Why does hernia happen

This is slightly more than the weight of a gallon of milk. Open surgery often requires a longer recovery process than laparoscopic surgery. Your surgeon will let you know when you can return to your normal routine. Between 10 and 25 percent of babies are born with an umbilical hernia. This type of hernia is also more common in babies who are born prematurely or with a low birth weight.

Umbilical hernias occur near the belly button. This causes a portion of the intestine to bulge out. Umbilical hernias in children are typically painless. However, when symptoms such as pain, vomiting, or swelling at the hernia site occur, you should seek emergency medical attention. Umbilical hernias typically go away when a child is 1 or 2 years old.

Learn more about umbilical hernia repair. They can evaluate it and determine if it poses any health risks. Often, hernia repair can wait until after delivery. The recommended time to have this performed is during the second trimester. Hernias that have been repaired in the past may return with later pregnancies. This is because pregnancy places a strain on abdominal muscle tissue that may have been weakened by surgery. Hernias can also occur following a cesarean delivery.

During a cesarean delivery, a doctor makes an incision into the abdomen and uterus. The baby is then delivered through these incisions. An incisional hernia can sometimes occur at the site of a cesarean delivery. Get more details about hernias that occur after a cesarean delivery. Your hernia may grow and cause more symptoms.

It may also put too much pressure on nearby tissues, which can cause swelling and pain in the surrounding area. A portion of your intestine could also become trapped in the abdominal wall. This is called incarceration. Incarceration can obstruct your bowel and cause severe pain , nausea , or constipation. This can cause the intestinal tissue to become infected or die. A strangulated hernia is life threatening and requires immediate medical care.

Some symptoms that can signal that you need to seek out emergency medical attention for your hernia include:. Sometimes a hernia occurs because of an existing inherited condition or a previous surgery. However, you can make some simple lifestyle adjustments to help lower your risk of a hernia.

These steps aim to reduce the amount of strain you place on your body. Hernia pictures and info for some of the most common hernia types give more tools to help identify and manage these conditions. Learn more about these two types of hernias.

Learn more. You can exercise with a hiatal hernia, including cardiovascular routines and yoga. Here's what you need to know. Discover possible causes of belly button odor, such as infection.

Also learn how to keep it clean, how to treat the odor, and more. You will also receive emails from Mayo Clinic on the latest health news, research, and care. In many people, the abdominal wall weakness that leads to an inguinal hernia occurs prior to birth when a weakness in the abdominal wall muscle doesn't close properly.

Other inguinal hernias develop later in life when muscles weaken or deteriorate due to aging, strenuous physical activity or coughing that accompanies smoking. Weaknesses can also occur in the abdominal wall later in life, especially after an injury or abdominal surgery. In men, the weak spot usually occurs in the inguinal canal, where the spermatic cord enters the scrotum. In women, the inguinal canal carries a ligament that helps hold the uterus in place, and hernias sometimes occur where connective tissue from the uterus attaches to tissue surrounding the pubic bone.

You can't prevent the congenital defect that makes you susceptible to an inguinal hernia. You can, however, reduce strain on your abdominal muscles and tissues. For example:. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.

Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Inguinal hernia Open pop-up dialog box Close. Inguinal hernia Inguinal hernias occur when part of the membrane lining the abdominal cavity omentum or intestine protrudes through a weak spot in the abdomen — often along the inguinal canal, which carries the spermatic cord in men.

Email address. In many cases, it causes no or very few symptoms, although you may notice a swelling or lump in your tummy abdomen or groin. The lump can often be pushed back in or disappears when you lie down. Coughing or straining may make the lump appear. Inguinal hernias occur when fatty tissue or a part of your bowel pokes through into your groin at the top of your inner thigh.

This is the most common type of hernia and it mainly affects men. It's often associated with ageing and repeated strain on the tummy. Femoral hernias also happen when fatty tissue or part of your bowel pokes through into your groin at the top of your inner thigh. Like inguinal hernias, femoral hernias are also associated with ageing and repeated strain on the tummy. Umbilical hernias occur when fatty tissue or part of your bowel pokes through your tummy near your belly button.

This type of hernia can occur in babies if the opening in the tummy that the umbilical cord passes through does not seal properly after birth. If you have an incision that disrupts the abdominal wall, the scar will never be as strong as the original tissue.

Pregnancy is a risk factor that makes women more susceptible to developing another type of ventral hernia near the belly button, called an umbilical hernia. The umbilicus is the thinnest part of the abdominal wall. People often believe that only men get them, and for anatomical reasons, they do have a higher risk. But women can certainly have inguinal hernias, too. Many experts agree that women are likely underdiagnosed for this condition because they tend to have different symptoms than men.

Women may not have a noticeable bulge. If symptoms indicate a possible hernia but your doctor cannot confirm it by an exam, an MRI can provide definitive evidence. A: Treatment varies depending on the type of hernia, symptoms and the patient's sex. Inguinal hernias in women are more likely to become emergencies. Women also have a greater chance of developing complications than in men. So, we typically recommend surgical repair after diagnosis. Studies of men with inguinal hernias indicate the risk of having an emergency, like part of the bowel getting stuck or strangled in the muscle gap, is quite low.