The Blank Belly and the Umbilical Hernia

Recently, during a routine visit to Dr. Tracy Johanssen of Northwest Women’s Health Care, she noticed that I had lost 17 pounds since my last visit. Having been on a limited diet, and having noticed its effects, I wasn’t surprised. As she asked me about it, though, and I repeated an observation that I’d made before, which was that it seemed that I had intermittent bowel blockage. Not classic obstruction with an increase in activity and noise, but stasis, that is, lack of forward movement with bloating and constipation.

Being quick-witted and accustomed to solving patient’s problems, she suggested that I had umbilical hernia. For some reason, I had fixated on umbilical hernias as birth defects or as the causes of abdominal catastrophe. Even though I developed an “outie” after pregnancy, and my belly button sometimes hurt, I took it as the new normal. I hadn’t made the diagnosis myself. She suggested an ultrasound study to confirm or to rule out the hernia.

In the week or so before the test, I examined my belly button from time to time and found what seemed like soft masses or tense swelling, as if bits of tissue now and then protruded between my belly muscles. They felt like umbilical and peri-umbilical hernias. They went away when I lay down, but sometimes became tight and hard to reduce, that is, to push back inside. This tended to happen after I ate foods that were rich in fats or carbohydrates and that led to bloating.

I learned with persistence and a small amount of discomfort to reduce the hernia, that is, to push the tissues back inside when they pushed out. When I reduced it, many of my symptoms eased. I could stand and to sit for long periods of time rather than walking or lying down. While the hernia might be small, it seemed to trap bits of soft tissue rather than lengths of bowel, and to turn my belly blank, that is, to block the reflexes, sensations, and normal activity between my ribs and pelvic brim. Reducing the hernia eased these symptoms as well.

The ultrasound test confirmed the hernia. The surgeon I consulted, an experienced man with his ego well in hand, told me that the hernia was trivial and that he could operate but that it probably wouldn’t help. I couldn’t agree that it was trivial, but did agree that surgery might not help, or might make it worse.

Since then, I’ve been trying to stay aware of the hernia so as to note early signs of entrapment, and to reduce it as needed. Like avoiding mold, reducing the hernia is relieving many symptoms that troubled me. To put it differently, I had reached the second step in my sevenfold cure.

Next Time: Corn as Poison: An Experiment in Neurotoxicity

Note: If you have a post-partum or other form of umbilical hernia, you can learn to help yourself by reducing it. I use one finger to exert gentle, firm pressure at the edges and then work my way in, sometimes lying down or slouching back to reduce the pressure inside the belly. You may find, like I did, that “exercise” is not always good; toning my belly made my symptoms worse. On the other hand, losing weight and eating small meals of the right foods eased my bloating as well as my hernia symptoms. I also found that I could ease some of the hernia symptoms by supporting my circulation with support socks.

Do you have a hernia? Have you found a way to deal with it that works for you? If so, you are welcome to share your experience by leaving a comment below. And now I need to go reduce my hernia J.