Have many of ever heard of a hiatus hernia? Probably not. Well it’s actually a common diagnosis of our upper digestive system that can affect us with varying degrees of severity. Now it’s possible that many of us have never heard of this, due to the fact that in many cases it does go undetected. The reason it tends to go undetected is because in general people who suffer from a hiatus hernia have no symptoms. In fact the most common hiatus hernia symptom that occurs in many cases where a symptom has been recorded is actually heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux.
Now as we mentioned before the most common hiatus hernia symptom is actually heartburn. However different symptoms can vary from different people. Different symptoms can include such things as: regurgitating food into our mouthes, bitter tastes and bad breath. Some symptoms can begin if you are doing activities that can increase the pressure against your diaphragm. Hiatus hernia’s can cause more serious problems down the road, especially since our esophagus are not designed to withstand acid. Since this form of hernia can cause heartburn, acid can flow from our stomachs into our esophagus which gives us the burning sensation in our chests.
There is no exact cause for a hiatus hernia, however in general hernia’s tend to happen when there is some kind of stretching of the tough fibers that hold the gastro-oesophageal sphincter in place. There are however different factors that can increase abdominal pressure. These can include: being overweight or obese, having a long-term cough (Ex. Smoker’s cough), pregnancy and straining to pass urine (Ex. Men who have prostate trouble). In general anything that increases pressure inside our abdomen’s can also increase the size of a hernia.
It’s estimated that around 1 out of 3 people who are over the age of 50 will have a small hiatus hernia with no symptoms. Now if you feel as if you may suffer from this form of hernia and you have made a doctor’s appointment, what will most likely happen is your doctor may want to take an X-ray with Barium swallow. What this will allow is for them to be able to see the inside of your bowel more clearly. Another test they may want to do is an Endoscopy. This allows them to take a look at the hiatus hernia through a long, thin, tube.
Posted on July 11th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Hernias
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