INGUINAL HERNIA

Yesterday, I visited my doctor. My diagnosis was correct. I have a hernia. Specifically an inguinal hernia.

An 'overview' from WebMd.com

An inguinal hernia (say "IN-gwuh-nul HER-nee-uh") occurs when tissue pushes through a weak spot in your groin muscle. This causes a bulge in the groin or scrotum. The bulge may hurt or burn. Most inguinal hernias happen because an opening in the muscle wall does not close as it should before birth. That leaves a weak area in the belly muscle. Pressure on that area can cause tissue to push through and bulge out. A hernia can occur soon after birth or much later in life. You are more likely to get a hernia if you are overweight or you do a lot of lifting, coughing, or straining. Hernias are more common in men. 

The main symptom of an inguinal hernia is a bulge in the groin or scrotum. It often feels like a round lump. The bulge may form over a period of weeks or months. Or it may appear all of a sudden after you have been lifting heavy weights, coughing, bending, straining, or laughing. The hernia may be painful, but some hernias cause a bulge without pain.

A hernia also may cause swelling and a feeling of heaviness, tugging, or burning in the area of the hernia. These symptoms may get better when you lie down. Sudden pain, nausea, and vomiting are signs that a part of your intestine may have become trapped in the hernia. Call your doctor if you have a hernia and have these symptoms. A doctor can usually know if you have a hernia based on your symptoms and a physical exam. The bulge is usually easy to feel.

If you have a hernia, it will not heal on its own. Surgery is the only way to treat a hernia. If your hernia does not bother you, you most likely can wait to have surgery. Your hernia may get worse, but it may not. In some cases, hernias that are small and painless may never need to be repaired.

Most people with hernias have surgery to repair them, even if they do not have symptoms. This is because many doctors believe surgery is less dangerous than strangulation, a serious problem that occurs when part of your intestine gets trapped inside the hernia.

But you may not need surgery right away. If the hernia is small and painless and you can push it back into your belly, you may be able to wait.

A hernia may come back after surgery. To reduce the chance that this will happen, stay at a healthy weight. Do not smoke, avoid heavy lifting, and try not to push hard when you have a bowel movement or pass urine.

.

Inguinal Hernia - What Increases Your Risk

Many things can increase your risk for having an inguinal hernia.

Risk factors you can change

• Being overweight or having a recent, large weight loss (such as in crash dieting)

• Having weak abdominal muscles from poor diet, lack of exercise, or both

• Straining during urination or bowel movements

• Chronic coughing, such as from smoking

Risk factors you cannot change

• Being male

• Having muscle weakness from birth, along with a hernia sac

• Having muscle weakness from aging

• Having one or more inguinal hernias

.

It appears that surgery is in my future. At this time, my doctor has described it as elective surgery. I will elect to proceed. I just need to decide on the election day.

.

Your Food Diary For:

      Monday, April 11, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Egg, whole, cooked, poached, 3 large	215	1	14	19	446	1
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 4 slices	140	2	12	8	600	0
	355	3	26	27	1,046	1
L U N C H
Gemelli Pasta Salad	150	0	0	0	0	0
Generic - Milanese Chicken Breast, 1 breas	500	37	26	28	520	3
Baked Macaroni and Cheese	345	32	24	15	583	7
Endangered Species Chocolate - Natural Dark Chocolate With Cherries, 1 Bar	500	44	32	6	0	22
	1,495	113	82	49	1,103	32
D I N N E R
Cheese Pizza, 2 SLICE	1,400	140	56	88	2,740	14
	1,400	140	56	88	2,740	14
S N A C K S
Nice! - Honey Grahams , 6 pieces	390	72	9	6	510	24
	390	72	9	6	510	24
Totals	3,640	328	173	170	5,399	71
Your Daily Goal	2,025	253	67	102	2,300	76
Remaining	-1,615	-74	-106	-67	-3,098	5
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 95 extra calories from exercise today