“Turn your head and cough” is a phrase that most men have heard from their doctor more than any other. Checking for a hernia during a male physical exam is so routine that there is a broad assumption that women never suffer hernia injuries.
Below, trusted Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. Gregory Dumanian explains that although hernias are more common in men, women do experience the condition, sometimes as a result of gender-specific causes such as pregnancy.
Loss of Tissue Integrity
When you consider that a hernia is, by definition, a hole that develops in the muscle or tissue, it seems surprising that hernias are assumed to afflict only men. For everyone, muscle and tissue can weaken over time or become damaged during certain types of physical activity. When an internal organ begins to sag into this breach, men and women alike feel the telltale symptoms, especially pain or a consistent burning sensation.
Apart from the pain, which can range from mild discomfort to severe, hernias in women often do not arrive with obvious outward symptoms. Doctors look for small bulges on the skin that indicate the area where an organ has begun to push through the opening.
Men most often experience hernias in the groin or abdomen. According to one recent study, about a quarter of men will experience a groin hernia, but only 3 percent of women. When women do develop hernias, it is most often an internal variety.
From Pregnancy to Pilates
In addition to the groin and abdomen, hernias can develop at the top of the inner thigh, between the navel and sternum, and sometimes near the belly button.
Up to 80 percent of all hernias are in the groin area, but there’s been an observable increase in the numbers of women who develop hernias in the navel/sternum area. These are known as epigastric hernias. Surprisingly, there appears to be a link between the greater incidence of epigastric hernias among women and the popularity of yoga and Pilates, which involve stretching and arching that can put stress on the abdominal wall. The good news is that epigastric hernias are usually small and do not generate severe pain.
Similarly, the abdomen undergoes a great deal of stress during pregnancy, and a hernia can easily develop as internal organs adjust to a less roomy interior. Other causes include genetic predisposition and aging, which weakens muscle and tissue over time for all of us.
To learn more about hernias and effective surgical solutions, please contact our Chicago office at (312) 695-6022 today to schedule your visit with Dr. Dumanian.