My wife told me today that my belly button looked strange, and it was the first time i've noticed it too ... doesn't look terrible, but yeah it's a hernia. No pain at all. Wouldn't have known at all without my wife's comment. How long can I just safely ignore the problem for? Can I just continue my workouts as usual or is there danger in making it worse? I'm in Colombia for another 3 months and don't really want to see a doctor until i'm back in Canada.
It's hard to say whether your hernia can be ignored or not. The fact that it is pain free is promising, but that's not to say that it shouldn't get treated.
Based on what you described, it sounds as if you have an umbilical hernia. If that's the case, what's going on is that you have a portion of your intestines protruding through a breach in your abdominal muscle wall.
If you don't have pain, purpura (discoloration of your periumbilical region due to possible bleeding underneath the skin) or gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and/or vomiting, that's a really good sign.
Your description suggests that the herniated tissue might not be completely incarcerated to the point where strangulation of that tissue occurs rendering the blood supply to that portion of the tissue, which would then lead to a condition called gangrene or tissue death.
Most likely, you have a herniated tissue that is partially incarcerated, but that still allows for intestinal contents to continue their path of motility through your GI tract.
The picture below shows how this would look. Notice how the intestines are not completely strangulated by the abdominal wall muscle:
The worry is that it will become like this (strangulated), whereby nothing gets through that bowel loop:
The easiest way to diagnose this is by way of an abdominal ultrasound or an X-ray. Surgery is typically performed (very quick surgery with good results), whereby a mesh is placed below the area of the weakened abdominal wall, thereby preventing a repeat occurrence.
In the meantime, if you are terribly against going to your local ER for a few hours, you could wear what's known as a hernia belt. It is used in order to achieve a moderate level of relief from the typical discomfort that an umbilical hernia presents with, but it is not a solution. Consider getting this if you have a nearby surgical supply store:
Some folks suggest that a wide weight-belt works in similar fashion, but I have not had an umbilical hernia, so I can't comment on whether or not that is accurate.
My advice is to just go to your local ER and have them scan your abdomen in order to rule out that it is not anything truly serious (Triple-A comes to mind,
Abdominal
Aortic
Aneurysm - which can be deadly).
Good luck and keep us updated,
"
1"
