Hernia symptoms and signs

Symptoms of hernias may suddenly appear, but also may develop gradually. Painful sensations can vary considerably – from no to severe pain. Hernia symptoms should include the presence of convexity in the groin, chest, thigh, and scrotum. Convexity can disappear in a prone position and act more while coughing.

Another symptom of hernia is a burning sensation, pressure, local pain where it has appeared. The pain may also occur when lifting heavy things, coughing, as well as during any strong muscle tension. Any hernia symptoms described below should serve as a pretext for a visit to the doctor in order he made diagnosis and prescribed treatment.

Inguinal hernia symptoms

Inguinal hernia symptoms may occur suddenly or develop gradually. Painful sensations also differ in their intensity. Causeless pain in the groin or temporary budge is a good reason to see your doctor. Symptoms of an inguinal hernia may be projecting some bullas when you cough, disappearing in a prone position, burning or pain in the groin or scrotum, pain when lifting and coughing. Patients complain on feeling of heaviness in the abdomen, the appearance of bullas which change in size and disappear in the recumbent position. It appears usually during physical stress or coughing. Typical onset of the disease – the emergence of pains after lifting heavy things or strain and at the result (after a few days) the appearance of bullas.

Hiatal hernia symptoms

The most common hiatal hernia symptom is heartburn, often stubborn, painful, and arising after a meal or on an empty stomach, especially in the torso and in the prone position. Gaseous eructation, sour, bitter and vomiting of food is often accompanied by pain, it is – a frequent symptom of hiatal hernia. Usually burning pain arises in the anticardium, behind the sternum, in the left hypochondrium, increased with physical activity, with inclinations. Sometimes you may feel like a lump in the throat and pain when swallowing food. In this situation, the person feels discomfort behind the breastbone down to the strong arching pain, propagating in the left shoulder and shoulder blade (just like with angina), burning sensation, a feeling of dissatisfaction with the lack of air or breath. Some patients often occurring increased blood pressure without apparent reason. Nights marked with increased salivation, coughing and choking. All these symptoms frighten the patient and its lead to the development of his obsessive-compulsive disorder, seriously altering the psyche, and even social behavior.

Umbilical hernia symptoms

Symptoms of umbilical hernia: Patients note the appearance of a bulla in the umbilicus, which disappears in a horizontal position. Often marked pain, intensifying during physical exertion. Often a small umbilical hernia is not painful if the hernia ring is wide enough and the hernia is easy set. Large hernias with a relatively narrow hernia rings make it difficult to advance the contents of the intestines, so patients suffer from constipation, occasional pain; they often have nausea and even vomiting. Especially these phenomena are expressed in irreducible hernia. The condition of patients is often aggravated by obesity.

Disk herniation symptoms

The main disc herniation symptom is a pain. As a rule such pain occurs at a young age after moderate physical exertion, awkward position in a bed or at the workplace. The pain often arises in the torso with a turn to the side, often in combination with weight lifting. The symptoms of this disease are similar to those that occur with osteochondrosis. It may be pain in the lower extremities, weakness in your leg, feeling chills or vice versa, the loss of sensitivity. Pain in the disk herniation can be extremely intense; they literally lay aside the patient.

Hiatal hernia

Diaphragm separates the chest cavity from the abdominal. The diaphragm- is a dome-shaped wall, consisting of several muscle and beams layers, which subtracting, participate in the act of breathing. There are two anatomical openings in the diaphragm. One, the fibrous ring, is for the blood vessels. It is quite rigid and does not vary in diameter to protect the blood vessels from damage. Other, esophageal aperture, is formed by muscles. It may expand and narrow depending on the food bolus.

Disorders in normal functioning of the backbone lead to internal organs disorders. So scoliosis (spinal curvature), which most of the people now have to lesser or greater extent, leads, on the one hand, to the disorders in normal organs innervations through the spinal nerves, on the other hand, to the internal organs displacement in their respective cavities of the body. It results in reduction of their tone and function.

The same happens with the diaphragm: its tone is reduced, the dome sinks, while the above-mentioned esophageal opening is increased in diameter, much more than necessary. Part of the stomach or even the whole stomach gets from the chest cavity into the abdominal cavity through the above mentioned widened esophageal opening when the pressure increases in the abdominal cavity or the body gets horizontal position.

This is hiatal hernia. Please, read about hiatal hernia symptoms.

Inguinal hernia


The most common hernias, of course, are inguinal. This is due to anatomical features of the groin. Inguinal canal – is one of the weaknesses of the abdominal wall. The share of inguinal hernia according to various sources accounted for approximately 60-70 percent of all hernias. Inguinal hernias are classified into direct and indirect. The transcending place of direct inguinal hernia – is a medial fossa in front of the superficial inguinal ring. The entered finger is straight. Direct inguinal hernias are often bilateral. Indirect inguinal hernia in the inguinal canal goes through the deep inguinal ring. In men, it can pass along the spermatic cord, and descend into the scrotum. In women – in the labia lips. Contents of inguinal hernias are usually small bowel and omentum, but there are cases of cecum, sigmoid colon, urinary bladder out. The recognition of inguinal hernia is usually not difficult (see hernia symptoms for more information).

Disk herniation

Intervertebral disk – a structure that separates the vertebrae. It serves to absorb the movements of the vertebrae. Intervertebral disc consists of the so-called pulpal core special jelly mass and envelops the fibrous ring, which consists of fibers. Fibrous ring partially fixed to the adjacent vertebral bodies, and partially – to the adjacent intervertebral ligaments. Some parts of the ring are “free” and there may be some stretching of it. Excess load on the fibrous ring leads to the fact that the nucleus breaks pulpal core break fibrous ring at a greater or lesser extent. This leads to the formation of disk herniation.

Disk herniation is the most common and the most severe manifestation of osteochondrosis. Hernia usually sticks out through the posterior longitudinal ligament, i.e. in the spinal canal. This leads to compression of the spinal cord or, more often, the nerve root. It develops ridiculer pain syndrome, which may be accompanied by paresis or paralysis of lower limbs muscles, numbness, and pelvic organs dysfunction. 19% of patients with disk herniation require surgery.

Umbilical hernia

In different age periods the umbilical hernia is significantly different from each other, so it was decided to distinguish umbilical hernia in children and umbilical hernia in adults.

Umbilical hernia in children:

Umbilical hernia in children is a consequence of the anterior abdominal wall development defect. All the factors causing the increase of pressure inside abdominal cavity can lead to rupture. Umbilical hernias in children occur rather often, especially among girls, usually in the first months of life.

Signs of an umbilical hernia: in an upright position and straining the child in the area of the navel protrusion appears round or oval bulla, which is usually independently set in a horizontal position at the back. If the hernia ring is broad, the hernia is easy set. In the narrow hernia ring the hernia can be difficulty to repair. This is considered as a partial strangulation. Complete strangulation of hernia does not happen often.

Umbilical hernia in adults:

Umbilical hernia in adults is only 3-5% of all abdominal hernias. They arise mostly in women older than 30 years, since pregnancy and childbirth weakens umbilical ring. Large hernias often have hernia sac to consist of smaller isolated sacs, the contents of which may be the stomach and intestines.

The symptoms of umbilical hernia depends on its size, the size of hernia ring, severity of adhesions and associated obesity. Some hernias can be repaired; other ones cannot be, for example in the case when the hernia sac fuse with surrounding tissues.