According to existing statistics, it can be argued that such a phenomenon as inguinal hernia in women is an acquired disease, although in a small number of patients this pathology is inherited. In this case, we will talk about a genetic predisposition, which degenerates into a disease only in the presence of provocative conditions. Bulging occurs, as a rule, from one or two sides at once. Pathology is detected in women after forty years.
What are such hernias in women?
Inguinal hernia is characterized by the release of the organs of the abdominal region through the inguinal canal. Against the background of the development of pathology, a certain formation is formed in the lower part of this cavity. At the same time, a round ligament of the uterus lies inside, which does not have any deviations from the norm. In women who have been diagnosed with this, specialists usually observe the exit of intestinal loops that occurs through the inguinal canal.
Signs of inguinal hernia in women are difficult to confuse. In addition, the following organs of the genitourinary system can go out of the hole outside the abdominal region:
- Kidneys, omentum, ureter.
- Fallopian tubes or ovaries.
- The bladder, and in rarer cases also the spleen.
What are the types of hernias in the inguinal region?
With modern medicine, protrusions in the groin are classified as follows:
- The development of oblique inguinal hernia in women. Such a deviation may be hereditary or acquired. After forming, the protrusion leaves the inguinal region through the inner ring.
- The appearance of a combined hernia. This species is classified as complex pathologies. Deviation of this type consists of a small number of bags that do not have a message between them. They can exit through different inguinal openings.
- The formation of a sliding hernia. This type of deviation is a bag formed in the parietal region of the peritoneum, into which various organs can be included, for example, the wall of the bladder along with the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cecum, and so on. This protrusion usually covers a slipping organ.
- The appearance of a direct inguinal hernia in women. This protrusion is an acquired pathology. It comes out of the inguinal fossa and is usually located near the midline.
- The development of recurrent hernia. Usually, this type of protrusion appears in those patients in respect of whom surgical intervention aimed at hernia repair was performed with technical errors.
An improperly selected hernioplasty technique (this is what the hernia removal operation is called) can also lead to the development of pathologies.
What are the causes of occurrence?
Inguinal hernia in women, the symptoms of which allow an almost unmistakable diagnosis of the type of pathology, can develop against the background of the following premises:
- The development of obesity. It should be noted that overweight often leads to this pathology.
- The period of pregnancy or difficult birth.
- The presence of severe coughing attacks.
- The occurrence of constipation.
- The presence of strong physical activity along with weight lifting in everyday life.
- Anatomical feature of the muscle tissue of the abdomen.
- The presence of congenital defects of the inguinal canal.
- The presence of a weak abdominal pressure.
In women, they look in the form of a soft-to-touch protrusion, capable of greatly increasing in size with any physical exertion.
Symptoms of inguinal hernia in women
Before the pathology begins to manifest itself externally, the following symptoms may be observed in patients:
- The development of a pain syndrome that appears during the menstrual cycle. For example, a phenomenon such as algodismenorrhea develops when a fallopian tube or ovary enters a hernial sac .
- The appearance of pain of varying intensity, which are localized in the lower back, as well as in the lower abdomen, groin or sacrum.
- The presence of flatulence or constipation, which causes abdominal pain with inguinal hernia in women. Symptoms in the photo are presented.
- The appearance of a pain syndrome that develops when the cecum enters the hernia sac. Against this background, patients usually experience some unpleasant sensations in the intestinal region.
- The presence of frequent urination along with pain and pain in the urethra and above the bosom.
- The appearance of nausea and dizziness.
- The development of febrile conditions.
With the appearance of protrusion in the inguinal region, women at the initial stage of the disease can independently correct it. At the same time, rumbling with an unusual sound will be felt.
The protrusion may disappear on its own if the patient takes a horizontal position. It will again appear when a woman returns to a vertical state or against the background of any other physical effect exerted on the peritoneum, for example, as a result of sneezing, coughing, tension, and so on. Symptoms of inguinal hernia in women are important to identify in a timely manner.
An inguinal hernia can have various sizes, on which the degree of intensity of the pain syndrome, as well as the discomfort felt during walking, will depend. If the patient does not pay attention to the protrusion in the groin area, it can very quickly increase in size and be the cause of the development of infringement. Symptoms and treatment of inguinal hernia in women are often related.
Diagnosis and examination
In order to prescribe the right treatment for women who have a protrusion in the groin area, narrow-field specialists conduct complex examinations that include laboratory and hardware methods. At the appointment, a urologist or surgeon examines a woman, carefully palpating the protrusion region in order to determine the size and shape of the hernia, he can also try to correct it. At the same time, an anamnesis of the disease is collected by the specialist, which will subsequently help identify factors that contributed to the occurrence of inguinal hernia.
To establish an accurate diagnosis, patients with suspected inguinal hernia are prescribed the following additional examinations:
- Ultrasound examination of the pelvic organs and abdominal region. Including the protrusion itself is investigated.
- Conducting herniography, which is a method of X-ray imaging, which helps to evaluate the hernial canal and identify which organs have got into it.
- Irrigoscopy - an X-ray technique using contrast in order to determine the location of the intestine (in this case, it is specified whether he got into the hernia).
Therapy
Hernia in the groin, which appears in patients of a certain age group, can not be amenable to either drug or physiotherapy. In such a situation, the only way to recover from a pathology is a hernia surgery. Today, in the domestic medical clinics that specialize in the treatment of hernias, the following surgical methods of hernioplasty are used:
- The tension method suggests that during the operation, the doctor uses the patient’s tissue. In this regard, the second name of this method is autogernioplasty.
- The lightweight method suggests that a mesh prosthesis is used for surgery.
Removal of inguinal hernias is most often carried out using a synthetic implant. During surgery, the doctor strengthens the hernia walls from the inside with a special mesh that is made of polypropylene. Subsequently, such a grid acts as a frame, which prevents the organs from passing beyond the border of the abdominal wall. Mesh hernioplasty is currently considered as the main method of surgical treatment of inguinal hernias, it is second only to the option of autogernioplasty. Surgical treatment of inguinal hernia in women is currently carried out through abdominal intervention. This is also carried out using more gentle methods, for example, laparoscopy.
Using a bandage
Is it possible to treat an inguinal hernia in women without surgery? Let's figure it out. In some situations, doctors try non-surgical treatment options, prescribing a bandage to patients. A similar technique is indicated for patients who do not have indications for emergency surgery, as well as for women with the following pathological conditions, when surgery can pose a serious risk:
- The presence of diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
- The patient's stay at a young or, conversely, old age, after sixty years.
- Lung disease.
- The development of early relapse.
Regular wearing of a bandage with an inguinal hernia in women makes it possible to prevent an increase in the size of the protrusion.
Rehabilitation of patients after surgical treatment
Against the background of correctly performed surgical intervention, the patients undergo a rehabilitation period without any complications. They usually do not need in-patient monitoring, in this regard, literally a few hours after the operation, which is performed under local anesthesia, they are allowed to go home.
In the event that a surgeon with an inguinal hernia in women (photos of the affected area show the severity of the disease) involved a more complex technique requiring general anesthesia, then the patient will have to spend the night in the ward to be monitored by medical personnel. The patient will be able to leave home the next day, provided that there will be no complications after anesthesia or surgery.
After the surgery, the doctor’s instructions are required to be followed, in this case, patients will be able to return to their rhythm of life in just a month. Compliance with the recommendations will make it possible to prevent a relapse of the pathology, especially against the background of burdened heredity.
Next, we consider how quickly the body recovers after removing an inguinal hernia in women.
What is the prognosis of treatment?
Against the background of surgical treatment of inguinal hernias, doctors usually give positive predictions to patients. As part of a few examples, they develop a relapse, complications may occur in the form of infringements or inflammation of the appendix. After returning to a normal rhythm of life, women should pay attention to health. They are strictly forbidden strong physical exertion on the abdominal region of the body. For example, in this case, constipation is very dangerous along with lifting weights, coughing due to smoking, and so on. Many women after surgical treatment of inguinal hernias successfully endured more than one pregnancy, and all due to the fact that they followed the instructions of doctors.
Folk treatment recipes
Patients planning to try an unconventional therapeutic technique should understand that this is pointless for this pathology. Therapy of inguinal hernia without surgery using folk remedies will not bring the desired result. And the use of various folk recipes, such as, for example, tincture of clover, cornflower flowers or gooseberry leaves, will only delay the necessary surgical operation for a short while. Sometimes this can lead to a more complicated form of the disease. What problems can occur after inguinal hernia surgery in women?
Possible complications
A hernia in the groin is a dangerous pathology that can be the cause of serious complications. If surgical treatment is not carried out in a timely manner with respect to the patient, then a development of infringement of the hernia, which may appear suddenly, is likely. In this case, initially a woman can feel acute pain in the groin area. When trying to set the formation back into the abdominal cavity, the patient will feel a dense and tense hernia under her fingers, which will not change her position.
Very quickly, against the background of this, the following symptoms arise that require immediate surgical intervention:
- The appearance of frequent vomiting.
- The presence of persistent nausea.
- Sensible gas accumulation along with constipation.
- During stool, blood stains may be present in the feces.
- The development of a febrile state.
If a woman promptly seeks help from doctors, she will undergo a surgical operation. After that, the overall forecast will be favorable, but only subject to timely treatment.
Prevention of hernia
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of inguinal hernia in women if regular preventive measures are taken, which should be as follows:
- A complete rejection of strong physical exertion. In this regard, women are not recommended to download the press intensively.
- Constant weight control is required.
- Eat only healthy foods.
- It is extremely important to normalize the process of bowel movement, a woman should not have constipation.
- Healthy lifestyle.
In order to avoid serious problems and surgical intervention, every woman needs to pay due attention to her health. A regular preventive examination will reveal the protrusion at an early stage, which will make it possible to eliminate it with the help of a sparing inguinal hernia operation in women.
Conclusion
So, the complex structure along with the physiological weakness of the muscles of the inguinal region made this place vulnerable. This is where hernias appear most often. Often men experience this pathology, but in women, a hernia protrusion also often occurs. The inguinal zone in the fairer sex is represented by a layered connective tissue membrane, in the area of which a special canal passes. In this place, women have a nerve bundle along with a round artery and ligament of the uterus. In addition, the channel has external and internal openings, that is, an input and an output. Under the influence of a number of factors, the resistance of the layers of the inguinal region can also decrease under the pressure of organs that can go outside through thin places. Thus, a hernia is formed in women, which must be treated immediately, so as not to lead to complications.
We examined the symptoms as well as the treatment of inguinal hernia in women.