Home Doctor: Practical Medicine for Every Household
Hernias Hernias are conditions that often cause abdominal and groin pain and can develop serious complications. The treatment is always surgical. Therefore, I will explain the ways to diagnose and control them until the patient can be evaluated and treated surgically.
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A hernia is the protrusion of contents of the abdomen through a defect or weakness in the abdominal wall. It is caused by several factors, but the main ones have to do with the increase of intra-abdominal pressure from heavy loads, coughing a lot, and obesity, among others.
a) How Do I Know if I Have a Hernia? The first symptom of hernias is pain near an area of physiological or surgical weakness. This pain increases with efforts such as heavy lifting, coughing, or sneezing, and it gets better with rest. The abdominal weakness areas are the navel, the groin, the area above the navel, and any associated abdominal surgical scars.
b) Types of Hernia The figure shows the most common locations of abdominal hernia. Any inflammation that is on or near a surgical scar is also susceptible to an incisional hernia. 140
