What is a Hernia
A hernia is “The protrusion of an abdominal organ or fatty tissues through a gap in the muscles of the abdominal wall”.
The first sign of a hernia is often a bulge or lump in the groin or umbilical region followed by pain and discomfort which can limit activity.
Most hernias are reducible, which means the bulge can be pushed back into the abdominal cavity especially when lying down.
Danger occurs if the hernia will not reduce and becomes painful. This may mean that the hernia is strangulated, cutting off the blood supply to the intestine involved. This situation is treated as an emergency as it can become life threatening. This is why specialists advocate hernia repair as soon as possible, to avoid this potentially dangerous situation.
Anybody can develop a hernia, regardless of sex or age. A hernia cannot heal itself, except sometimes in babies with umbilical hernias; neither can it be treated with medication. A truss is an inadequate and inconvenient method of dealing with a hernia, and can cause problems with more scar tissue.
Therefore the only effective and successful way of returning to full activity is by surgical repair.
