Umbilical Hernia

Umbilical hernia

        Hernia is slightly weird condition. It cannot be really called a disease, since it is not. Most likely, it is an anatomical defect, genetic or inflicted, that causes the sliding of some portion of your abdominal cavity into another part of your body. However, the complications caused by these movements can lead to some very serious problems. There are a lot of hernia variations out there, from the most common called hiatal hernia to some that are not exactly widespread, like umbilical hernia.

       Just like its name suggests, an umbilical hernia is localized somewhere next to your belly button. In fact, a bulge that forms inside your belly from the inner lining of your abdomen slides through a canal to the surface of the skin, pushing at your belly button from within. Unlike in other types of hernia, the canal at fault here is not a natural one that simply gets loosened. This time, the stripes of muscles that form your abdominal wall move so that they create a hole, tiny at first, through which the troublesome sac of lining glides to the outside of the skin.

       Umbilical hernia is not exactly what one would call a dangerous or annoying illness. Most people do not even notice they have it until certain circumstances make it patently obvious. For example, pregnant women will most surely observe an increase in dimensions of their belly button. However, if the belly button is slightly misshaped or deformed, an umbilical hernia is to fault.

       Another such example problem experience obese people. Due to the amount of fat that pushes at your abdominal walls, your belly button will be naturally pressed from the inside out. In most cases, the fatty tissue causes such a strain on the muscles that line your inner abdomen, that their connective tissue is simply torn, causing a herniation (the canal) and, thus, leading to a full hernia.

       From a different kind of umbilical hernia suffer toddlers and newborns. It is not that uncommon in babies and it is due to an incomplete development of the abdominal muscles. It becomes much more obvious when the child is crying because of the strain caused by the wailing.

Umbilical hernia pictures

Symptoms and treatment of umbilical hernia

        Umbilical hernia symptoms are not that different from any other kind of hernia. The pathology of this condition describes the following signs that should point out that something is wrong with you:

• The appearance of a bulge next or beneath your belly button.
• Pain: either local, generalized or referred leads to the conclusion that you have a type of hernia.
• Nausea and vomiting: part of your intestines could slide through the herniation in your abdominal wall, causing problems with your digestive system.
• Constipation: the digestion is slowed and sometimes even stopped if the umbilical hernia becomes incarcerated.

       Now, keep in mind that if you take out the bulge situated next to your belly button, most of these symptoms could belong to other conditions as well as umbilical hernia. Only a visit to your attending physician can assure you that it is indeed hernia that troubles you.

       Once you set an appointment with a medical doctor, you must be prepared for what he or she will probably recommend you as a treatment scheme. If you are accompanying your young child (up to three or four years), the visit could lead to nothing more than a reassurance that the hernia will probably disappear all on its own once the abdominal muscles of your toddler become fully formed.

        However, if your baby is older than four and he or she suffers from a poor digestion, frequent tummy aches and the bulge on his or hers stomach does not disappear, surgery could be the sole solution. Do not be frightened. This is a routine procedure that should take no more than one hour. Your attending physician will surely explain in detail all the steps of the surgery, but here are some general points about it: the skin is cut open and the surgeon will try and push the sac inside the abdomen, making sure that the trapped part of the intestines is not harmed so as not to stop the digestive process.

        In the case of an adult patient, the surgery goes pretty much the same, with one major distinction: instead of simply pushing the bag back inside the abdominal cavity, the surgeon inserts a mesh made of some bio - components between the abdomen wall and the skin, so as to offer more support to the contains of your belly.

        After the surgery, you should obey every last one of the advices offered to you by your medical doctor, from a special diet to no physical effort for a while.