Can I ignore hernia pain?
Hernia symptoms affect people in different ways. People often ask if hernias will get better by themselves. If left alone they will develop and become more painful and complicated overtime. As this is a mechanical problem, like a hole in a wall, they don’t repair by themselves. Nor are there any medicines to cure hernias.
Population studies show that 60% of patients with a hernia have no related symptoms initially, but will go on to develop activity limiting symptoms with pain requiring surgery within approximately 18 months.
Some medical sources advise you to do fewer activities that push the hernia out further (for example lifting shopping) so that they don’t become symptomatic. But this advice can interfere with the quality of your life significantly and therefore impact your health.
This stage (hernia stage 2-3 in the diagram below) is the ideal time to get a hernia repaired to prevent this change in lifestyle and incur discomfort. We avoid making you wait with long NHS queues by offering consultation and then surgery within weeks of contacting us.
In the meantime, you can try using a hernia support, which is sold online and we will advise on in your consultation. These may help reduce the discomfort of a hernia but don’t fix it. When the right support for you, a good fit and used as the manufacturer recommends, they can control symptoms making them a useful stop gap while preparing for your surgery. They can also be used to improve your recovery post-surgery.
Click here to find out more about why we use hernia supports. Over 99% of our patients recommend hernia supports to other patients. Previous inguinal and umbilical surgery patients have recommended supports from www.orthotix.co.uk for effective hernia support.
Do you understand what causes hernias or causes them to reoccur? If not read our patient-friendly description.
What happens if I ignore hernia pain?
If left untreated the hernia can, after some time, go through the stages explained in the diagram below and then become an emergency.
- Stage 1 – Asymptomatic
- Stage 2 – Some discomfort
- Stage 3 – Discomfort interferes with activity
- Stage 4 – Difficult to reduce; this is an early warning sign of an emergency developing and painful. Seek help by calling us if you reach this point.
- Stage 5 – Incarceration; means the hernia will not reduce under any circumstances and very painful. A specialist hernia surgeon may be able to reduce it for you. If a hernia specialist is able to reduce it, use a hernia support and get an operation within 1-2 weeks.
- If they can’t reduce it, you will need surgery as soon as it can be arranged for you. This may still take a week or 2 unless, it has progressed to being red and tender and you are vomiting or feeling very unwell in which you need to attend ED urgently.
- Stage 6 – Obstruction; causes abdominal distention, reduced bowel opening and vomiting. Strangulation is cutting off the blood flow to the hernia contents that is often part of the intestine. This is a life threatening emergency and will require emergency surgery.
If you have hernia pain over an irreducible lump with hot, reddening skin it is strangulated. Seek urgent medical care the same day. DO NOT wait for it to get better!
The risk of hernia strangulation is low: approximately 1 in 100 hernias. Do not wait for these latter stages to develop before seeking a consultation on hernia repair.
Our strong recommendation on how long you can wait to repair your hernia is when a hernia becomes uncomfortable and the pain starts to interfere with daily activities (stage 2-3) this is the right time to have an operation to repair it.