Health | Private Women Health

Causes- Identification and Treatment of Hernia in Women
Jul 31, 2016
Causes- Identification and Treatment of Hernia in Women

Hernia In Woman

Joyce 35 years old, mother of two was very nimble and zippy, she never let her health laugh at her, kept it constantly under check. But all of a sudden she got an unexpected pain right below the pelvis that pulled her off tracks. She consulted a gynecologist but thought it was the usual flow related. As time moved on the pain only went from bad to worse, which led the doctors to get scanning done on her body to finally diagnose a hernia.

A hernia is a condition where the smooth muscles lining any internal organ ruptures and allows the organ to protrude out, this condition is usually common with intestine and its lining. Although there is a myth that only men get a hernia, but it must be understood that it is not gendered specific though very common among men, about 27% of men in the United States are prone to hernias.

Where all can I get a hernia?

 It is mainly seen in the groin region, morphologically a bulge on either side of groin can be caused due to an inguinal hernia or a femoral hernia where the former has high probability. Other than groin, hiatal hernia (protrusion of the upper stomach onto the thorax), incisional hernia (a hernia caused by a surgical incision), Umbilical Hernia (protrusion of umbilicus/navel). Some other non-common types are Amyand’s Hernia, Cooper’s hernia, Brain hernia etc.

How do I identify it?

All hernias are not painful, they might give a pain if they damage the organ affected. In the case of a groin hernia, you are supposed to see a small bulge in the upper groin extending towards your genitals. Initial stages don't exhibit a pain but over time, they might create a complication followed by pain, strangulation, and death tissue, which might be fatal to the individual. Bulging of the regions like umbilical’s, groin, etc. are the visual indicators of a hernia whereas in the case of hiatal hernia nausea, vomiting, organ dysfunction are some of the early warnings. If you find any difficulty while walking, coughing, during exercise then it might mean that you are possibly having a hernia.

How hernias are diagnosed?

An inguinal hernia is very easy to be diagnosed where conventional hands on technique can give a rough idea. Usually, the physician checks the protrusion and its movement while coughing if a hernia is reducible then it disappears on lying flat. Imaging techniques are final choice to confirm a hernia. Though primary diagnosis might vary with the region of occurrence, the confirmation is usually done using X-ray, CT scan etc.

What are the complications?

There are various types of complications, strangulation of hernia results in the damage to the tissue leading to the tissue death. A post-operative complication includes mesh rejection, where a mesh used to push a hernia back in position is rejected by the auto immune system of the body. Other complication includes Hydrocele, Haemorrgae, Irreducibility, Inflammation, Immune rejection, bowel obstruction etc.

Treatments for Hernia:

Treatment strategy varies according to complication the patient is facing. A truss is an external device used to support and maintain a hernia like a belt, trunk etc. It is a less preferred choice because a hernia repair is not yet reported by use of these trusses. Surgery is another option where it can be either open surgery of laparoscopic surgery. Though there are complication post-surgery, it is the widely opted card for hernia repair due to its efficacy.

The recovery time varies according to the mode of surgery, it usually keeps you in bed for somewhere like 1-3week. Laparoscopy has an advantage of faster recovery within 5-7 days, where open surgery extends it to a week or two.

Bottom Line

So, readers don’t get tensed, because it is one of the very common surgery that takes place every day. In a scale is complexity this surgery only falls below 4 out of 10. Now, check for any mentioned indication and keep a note for a hernia, if in case. 


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