Hernia in women - Signs, types and treatment etc!!
Who said hernia can occur in men only?
It is true that not only men but also women can get hernia in them. Especially in women, the symptoms of hernia would be subtle when compared to the symptoms in men. This could make the woman mistake hernia to bloating, menstrual cramps etc. The hernia in women doesn`t get diagnosed until it becomes a serious issue for them. If the women could know about the early warning signs of hernia it could make a huge difference. Some signs of hernia in women are dull pain in the lower abdomen, pressure and discomfort etc.
Types of hernias:
There are 2 main types of hernia in women such as umbilical hernia and femoral hernia. The hernia that would occur in the upper part of thighs is femoral hernia. Sometimes, hernia can occur around the belly button or navel and this is umbilical hernia. There are also other types like incisional hernia, ventral hernia and hiatal hernia etc.
It was later explained by a popular hernia surgeon from Mumbai based hospital that hernias could occur if the muscles in the belly wall becomes weak. The internal organs would start pushing through the weak spot. Important piece of information is that pregnancy, being obese, frequent coughing etc could cause or worsen weakening. Truth is that these vague signs are often mistaken for PCOS, endometriosis, indigestion etc.
Umbilical hernias would develop in women after pregnancy and would go unnoticed as the woman would be busy with childcare and other household chores etc. Seeking medical help would be delayed. Only when pain arises or when complications get worse, women would seek the attention of a doctor etc.
Recommendation of surgery:
When medical treatment is not effective then surgical procedure is used to treat hernia. Surgery would be needed for incarceration and strangulation of hernia.
Incarceration:
In the abdominal wall in women, tissue would get trapped and cannot be pushed back again and this is incarceration. This would require surgery.
Strangulation of hernia:
Truth is that strangulation could result in permanent damage and could be a serious life threatening issue. If there is acute pain, fever etc, women must seek medical help immediately.
Surgery for hernia:
There are 2 types of treatment foror hernias like open surgery and laparoscopic method. In the former, a cut is made over hernia and hernia is pushed back and muscle is closed with stitches. Recurrence of hernia is prevented with the use of mesh.
In the laparoscopic method, cuts are made and the camera is inserted with other tools inside the abdomen. For better visibility, the area is inflated with gas and a mesh is placed for extra support. The downtime in case of open surgery would be longer than that of laparoscopic surgery. The patients would return to normal activities within a week. Based on the location of hernia, size etc, choice of surgery would be chosen.
