Umbilical hernia alert!

Submitted by louiseds on October 8, 2009 - 9:37am
Body: 

Hi All

I think a couple of days ago somebody posted as an aside that they had inflammation near the belly button. She was feeling pretty down cos her body seemed to have lots of complaints at the time. Could have been any of us, except for this inflammation.

DH visited the local hospital tonight with the same thing. The doctor said it was a small strangulated umbilical hernia, and shoved it back in through the hole, with much pain and distress for DH. Trouble is that if you leave it too long you cannot push it back in again and the bit of intestine can become gangrenous. Not nice. He had already made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow, so he is not ignoring it. He will need surgery (and some serious posture work).

I am hoping that our Member is not ignoring hers. If you are reading this and have inflammation near your belly button, please get it checked out pronto. Or if anyone else remembers reading her post, and can recall who it was, please email her or get in touch with Christine, Louise, Alemama, Kiki or Granolamom, and we can contact her offline.

I have posted it in this Forum because I think she has a baby, and postpartum women are one of the at risk groups. My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I hope we can find out who it was.

Thinking caps on.

Louise

nikki4444

October 8, 2009 - 9:37pm

Yes, an umbilical hernia can strangulate intestines and causes quite a mess. However, not all do this. I've have one for at least 10 years, probably more like 14. It has gotten a little worse after each child, and it is certainly not pretty. However, it causes me no problems so I keep an eye on it. I guess my two cents go right along with Louise...watch that hernia closely, but don't sign up for surgery right away.

Nikki

MeMyselfAndI

October 9, 2009 - 1:36am

I had a Para Umbilical Hernia (Just above the umbillicus)
It started strangulating itself at about midnight one night...... (I was already waiting the fixup surgery which I got the appt for 9mths after it strangulated)

The pain of this was similar to childbirth - It came in waves getting more and more painful. I then was sick - White sick - Not at all like normal sick (ick)

Then I started not understanding what was going on...

I would say - If it looks like it will be a problem - Sort it - Strangulation if not a nice thing to have - V V painful.

Good luck to him Louise

( I have photos of the scarring after both types of surgery for this - If he would like to see them etc - Midline incision and the Keyhole surgery incisions - First time I had just sutures - It came back - Second time I had mesh and mesh is good for this kind of thing apparently (tho i hate the idea of mesh inside me) And I have had no problems since )

♥

louiseds

October 9, 2009 - 1:37am

Thanks Nikki. DH has now visited the doctor and has booked for a simple, non-mesh repair in a few weeks. From what I have read and been told an umbilical hernia that develops as a person ages is often related to the normal weakening of connective tissue that is a result of age and is not reversible without surgery. This one is definitely worsening, and while DH continues with his c-shaped posture and does no regular muscle building exercise I don't see it staying as it is, and neither does he. It turns out that it was omentum (the membrane that encases the intestines) that herniated, not small intestine, but he has been told what to do if intestine pops out between now and the op.

I am looking on it as the canary in the mine. Hopefully it will be a wakeup call for him to do something positive about his body before holes start elsewhere, cos the Dr told him that people who develop an umbilical hernia are henceforth prone to further herniation in the midline. Being postpartum is one of the main risk factors, simply because of the separation between the two halves of the rectus abdomibinus that results from the stretching of the midline part of the muscle during later pregnancy. It just leaves one of the safety nets (that keeps all our inside bits inside) weaker until the muscle regains its tone again.

WW posture stretches the rectus abdominus muscles by by moving its anchorage points further apart, so they are being used in everyday ambulation, and not just sitting there flopped apart. This is what will help to bring the two separated halves together again. Muscles get stronger when they are contracting and stretching. If they just sit there without being worked because their anchorage points are too close together it makes it very difficult to contract and stretch them, and therefore strengthen them, because there is no load on them. That's my theory anyway. Anyone want to correct me?

What it boils down to is that the old man has to learn to stretch himself out and up. Roll on WholeMan posture. The principles are exactly the same as far as I am concerned.

Cheers

Louise

ActiveandLapsed

October 14, 2015 - 11:16pm

Hi,
I have noticed my belly button becoming pushed out a bit at the top over the past few months but thought nothing of it. Last night I ate a big dinner (I know a bad idea with prolapse). I had hardly eaten all day and dinner was full of lots of non-inflammatory foods. My belly was uncomfortable but not stuffed. Anyway my belly button got sore and then I noticed it had bulging out on the side. Today it is red around the belly button and still bulging. It is very sore to touch.

I can see from Doctor Google and the thread above that I probably have an unbilical hernia. I am not overweight and carry very little weight on my belly. I do struggle with consitpation (managed ok now with diet) and I had years of bloating from a lot of gluten or grain in one sitting. Been doing WW for 1.5 years.

This is so not what I need as I am worried about any surgery runing my WW posture and prolapse. However, I realise red is not a good sign.

I think I will go to the doctor tomorrow to confirm and then book a consult with Christine.

Anyone on here currently with this issue? Thoughts, experiences, ideas...

ActiveandLapsed

October 20, 2015 - 3:53am

An update on the umbilical hernia in case any of you get one.

I managed to get it back in with WW breathing and posture and very gentle massage while lying in bed. I went to the doctor the next day to confirm I had diagnosed it right. She said she could not feel it and had me couch and push my belly out with breath (that was easy to do in WW posture). I made sure she was careful not to push my belly in much when examining me. She said I could monitor it myself but to come back if it popped out. WW work is the perfect thing to help I figure. I am making sure that I only eat small portions so my belly does not get too full. I am also eating an anti-inflammatory diet (80/20%). I have had no problems in the past week and don't expect too if I keep following these rules.

Before I left the doctors office I asked her how common vaginal prolapse was in women my age (30s). She said it was very, very common front wall and back wall. I mentioned Whole Women and posture but did not go into any details as I realised it was not the time and she did not grasp what I meant by the posture we had as little girls. She did say oh breathing like an opera singer and I said yes.

Once again WW has been so useful and is the way forward for my health for life. It helped me to not stress out and to know that I do have a way to heal the weakness in my belly. I certainly don't look like I have any weakness in my abdominals but of course I can't see the layers deep down. I am positive I will continue to heal.

Surviving60

October 20, 2015 - 6:53am

Thanks A&L, good information! Keep up the excellent work. - Surviving