Hernia Questions

Hi everyone,

Dr. Sarnos books helped me in the past to stop back pain and other pains.

2 weeks ago I started having low pains on the lower left part of the stomach. I went to a specialist Doctor who said he could feel something very small and it could be just muscle pain or a hernia and he sent me to do US tests.

I read on various sites that if you have a hernia it can't be healed without surgery.
Is that true? Why can't it 'mend' like other injuries mend in the body?

These days there are many new healing 'modalities' coming out that say you can heal pretty much everything... Is hernia not a case for these modalities?
If I do try to 'heal' it through mind-body 'modalities' - what should my 'goal' be? To make the pain go away? To make it smaller or heal completely (that was the first question - is this technically possible)? To make it not get any worse?

How can you live knowing you have a 'hole' that could get bigger and bigger?
How can you exercise or even just walk or lift up things knowing that every movement might make things worse?

Any other wisdom that doesn't directly answer the questions will also be very welcome

 

Unfortunately hernia defects won't repair themselves. They only get slowly bigger over time. Assuming because of the pressure that being a bipedal ape puts on the abdominal muscles 24-7, and the type of tissue involved, once that tear occurs, it just can't heal itself. It could go a very long time without getting worse, and sometimes doctors will even suggest not bothering to get surgery if that patient is over a certain age and the hernia isn't very big and isn't causing any pain. And there used to be a 'watch and wait' recommendation because it's so rare that a hernia will become dangerously incarcerated and then strangulated (where the intestines enter the defect and then become trapped and circulation becomes dangerously restricted), which is the only real major concern with a hernia. So basically they would say there's no rush getting surgery if the patient isn't uncomfortable. But more recently most doctors and surgeons will suggest getting surgery as soon as it is convenient, because it becomes a little more complicated to fix the larger the hernia gets.

Inguinal hernias are very common, especially among men. Something like a full 1/3 of all men will eventually have a hernia on one or both sides. Indirect inguinal hernias (vs direct) are thought to basically be caused by a natural weakness in the male anatomy that starts at birth. The testicles have to descend through the inguinal opening shortly after birth or thereabouts, and then that space closes up. But it seems it's a natural weak point as a result. And after years or tens of years of just living life, it eventually weakens and then tears in many.

Hernia surgery is one of the most common surgeries performed today, and the vast majority use a piece of mesh to repair the space. There is a very low recurrence and chronic pain rate after. I had an indirect inguinal hernia repaired laparoscopically earlier this year. My issue so far, and the one that brings me to this forum sometimes, is some lingering soreness and discomfort generally on that side of my body. I'm a hypochondriac with OCD and I am tempted to believe a lot of this is in my head. But that's different than the hernia itself, which unfortunately is one of those things that is a true structural problem that also unfortunately needs to be repaired with surgery.

But sometimes a doctor will think something is a hernia when it isn't. They are sometimes difficult to diagnose. I had the typical bulge that got worse when standing and better when lying down, so it was very clear what it was. Hopefully in your case it isn't a hernia. If it is, I wouldn't worry too much about it. They're super common. Surgery is no fun, and not cheap, but it's totally fixable. And recovery time is very short with the latest techniques. I'd recommend if you haven't already done so getting a second opinion and preferably from a surgeon. Look for a surgical hernia specialist at this site and maybe get a recommendation from your doctor. Best to find a surgeon that does many many of these annually. https://americanherniasociety.org/find-a-surgeon/ (Find a Surgeon | Americas Hernia Society)

Good luck

 

A hernia doesn't necessarily have to cause pain, in fact in many people they go decades without surgery because there is little to no pain. I have one right now that I discovered 2 years ago and I hardly ever notice it, maybe every couple months when I eat too much or too little (by far). I'm not saying that it's TMS, though - just that you might be able to live with the pain or lessen it for some time before surgery. My brother had one and he swears it went away, so perhaps that is a possibility as well. Best wishes,

 

Good replies, guys, thank you both.

Not everything is TMS, although we can certainly use the knowledge gained in TMS work to improve recovery time after surgery, illness, or injury, and to minimize the use of pain medications. We can also use TMS knowledge to manage the symptoms from conditions that exist, but which are not being treated for a medically-determined reason.

When I broke my hip some years ago and had three pins surgically inserted in the femur, I took the antibiotics and the blood thinners, because I didn't want to mess around with infections or clots, but I refused the opioids, and made do with ibuprofen. I managed what little pain I had with self-talk, and the knowledge that I was being well-cared for, and that I would recover quickly.

Interestingly, this was before I knew anything about Dr. Sarno. Three years later, I read The Divided Mind, and it all fell into place.