Hernia Repair

An inguinal (pronounced “ingwinal”) hernia is the most common type of hernia. Anyone of any age can get a hernia, although the elderly, smokers, and the obese stand a much higher chance of developing one.

It can appear as a swelling or lump in your groin, or as an enlarged scrotum (the pouch containing the testicles). The swelling may be painful. The lump often appears when you’re lifting something and disappears when you lie down.

Why do hernias develop?
A hernia may arise because of previous surgery, injury, disease, heavy lifting or pregnancy. Very often, frustratingly, there is no obvious cause. A problem can result from a naturally occurring weak spot in the abdominal wall that a person is born with.

Although hernias are not likely to lead to serious harm, that doesn’t mean they should be underestimated. They can cause pain and activity limitations.

Inguinal hernias can be repaired using surgery to push the bulge back into place and strengthen the weakness in the abdominal wall.

Surgery should prevent you from having any serious complications that an untreated hernia can cause. 

If the hernia is left untreated it is unlikely that it will go away.  An untreated hernia involves more potential risks and can lead to more severe harm than treating one. In most cases the hernia will get larger as time goes on causing more discomfort.

Although other treatments may help the symptoms associated with a hernia it is important to know that surgery is the only suitable option to completely repair a hernia.

Untreated hernias, as well as potentially increasing in size may also become harder to manage, more uncomfortable and  painful and in worst case scenarios, life-threatening.

Sometimes hernias will cease from growing, but they never get smaller. In some extreme cases, the longer the symptoms persist, hernias can become so big that the abdominal cavity can collapse.

For sure, it’s better to get a hernia treated while it is relatively small rather than to wait until it grows. Smaller hernias generally are easier to repair and the recovery time from those types of surgeries can be much shorter.

Local anaesthesia completely blocks pain from the affected area and you will stay awake during the operation. If you are having hernia repair under a general anaesthetic you will be asked to fast before your operation.

This means that you should not eat or drink for about six hours before your operation time but our expert surgeons will provide you with the advice you will need to follow.