the use of abdominal binders.

On the other hand, if you have an irreducible hernia, you will need emergency treatment due to the risk of strangulation. However, an attempt to push back the hernia will be made, with pain medications and muscle relaxation techniques. If this turns unsuccessful, emergency surgery will be prescribed.

What’s in the Strangulated Hernia Surgery?

As mentioned above, a strangulated hernia surgery is an emergency care. Here, the primary objective of the surgeon will be to decrease the hernia, meaning to release your entrapped bowel and restore it where it actually belongs within the abdominal cavity. And, this should be done before the tissue gets damaged permanently.

After this is done, the hernia has to be repaired right away, so as to prevent it from occurring again.

So, how do surgeons repair hernias?

Hernias are repaired using two types of surgeries:

Traditional Surgery: Here, the abdominal wall will be opened and the protruding tissue will be pushed back into the abdomen. Then, the abdominal wall will be sealed and the weak spot will be reinforced using a synthetic mesh.

Laparoscopy: This is a less-invasive method, which makes use of tiny-optic instruments to be sent into the abdomen via tiny openings. A camera will be sent through one opening, so as to guide the surgeons who are manipulating the devices in the other openings.

Once the hernia surgery is over, you can resume your regular day to day activities by following your physician’s advice and ability permits.

References:

1..https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2513418/Ask-doctor-How-I-stop-hernia-popping-out.html

2..https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2017/12/battling-bulging-hernia

3..https://www.emedicinehealth.com/hernia_faqs/article_em.htm#what_is_the_treatment_for_a_hernia

4..https://www.hernia.org/types/strangulated-hernia/