If you have a small hernia that isn’t causing you much discomfort, you may be tempted to put off seeking treatment. In most cases, a small delay in treating a hernia won’t cause problems, but there can sometimes be complications from not treating a hernia. When you have a calendar that’s filled up with to-dos, it’s all too easy to prioritize the needs of others over yourself. Most of us have postponed a medical appointment a time or two or waited for an illness to worsen before seeking care. Deep inside, you probably know that’s not the best plan. Seeking care when you aren’t feeling your best ..read more

You may have heard someone talk about having a hernia, but would you recognize a hernia if you had one? Knowing how a hernia looks and feels can help you seek treatment if you develop one. When you think about hernias, the types that affect the groin or the belly button may be the first thing to come to mind, but there are actually multiple types of hernia. Though they can be located in different parts of the body, hernias all share one common indicator—a bulge. Keep reading to learn more. What a hernia looks like A hernia occurs when an organ or tissue bulges through a wea ..read more

When you experience pain, it’s only natural to want to know how to relieve it. So, what can you do to relieve hernia pain? Pain related to a hernia of any kind can often be alleviated temporarily with some basic at-home care. Getting rid of your discomfort in the long-term, though, requires more than a quick fix. Hernia pain should not be ignored, as it can be a sign of an incarcerated or strangulated hernia. Keep reading as our team of hernia specialists answers a few common questions about what can be done for hernia pain. Regardless of your level of pain, the only way to properly diagnose a ..read more

If you’ve ever seen a TV character dealing with a hernia, odds are that the person was a man. While that’s often the stereotype, hernias actually affect both men and women. Would the symptoms of a hernia be the same for a woman as for a man? The short answer is yes. While hernia symptoms can vary a little from person to person, like the symptoms of any other medical condition, both men and women experience similar symptoms. With that said, though, the symptoms of a hernia do differ somewhat based on the type of hernia. There are multiple types of hernias, affecting different areas of the body ..read more

Anyone who is preparing for a surgical procedure probably has many questions and a few worries. Are hernias after surgery something else you need to be worried about? Let’s put your fears to rest. While it is possible to develop a hernia after surgery, it doesn’t happen in most cases. Instead of worrying about what might happen, talk with your surgeon and other members of your care team about steps you can take to lower your risk. In the meantime, keep reading. We’re talking you through the basics of incisional hernias and how to prevent them below. What causes hernias after surgery? Hernias t ..read more

Your doctor recommended that you have surgery to repair a hernia. But before you can schedule the hernia surgery, you need to know the answer to a key question: “How much time do I need off work?” You might be surprised by the answer. While individual recovery time after hernia surgery will vary based on a number of factors, you could be back to work more quickly than you may think. For robotic inguinal hernia patients, our goal is for you to be off work for one week and on light duty for one more week before returning to work at full capacity just two weeks after your surgery. Before deciding ..read more

“Will my hernia heal on its own?” That’s one of the most common questions we hear from our patients at the Hernia Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC). Unfortunately, the answer is no; your hernia will not heal on its own. While there are some measures you can take to temporarily relieve pain, the best long-term solution to effectively treating a hernia is through surgery. Untreated Hernias Can Lead to Complications It’s important to seek medical attention right away if you think you may have a hernia. Delaying treatment of your hernia or leaving it untreated can lead to serious c ..read more

Summer isn’t over yet, and many people still have vacation on their mind. It may be hard to think about vacation plans, however, if you’re suffering from the pain of a hernia or worried about the downtime needed after surgery. You might be surprised to learn that patients who have hernia repair surgery with one of the skilled surgeons at the Hernia Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) generally experience short recovery times – typically one to two weeks. That means you can get back to your plans sooner, and with less pain. How long does it take to recover from hernia surgery? Aft ..read more

At the Hernia Center of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) – Georgia’s first accredited Hernia Surgery Center of Excellence – we get a lot of questions about hernias. Below we answer some of the most common questions we get regarding signs and symptoms of hernias, surgery and what to look for. 1. What is a hernia? A hernia is a hole or defect in the abdominal wall allowing things normally on the inside to escape to the outside of the wall. Hernias are a common condition caused by strain combined with muscle weakness in the abdomen or groin. In some patients, hernias develop over a long pe ..read more

An incisional hernia develops at or near an incision site after surgery. This type of hernia occurs in approximately 15% of patients and it’s more likely to occur after an emergency surgery that requires a large incision. If the edges of the incision aren’t properly aligned – or if your muscles that have been cut during surgery don’t fully heal – tissue may protrude through the incision site, resulting in a hernia. What are the symptoms of an incisional hernia? The most common sign that you have an incisional hernia is a bulge near your incision site or surgery scar. It is most noticeable when ..read more