An umbilical hernia develops when part of your intestine pushes through a hole in the muscles near your belly button (navel).

If your baby develops a bulge near their belly button when they cry, it’s a good chance that they’ve got an umbilical hernia. This may close up by itself by their 2nd birthday or it may remain open until age 5 or above. We can help you decide whether surgery is the right option.

You should always seek emergency medical attention if your baby has an umbilical hernia and seems to be in pain, is vomiting, and if the hernia site becomes tender, swollen and discoloured.

If you develop an umbilical hernia as an adult, it’s more likely to need surgical repair. Adult umbilical hernias tend to be more common in women, especially if your abdominal wall has been weakened by multiple pregnancies, previous abdominal surgery or excess weight.

An epigastric hernia appears in your chest, in the midline area between your ribs. It’s caused by fat or other abdominal contents pushing through a weaker part of your abdominal wall and forming a lump. You’ll often feel pain when that fat is pinched by your abdominal wall.

Surgery is one of the only way to repair the hernia, relieving pain and preventing complications.

An inguinal hernia happens when a piece of your intestine or your abdominal cavity lining pokes through a weak spot in the muscles near your groin.

Babies can develop inguinal hernias but they’re most common in men over the age of 40 due to the gradual weakening of their abdominal muscles over time. Women are less likely to get inguinal hernias because the uterus supports and protects the inguinal canal. 

Symptoms of an inguinal hernia include:

• A bulge in your groin
• Pain when you cough, bend or lift something heavy
• A sense of pressure, weakness or heaviness in your groin
• Swelling around the testicles (in men)
• An aching or burning sensation around the bulge
• Relief of pain when you gently push the bump back in.

Without surgical repair, inguinal hernias may lead to serious, even life-threatening, complications.

Femoral hernias are uncommon but come about when tissue pushes through a weak spot in the muscle wall of your groin or inner thigh. It might happen if you strain while exercising, coughing or going to the toilet or if you’re overweight. Giving birth can also cause a femoral hernia.

You might notice a lump in your inner thigh or groin, often accompanied by discomfort and sometimes by vomiting and stomach pain. 

Femoral hernias can be very serious so it is important to see a doctor without delay.

If you’ve had abdominal surgery and your scar hasn’t fully healed, you may develop an incisional hernia. They’re surprisingly common, occurring after about 15-20% of abdominal surgeries that involve an incision. They can occur any time after surgery but most commonly appear about 3-6 months after your operation.

The most obvious symptom is a bulge near the incision site that becomes more visible when you strain your muscles by coughing, lifting or standing up. Incisional hernias can also cause pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, constipation and diarrhea, and can speed up your heartbeat.

Go to emergency if the bulge darkens or turns purple or if you’re in severe pain. Incisional hernias can cause serious complications that are life-threatening in some cases.

Before your oesophagus connects to your stomach, it passes through a small opening in your diaphragm known as the hiatus. A hiatal hernia happens when your stomach pushes up through that opening and into your chest.

If you have a small hiatal hernia, you may never even know it’s there. A larger one, though, can cause heartburn because food and stomach acids are passing back up into your oesophagus. Medication and lifestyle changes may help treat these symptoms but a very large hiatal hernia may need surgery.