Archives: June 2019
Can You Wait for Hernia Surgery?
Hernias do not always present with obvious signs or symptoms and many patients will live for decades, or even their entire lives not knowing they have a hernia. Because of the relatively low risk of strangulation, we do not actively screen for asymptomatic hernias and only consider hernia surgery once they become symptomatic.
However, symptomatic hernia may cause interference with lifestyle pursuits and this is the best indication for corrective surgery. Interestingly, the relationship between the size of the hernia and the pain that it causes is not linear. In other words, small hernias may be very painful while large hernias may not be. So, whether or not a patient should have surgery is more a result of the kind of hernia and its symptoms versus its size.
