How does illness affect a hernia?

Honor Society of Nursing (STTI)

Chronic illness that affects the muscles and abdominal organs can affect a hernia. A congenital condition that weakens the muscles can cause opening in the abdominal muscle wall. An illness that causes frequent coughing or vomiting can affect the abdominal wall in similar ways. Treating a chronic illness or viral infection is an important way to prevent it from causing the hernia to grow painful, larger, or incarcerated.

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Hernia

There are several kinds of hernias, but the all happen when pressure pushes an organ (often the intestine) through a weak spot in a muscle face or wall. Different kinds of hernias have different risk factors. 4/5 of all hernias are inguinal hernias, where the intestine (or occasionally the bladder) pushes through the lower abdominal wall-near or into the groin. Most of these occur in men, although they are also common in newborns because the abdominal walls in babies are weak. Treatment for hernias can be no treatment, to medicines to surgery. Many hernias are not serious, although larger ones certainly can be, and complications can include an obstruction of the digestive tract. Modern surgical methods to treat hernias are much improved over older techniques and recovery times are much shorter.

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