All of your abdominal organs are supported by a muscular wall to keep them in place. However, when the supporting wall is weakened, the organs may move from their places and push through creating a bulge on your skin. When this condition happens, you may suffer from a hernia and there are many symptoms to pay attention more than just the bulge.
Inguinal Hernia Symptoms
Most frequent hernia is inguinal type, Symptoms of Hernia of this types you could feel some pain in your stomach and some of your body. Below are details.
- Pubic Bone Bulge
Inguinal hernia is one of most common hernia types and this usually happens when the bowel pushes through the lower abdomen and makes a bulge in the groin. This is why the common symptom is the bulge found on your pubic bone, either of them. You may not find the bulge in the groin when you lie down. After doing some significant activities when you get strained, the bulge can even bigger. However, you can actually push the bulge back gently as it is soft enough when the hernia is not chronic.
- Aching Budge
Now you may have the budge, but this is usually felling ached and burned. Such feelings can make you feel discomfort especially when you move your body. The ache feeling can be represented with a burning or tingling sensation that makes you feel discomfort. If you are lifting, running, sitting or standing for a long time, the discomfort feeling will be more obvious. This is because your muscles are straining when you are doing physical activities.
- Pain Groin
The aching feeling comes from the budge, but it spreads to the groin ending up with a painful feeling in the groin as well. As has been mentioned before, you will feel discomfort to move especially if you bend your body, lift something or even coughing.
- Pressured Groin
More than just the pain and burning, the groin area will feel getting pressure due to those conditions and the bulge. The pressure can also mean you feel like the groin is heavier so that you as if need to drag it. When you feel the pressure, you may feel the groin is weakened at the same time. However, when you lie down the pressure feeling is commonly decreasing.
- Darkened Bulge
When inguinal hernia is not properly treated, it may become worse and one of the indications is the turning color of the bulge, which becomes darkening or turning to purple and red. When the bulge is darkening, usually you can’t push it back. Check your bulge and see if there is any changing color to see your doctor as soon as you find it.
- Intense Pain
Feeling the pain in the bulge is normal, but when the pain is becoming suddenly intensive, don’t wait longer to see your doctor and check the condition.
- Nausea
When inguinal hernia is getting worse, the blood flow to your intestines can be distracted and it leads to nausea or even vomiting. These are some signs of chronic hernia that must be medically treated.
Hiatal Hernia Symptoms
- Heartburn
Since hiatal hernia is caused by the stomach organs pushing through the chest, the heartburn is one of the common symptoms that you may feel. This is also caused by the stomach acid passing back to the esophagus.
- Chest Pain
While the stomach organs are using the diaphragm to push through the chest or the upper stomach, chest pain usually happens. When you lie down, the chest pain may become more intense. The pain can be represented with the tightness feeling in the chest, between your shoulders or under the breast. Not only when you lie down, but also after having a meal or lifting something heavy, the pain or tightness can come.
- Swallowing Disorder
While the upper stomach is getting hernia, swallowing foods will be more difficult than usual. Hiatal hernia causes you from having reflux in the stomach, which leads to inflamed lower esophagus. Although reflux can happen without a hernia, it happens more often when hiatal hernia exists. The reflux that causes inflammation makes the lower esophagus narrower so that you may experience difficulty swallowing. This narrowing lower esophagus condition tends to happen in chronic conditions of hiatal hernia.
- Full Feeling
Feeling full after getting your meals is normal, but when hiatal hernia is there, you may feel something different in the fullness. You may experience extreme fullness even if you just eat only a small portion of meals. Not even waiting you finish your meals, the fullness or bloated feeling can come once you start eating.
- Blood Vomiting
This is quite a worsened condition that should be paid to attention. Vomiting blood can be an indication that there is bleeding in the gastrointestinal, which means you need to treat your hernia properly through medical helps.
- Anemia
Chronic reflux due to the inflammation in the lower esophagus can lead to bleeding. The bleeding and injury in the stomach wall as it rubs the esophagus edges can cause anemia. It may indicate that the hiatal hernia is quite chronic, so you should seek for medical help when this condition happens.
- Cough and Wheezing
If you cough so often when sleeping and even accompanied by wheezing, you should not wait to see your doctor. This may be caused by the other ailments, but if this comes together or followed with some symptoms above, then it may be a sign that the secretions in your stomach is seeping through the lungs. As result, coughing and wheezing commonly happen. Even worse, you may also experience difficulty breathing.
- Frequent Burping
When acid reflux happens in your stomach, it is common that you are having frequent burping as your stomach is feeling full and bloated. The burping can be prolonged and deep and in some types of hernia it may also come with chest pressure. The belching commonly happens once you finish your meals.
- Sore Throat
Still about the acid reflux, the stomach content passing back to the esophagus also influences the throat. This causes your throat croaky and sore. When there is adequate saliva production for neutralizing the acid in the area, the conditions will be better. The acidity that reaches the throat leads to the taste of acid, slightly bitter, in your mouth as well. As a result, the gum and your breath smell can get the impact. However, if it becomes more severe, the damage can be permanent. The sore feeling will be more constant and your voice will change. So it is better to get treated properly before the conditions getting worse.
- Hiccups
Hiccups followed with pain can be a symptom of a complicated hiatal hernia. They can feel deep and painful that you may feel so uncomfortable.
- Fatigue
Imagine when all of those symptoms are collected into one. You are experiencing deep hiccups with pain, chest pain, sore throat and even vomiting all into one. Surely this will lead to fatigue that make you extremely weak. Don’t wait until you feel fatigue, once you find some possible symptoms, go check your condition.
Since some symptoms above are similar with other diseases, so don’t judge you have a hernia unless you have been medically checked. Acid reflux and heartburn are not always the symptoms of a hiatal hernia. A hiatal hernia is also not always indicated with acid reflux. It depends on the severity and conditions of the patients as one person with another can have different symptoms.
Umbilical Hernia Symptoms
Symptoms of umbilical hernia could be more difference from another types, since this type could be detected from your physical body.
- Belly Bulge
This kind of hernia happens mostly in babies as they have weak belly that fluid or fat can come through creating a bulge. This bulge is commonly painless and unnoticeable. Parents may not know that their babies are having a hernia unless they are straining, coughing or crying as the bulge is getting more obvious. When they are not straining, the bulge may be disappear especially if they lie down.
- Painful Bulge
Commonly the bulge in umbilical hernia is painless. So if your babies are feeling the pain from the bulge, then you should seek medical help to address it. In adults, the bulge can become bigger overtime and it should be treated with surgery. A more chronic condition of umbilical hernia is when the bulge becomes discolored, tender and swollen. It can also be caused by a strangulated hernia, which is a condition when the blood supply to the hernia is blocked. This hernia is harmful because you have your blood cut off so the tissue of the intestines are not getting enough blood, ending up with bluish skin because there isn’t enough blood circulation required. An incarcerated hernia is also possible to happen, which when the hernia, which firstly can be pushed back, right now is not possible to be treated that way since the tissues are getting trapped. That is why you need to quickly and properly treat the bulge if you feel extreme pain. Keep this in mind because the dead trapped intestines can intoxicate the blood streams that end up with blood poisoning.
- Constipation and Vomiting
The harmful strangulated hernia can also lead to vomiting and constipation considering the gas is distracted from passing.
- Abdominal pain
The pain in the abdominal is commonly mild, but as you are doing activities that make your body straining, the pain tends to be increasing. It is not always a pain, but it can be a burning sensation in your abdominal. The pain is even getting worse when the hernia is strangulated or incarcerated, as has been explained before.
- Tenderness in the abdomen
Since there is a bulge on your abdominal, the area is becoming tender. When it is tender you can touch it gently and push the hernia back.
- Fever
If the hernia becomes strangulated, fever can happen as the blood is poisoned and infected. Hernia that comes with fever should be immediately treated. This time, you my experience the pain combined with vomiting and nausea.
There are some other common types of hernia such as epigastric, ventral and femoral hernia, which have some similar symptoms as those above. The bulge of any hernia is mostly painless unless the hernia is becoming worse and more severe. The bulge comes when the muscles are straining and disappear as they calm down. The incarcerated and strangulated hernias are also possible to happen to any type and they should be immediately treated. Aching, nausea and vomiting are present in those hernia types as well as the hernia is getting worse. So when you see a hernia bulge, treat it properly.
Hernia Causes
There are many causes of hernia, but they can be divided into two general parts as below:
- Muscle Weakness
One of the causes of hernia is the weakened muscles that make the abdominal organs or tissues  pushing through and create a bulge on the skin. The organs should stay in place if the muscles are strong enough to hold them. Weakened muscles can be caused by age, surgery, chronic coughing and abdominal wall failure.
- Muscle Straining
Not only being weak, straining muscles can also lead to a hernia as this condition puts much pressure on your body. You can feel strained during pregnancy, constipation, gaining weight, lifting heavy objects, ascites or having fluid in the abdomen and coughing persistently.
Hernia Prevention
You may be worried of being at risk of hernia as it can be harmful when it gets worse. Here are some helpful tips to do to prevent hernia and strengthen your muscle.
- Maintaining Your Weight
Overweight is one of the causes of hernia. So if you want to reduce your risk of getting a hernia, then you need to have an ideal weight. If your weight is proportional, you have a balanced inhale and exhale pressure within the body. However if you are overweight, the pressure when inhaling is much greater and not balanced. This pressure can lead to muscle straining and hernia.
- Preventing Constipation
Since straining leads to a hernia, constipation should be prevented. Eating vegetables and fruits daily is very important. Foods rich in fiber are a great option. Not only can they prevent constipation, but them also excellent in helping you maintain and ideal weight. So as you are trying to regulate the bowel movement, your weight is well balanced too.
- Exercising Regularly
As weakened muscle can stimulate a hernia, you need to strengthen your abdominal by doing exercises regularly. Choosing the right exercises is very important as you need to ensure that you are doing something that can make your abdominal stronger. Lifting weight is a good option, but you must know how to lift weight properly. The knees are the ones should be bent, not your waists. If you bend the waists, you put so much pressure in your body and the risk of a hernia occurring is greater.
- Quit Smoking
Smoking can make you cough persistently. This is also harmful for your lungs and heart. Since persistent cough leads to a hernia, then preventing such cough from happening is very important. Quit smoking and you will reap many benefits not only for preventing hernia, but there are also many others.
Drinking Lots of Water
While eating fruits and vegetables are great for your bowels, water can flush out the toxin from your body and make you more regular. So along with eating fiber, your water intake should be paid to attention too.
Lifting Weight Properly
As has been said before that lifting weight is a great exercise for a strong abdominal muscle, knowing how to do it properly is necessary. Belly breathing is the first trick to remember. Breath into the belly means that your belly is expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale. Inhale when the weight is lower and exhale when the weight is lifted. Start it with small weights and increase the amount slowly to prevent yourself from forcing your body and muscles to strain.
Hernia Treatment
- Acid Reflux Medicines
Some acid reflux symptoms such as heartburn and bloating can be treated with antacids. You can also consume some medicines that block or reduce the production of acid such as omeprazole and cimetidine. For stronger medications you need to see the doctor to get some prescriptions.
- Surgery
If the hernia has worsened, surgery is needed. Incarcerated and strangulated hernia may need surgery as the trapped tissues or organs are not getting enough blood supplies and you can’t push it back like before.
- Home Remedies
Mild hernias can be treated using natural home remedies, which are safer and better. Licorice is one of the herbs you can use as a natural hernia treatment. Mix a spoon of licorice powder with half a cup of milk and consume it. Licorice is good in supported the healing process of your damaged skin.  If you want another, just go with the popular natural hernia remedy, ginger root. Make it into a tea and drink it in the morning while your stomach is empty to get the best result. Don’t drink it too much to avoid making your stomach upset.
Mild hernia should be treated properly to prevent it becomes bigger and more severe. However, if you have a painful hernia, go check your condition to get the right medical treatment. Firstly, make sure that what you feel is a hernia because some symptoms are similar with other ailments.