Photo © Joseaperez

It is a rare moment when you can compare your gut to a well-worn pillow with the cotton fluff poking through its loose stitching. But when you develop a hernia, it is unfortunately possible. Sometimes, a section of the thin abdominal wall that usually bundles our innards snugly into their functional positions may tear and allow a piece of an organ, usually intestine, to bulge through. Around 680,000 hernia surgeries are performed in the US annually for this painful condition.

Men undergo most hernia repairs. The odds a male will visit an ambulatory care facility for an abdominal wall hernia in a year are 1 in 53.81, while a female’s odds are 1 in 141.2. Heavy lifting and chronic coughing or sneezing encourage hernia formation. A family history of hernias, cystic fibrosis, extra weight, pregnancy, chronic constipation, or undescended testicles can also raise one’s chances. Even infants and children, long before they have a chance to lift heavy objects improperly, can develop hernias when the abdominal lining or navel doesn’t fully close before birth. The odds a child younger than 15 will be hospitalized for an abdominal wall hernia in a year are 1 in 12,160. Doctors urge parents to seek treatment if a bulge around the child’s belly button has not healed on its own before 5 years of age.

Umbilical cord hernias in infants are the only hernias that can self-heal. In all other cases, surgery is required to push the organ back into its fleshy cage and patch up the hole. Recurrence occurs in 1% to 3% of cases. In the worst-case scenario, the piece of protruding intestine can become trapped and strangled in the abdominal hole, sometimes leading to fatal organ failure. The odds a death is due to the aftermath of a hernia are 1 in 1,391.

The abdomen is the most common, but not the only, hernia location. For example, athletes, such as golfers and footballers, are prone to sports hernias. Instead of an organ escaping through a rupture in its boundary, a muscle can separate from the pelvic bone as a result of intense twisting and bending motions. In 2004, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb underwent three surgeries to repair the wayward flesh.