Hernia Surgery Jacksonville, FL

Hernias of all kinds can be notoriously painful and debilitating. It can also be visibility obvious since the outward bulging is a common symptom. They happen when an organ or piece of fatty tissue squeezes through a muscle or connective tissue. What makes hernias such a nuisance is that there’s no way to get rid of them once they develop outside of surgery. You can let them go for a time, but hernias can get larger and more painful with time. In some instances, they may even lead to more health complications.

How Do Hernias Develop?

A unique combination of circumstances causes hernias. Through an unfortunate combination of exertion and a weak or open muscle or fascia, the pressure pushes an organ or piece of fatty tissue through the opening. The weakened tissue or open muscle area can be the result of a birth defect or something that happened later in life. Here are some of the leading causes of hernias.

• Lifting heavy objects without properly stabilizing and preparing your abdominal muscles
• Severe cases of diarrhea or constipation
• Coughing or sneezing that’s persistent and heavy
• Obesity, pregnancy, malnutrition, and other conditions that weaken your muscles

Epigastric Hernia
Epigastric Hernias normally causes a bump to occur in the area below your sternum, or breastbone, and above your belly button. While they can be congenital, they generally tend to develop only later in life. In adults, more commonly in men, most epigastric hernias are acquired. They can be caused by increased pressure in the abdominal cavity. An epigastric hernia does not go away on its own, and complications will eventually lead you to surgery.

Ventral Incisional Hernia
Ventral incisional hernias hernias are hernias that often develop in the middle of the abdomen, that occur after a prior incision was made during a prior operation. This type of hernia bulges through an opening in the abdominal muscles. Unfortunately, it does not repair or go away on its own and will require surgery to repair. If left untreated, symptoms will worsen over time and may become even more difficult to repair.

Umbilical Hernia
Umbilical hernias often develop from increased intraabdominal pressure from heavy lifting, pregnancy, obesity, and abdominal distention which eventually results in hernia formation. While more common in females this can happen for males as well. An umbilical hernia creates a soft swelling or bulge near the navel. Typically, umbilical hernias are considered harmless. However, there is a risk that the hernia will become trapped, causing the blood supply to get cut off, which may lead to life-threatening conditions such as gangrene.

Inguinal Hernia
An inguinal hernia is a bulge that occurs in your groin region, the area between the lower part of your abdomen and your thigh. While inguinal hernias may not be dangerous, they will not repair on their own and may lead to life-threatening complications later on. Doctors usually recommend surgical repair of inguinal hernias if they get larger or painful. Inguinal hernias are fairly common, up to 1.6 million inguinal hernias are diagnosed annually in the United States.

Femoral Hernia
Your muscles are usually strong enough to support your intestines, however, your intra-abdominal tissues can be pushed through a weakened spot in your muscle when you overstrain. If a portion of tissue pushes through the wall of the femoral canal, this is known as a femoral hernia. Elderly women are more likely than men to suffer from a femoral hernia. Overall, femoral hernias are not common. You may not even realize you have a femoral hernia. Small and moderate-sized hernias don’t usually cause any symptoms, while larger hernias may be more noticeable and can cause some discomfort. If left untreated, femoral hernias may lead to other health issues. As such, regardless of symptoms all femoral hernias should be surgically corrected.