A hernia is when an internal part of the body, such as an organ, pushes through a weakness in the muscle or surrounding tissue wall. Usually your muscles are strong and tight enough to keep your intestines and organs in place, but sometimes they aren’t, causing a hernia.
Types of hernia
A hernia can occur anywhere in the abdomen region. The most common types are:
- Inguinal hernia This occurs when tissue (usually part of the intestines) pokes through your lower abdomen.
- Femoral hernia This occurs when tissue pokes through into your groin, or the top of your inner thigh.
- Incisional hernia This occurs when tissue pokes through a surgical wound or incision that has not fully healed.
- Umbilical hernia This occurs when tissue pokes through the part of the abdomen near to the navel (belly button).
There is also another common type of hernia, known as a hiatus hernia, that occurs at the top of the abdomen (go to 'useful links' for more information).
How common are hernias?
- Inguinal hernias These are the most common type of hernia. Every year in England, 70,000 surgical operations are required to repair inguinal hernias. In reported cases, 98% occur in men. Inguinal hernias can occur at any age, but they are primarily an age-related condition. The older you get, the more likely you are to develop one.
- Femoral hernias These are less common than inguinal hernias, occurring in 16 out of every 100,000 people in England. Around three quarters of cases of femoral hernias occur in women.
- Incisional hernias These develop as a complication of abdominal surgery. The chance of an incisional hernia developing after surgery can vary from between 0.5-10%, depending on the type of surgery involved.
- Umbilical hernias These are very common in young children, with as many as one in six children being affected. Black children are 10 times more likely to develop an umbilical hernia than white children. The reasons for this are unclear. In most cases, an umbilical hernia will resolve as a child grows older, without the need for treatment.
In many cases, hernias cause very few or no symptoms. However, there is a chance that the hernia could cause an obstruction in the bowel or interrupt the blood supply to the intestines, both of which are medical emergencies.
Due to the potential risks of these complications, surgery is usually recommended to repair the hernia. The exception is umbilical hernias, as the risks of complications are thought too small to justify surgery.
