abdominal hernias and exercise?

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staceylcash
staceylcash Posts: 71
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a couple of abdominal hernias, they don't hurt all the time, but when I do abdominal exercises they start to pop out and I have to stop. It really freaks me out. Anyway, if I put a tight wrap around my upper belly where the hernias are, would it be wise to do abdominal exercises even using the wrap? Or should I just refrain from them all together? I have read up on hernias and the only way to fix them is with surgery and after surgery they say no abdominal exercises at all, ever. So I just don't know if I should start trying to find a new workout that excludes ab workouts. Thanks yall.

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  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Did your doctor say anything about it?
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    as my dr said..be careful, drs are so much help
  • staceylcash
    staceylcash Posts: 71
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    To be honest, I have not mentioned it to her :/ I have other problems that I deal with that she takes car of me for and I'm afraid to ask her since I don't have insurance, I'm worried she's gonna just say I need surgery to fix it. So I was just wondering what anyone else would say who has hernias
  • staceylcash
    staceylcash Posts: 71
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    as my dr said..be careful, drs are so much help
    Is yours small? Does it only pop out when exercising?
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    most of the time you dont actually need surgery. you do have to be careful though and if it starts to hurt. stop. you do need to ask.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    I have a couple of abdominal hernias, they don't hurt all the time, but when I do abdominal exercises they start to pop out and I have to stop. It really freaks me out. Anyway, if I put a tight wrap around my upper belly where the hernias are, would it be wise to do abdominal exercises even using the wrap?

    What did your doctor tell you to do?
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    yea its a partial umbilical hernia. mostly it just makes to muscles feel like they are pulling and they tighten up. you can massage them out. sometimes what we think of as hernias arent even that. its just a knot in the muscle.
  • staceylcash
    staceylcash Posts: 71
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    most of the time you dont actually need surgery. you do have to be careful though and if it starts to hurt. stop. you do need to ask.
    1
    OK I'll ask my dr. Thanks everyone
  • staceylcash
    staceylcash Posts: 71
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    So I could be dealing with muscle problems not a hernia? It will ball up and I feel like if I straighten out it will rip. So I have to stay bent over until it goes down. And i actually do have bad muscle cramps in my arms and shoulder. Maybe that's what this is?
    yea its a partial umbilical hernia. mostly it just makes to muscles feel like they are pulling and they tighten up. you can massage them out. sometimes what we think of as hernias arent even that. its just a knot in the muscle.
  • ittybittybadonkadonk
    ittybittybadonkadonk Posts: 11,634 Member
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    I had hernia surgery back in 06 ....I refrained from doing any ab workouts due to the bulging ..I do not want another surgery
  • staceylcash
    staceylcash Posts: 71
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    I had hernia surgery back in 06 ....I refrained from doing any ab workouts due to the bulging ..I do not want another surgery
    I will refrain from ab workouts too. With other workouts, not being able to to abs, we're you able to still get into shape?
  • ittybittybadonkadonk
    ittybittybadonkadonk Posts: 11,634 Member
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    I do a lot of walking and use my total gym for legs and arms ...seems to be working for me ...wishing you much success
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
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    I'd recommend talking to your doctor, the worst thing you'd want to do is make it worse. Sorry that's all I can offer.
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
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    I've had an abdominal hernia repair. It sucks. My doctor never told me not to do abdominal exercises afterwards though. I lift weights, and pretty much do everything I want. I do think I have another hernia now, but my doctor doesn't seem to be too concerned and I'm going to put off surgery as long as I can. It doesn't hurt all of the time, only when I do lower ab things. If it hurts, I don't do it. That's all the doc told me.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    I'd recommend talking to your doctor, the worst thing you'd want to do is make it worse. Sorry that's all I can offer.

    This.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    If you have random things that pop out and hurt during exercising, I'd recommend not doing abdominals at all - and talking to your doctor ASAP.

    I had an umbilical hernia and my intestine got stuck in there. It's not anything to mess around with. I did have surgery and my surgeon never mentioned not doing abdominal work outs. I still do them.

    It sucks when you don't have medical insurance, I get it. But waiting isn't going to make an issue go away - it'll just make it more emergent.
  • Pusarah
    Pusarah Posts: 124 Member
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    I have a hernia that is pretty huge, sticks out about 6 inches..surgeon says I need to lose weight before it is operated on if I'm not in immediate pain, so I'm in the midst of it and going to regular dr visits so my own dr can also keep an eye on it...she said "ooh, lets get you smaller so we can get this taken care of" They both said no point in doing surgery if its going to open again but I think I've shown pretty good results since I saw the surgeon at the end of Feb. Regardless, my own dr in terms of exercise do what I can handle, don't overdo it and don't do things that cause pain. You should know yourself pretty well as to when they hurt. I know if I walk for extended periods of time I have a lot of pain, so I sit at that point. I don't have the kind that you can pop back in but do have a friend who does and they are able to do moderate exercise, no treadmill but eliptical is ok, but that is also under drs advice as to where their hernia is located.
    I'd probably talk to your dr as well as other suggested so you can know the specifics of your hernia (s) and how to take care of them and what to watch for in case of strangulation and such. Good luck.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
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    I have read up on hernias and the only way to fix them is with surgery and after surgery they say no abdominal exercises at all, ever.

    I had surgery two years ago for a double hernia. It took months for all the pains to go away and about a year to start feeling fully normal again. I do ab exercises now and don't seem to have any problems.

    My doc never said anything about never doing ab exercises again. I hope he didn't forget to tell me something.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,655 Member
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    Doctor. Doctor. Doctor.
    I harp on this issue a bit because of my personal experience. Doctor.

    Depending on the size and placement and other stuff I'm no expert on, a hernia can lead to serious complications, even without abdominal exercise. An abdominal hernia can be repaired to the extent that you can resume completely normal activity. A friend of mine got the mesh and was able to go back to killing it in the gym after recovery, with essentially no limits. He too said the repair wasn't fun, but being able to live his active life again was worth it.

    AND it might not be a hernia. I self-diagnosed an "abdominal hernia" and got confirmation from a trusted, competent chiropractor... the bulge was in the right place and the symptoms matched exactly. For over two years, I refrained from all abdominal exercise possible and did everything I could to keep it from getting worse. Finally, I sucked it up and went to my friend's exercise surgeon.

    Turns out I had fibroid tumors... a lot of big ones and calcified ones... and what I needed was not repair, but a hysterectomy. I'd wasted a couple years for no good reason, and I'd waited almost too long for the surgery I did need. Two weeks after I had that done, I was cleared to do anything and everything... heavy lifting, combat training, you name it.

    It's worth finding out, at least. Even if you don't have the wherewithal to get it done, it's good to know so you can keep from getting worse.

    Doctor. :flowerforyou:


    ETA -- This...
    It will ball up and I feel like if I straighten out it will rip. So I have to stay bent over until it goes down.
    is reminiscent of my symptoms. Could be a pedunculated fibroid, meaning it hangs off a stalk (sort of like a skin tag) and can get twisted or yanked. Just an extra something to check out.

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