Umbilical hernias are common, often don’t need surgery
Dear Doctor: commonly have umbilical hernias that are reducible, meaning the material that pushes into the hernia can easily be moved back into the abdomen.
A small umbilical hernia without symptoms doesn’t require treatment. That changes if a hernia causes pain or is not reducible. For a small, symptomatic hernia, a surgeon cuts into the skin and locates the hernia sac. He or she then removes the sac or pushes it back into the abdomen; sutures the surrounding fascial layers together; and thus closes the area of weakness. With a larger hernia, a surgeon will have difficulty bringing together the surrounding fascial layers. This is when he or she will place a mesh over the defect and attach the mesh to the surrounding fascial layers. Unless the hernia is very large (more than 9 centimeters in size), a surgically repaired hernia is unlikely to recur or cause pain.
Because of the lack of symptoms from your hernia, you’re unlikely to need surgical treatment. But you should be on the alert for pain in the umbilical area and for difficulty pushing the hernia back in to the abdomen. Either problem is a sign that surgery might be needed.
Also, you might be able to decrease pressure on the abdomen by decreasing your “gut in the middle.”
Improving your diet by cutting back on sugar, exercising and losing weight will put less pressure upon the hernia and may decrease the likelihood of ever needing hernia surgery.
Dr. Robert Ashley is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet. ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o Media Relations, UCLA Health, 924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA, 90095. Owing to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided. Dear Savvy Senior: — Researching Daughter
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