No matter who you are, hernias can be an uncontrollable and uncomfortable side effect of being overweight.
And whilst it is unfortunate and uncontrollable that you get them you can prevent hernias and outright get rid of them by losing weight, and stopping the root of what causes hernias in the first place.
In this article we’ll be discussing exactly what a hernia is, and how it forms so that you can understand how to prevent them, ease the symptoms of them, or outright get rid of them.
What is a Hernia?
First of all it’s important to understand what a hernia is. In short a hernia occurs when an internal body part protrudes through the abdominal muscles, causing sharp burning pains. These symptoms can vary from person to person, but there are more common types of hernias which include:
- Inguinal Hernia: Either fat or a part of the intestine protrudes through the abdominal muscles
- Hiatal Hernia: Part of the stomach up into the chest cavity through an opening in the diaphragm muscle
- Umbilical Hernia: Fat or the intestine pushes through the abdomen through the navel
- Femoral Hernia: Fat or part of your bowel pokes through your bowel at the top of the inner thigh
If you’re overweight, the extra strain placed on your body weakens the abdominal muscles overtime, which makes you susceptible to developing a hernia.
Of course there are exceptions, but obesity is the leading cause of hernias, due to this strain that they put under your abdominal muscles.
These hernias can worsen over time with your weight applying pressure to them. they slowly grow larger and larger until serious complications can arise such as strangulation of the intestine as it’s pushed out of place by the weight and loses all blood flow.
Symptoms can be anything from nothing to intense burning pains, and really vary from person to person, but here’s a quick list of some of the most common symptoms you’d expect to see from a hernia:
- A burning/throbbing/aching pain
- Heartburn
- An uncomfortable buildup of pressure where the hernia is
- Inability to defecate or pass wind.
- Being sick
So How Can Losing Weight Affect a Hernia?
Because of how they occur, hernias do not pass over time. Whichever body part that is protruding from its normal spot won’t simply fall back into place overtime, and so surgery is needed to resolve a hernia.
Losing weight is regarded as the best way to treat a hernia as once the pressure and strain is lifted off the abdominal muscles, there’s no way the hernia can continue to worsen.
Sometimes patients are told to lose weight before they have surgery for their hernia because the hernia will simply return afterwards due to the strain, and there is an increased chance of infection, blood clots, and the wound healing very slowly.
It’s important to note though, that because of your hernia, working out can sometimes be a painful and irritable process, and if you feel any abdominal pain whilst trying to work out then stop immediately. There are other ways to lose weight!
Losing Weight With A Hernia
Now that we’ve established why it’s so important to lose weight when you have a hernia, let’s look at some great ways that you can lose belly weight when you’ve got one.
Abdominal Planking
The first and probably one of the simplest exercises in the book, planking is great for working out your abdominal muscles without neglecting any other part of your back or chest. And the great thing about planking is all you need is a flat surface and some time!
All you have to do is get yourself into a position that resembles the highest part of a pushup, whilst using your forearms to hold the weight of your upper chest by placing them flat on the ground with your fists closed.
Hold this position for as long as you can, but short bursts are going to be much more manageable and will feel much better. Another great part of the plank is that if you feel comfortable with it, you can squeeze your abdomen to help with working out the area.
Slant Boards
These are great for working out your core, and are really simple!
Rest your back against your slant board and face upwards, put both your legs up in the air and bend your knees so that you’re parallel to the abdomen, once you’re ready start cycling your legs almost like you’re riding an imaginary bicycle.
This exercise is so easy, and you’ll find that you’ll be able to do more than you thought possible, so just make sure you keep at it, and whenever you feel any abdominal pain just give it a rest.
Dieting
Obviously working out is going to produce results, but dieting whilst performing a basic core strengthening routine is going to give you the best results, so make sure that you’re following one – even if it’s not perfect it’s going to help!
For losing weight, the best possible diet is going to be a high protein, low carb diet which has an emphasis on getting a calorie deficit every day. So long as you’re in that calorie deficit you’re going to be losing weight.
It’s important to try to eat smaller meals, try to steer clear of things like onions, spicy foods, chocolate and generally anything that would normally cause discomfort in the stomach.
As soon as you find yourself getting into you diet it becomes second nature, and you’ll see results faster than you might expect.
Final Thoughts
Hernias can be a discomforting reality check of your weight, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Take steps to perform simple workouts daily, and reinforce that with a basic diet-you’ll soon be rid of your hernia, you’ll feel so much better afterwards too!
