Hernia

Hernia is formed when an organ of your body pushes through an opening in the muscles which holds the organ in its place. Hernia is caused by excess strain and muscle weakness. It may happen due to weightlifting, coughing, aging, pregnancy, constipation, obesity etc. The common symptom for hernia is a bulge in the affected area which can be felt with your fingers. This lump is more palpable when you are standing and disappears when you lie down. There might be pain in the bulge area while coughing.

Most of the hernias can be easily diagnosed during a physical examination by the doctor. The imaging tests of Ultrasound Scan, CT Scan or MRI Scan can be used to confirm the diagnosis. For Hiatus hernia, Barium X-Ray or Endoscopy may also be useful in diagnosis. The different types of hernias are Inguinal, Hiatus, Umbilical, Incisional and Ventral. If the hernia is not increasing in size or is not giving any kind of pain then it does not need any treatment.

Hernia Treatment

If the hernia is not causing any problems then surgery may not be required at this point. In some cases wearing tight compression garment helps in keeping the hernia in check. Losing body weight, doing exercises to strengthen the muscles around the hernia and eating fibre rich diet which eases constipation would help in the management of hernia without surgery. However surgery still remains the only permanent treatment for hernia.

The surgery is mostly done by giving an incision near the site of the hernia and the surgeon uses a mesh to tie-up the hernia so that it cannot grow in size any further. The surgery can also be done laparoscopically but is less common in cases of hernia as compared to the other abdominal surgeries. The hospital stay would be 2-3 days and the patient would need 10-15 days for recovery after the surgery. The recovery in laparoscopic surgery would be faster and the hospital stay would also be shorter. The most common problem in hernia surgery is infection acquired during the surgery which gets the mesh infected and does not respond to antibiotics. In such cases redo surgery is needed to remove the mesh and you are back to square one.

Best Doctors and Cost

Dr Ripudaman Singh is one of the most qualified and extensively trained Laparoscopic Surgeon for doing Laparoscopic and open Hernia Surgery at Medisyn Centre in Mohali, Punjab. The cost of Hernia Surgery at Medisyn Centre in Mohali is Rs. 45,000 - Rs. 120,000 depending upon whether it is done through open technique or laparoscopic method. The hospital stay is 1-2 days and the patient is called for followup after 5 days. The patient is called to the hospital for removal of stitches 15 days after the surgery.

If you have an individual health insurance policy then this surgery is covered after a period of 2 years from the date of inception of the policy. However if you are a beneficiary of company given policy then the surgery is covered from day one. Always go through the terms of your health insurance policy like room rent capping and co-payment to avoid any kind of financial shocks later on.

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