Hernia and especially inguinal hernia is a very common and widespread illness that affects millions but although many suffer from it and the pain that it causes can be excruciating if left untreated, there aren't too many discussions about it in the medical community and very seldom you hear news about hernia or inguinal hernia. It is a pretty serious disease so more people should be made aware of it and it's symptoms so they know how to handle it if they or someone from their family starts suffering from hernia, because as mentioned before, this disease is very spread and a large number of people have or have had hernia problems.

Hernia (as a general term) occurs when some muscles weaken and allow a part of the tissue beneath to slip through a small opening created due to the weakness. Inguinal hernia appears when the muscles of the inguinal canal weaken and the intestine that lies beneath slips through an opening in the inguinal canal. The first sign that appears is a small lump near the thigh, which is soon followed by pain in that area. A person suffering from inguinal hernia will feel pain in the groin and in the thighs area while coughing or lifting heavy objects.

Muscle weakening occurs as time passes and the body ages, but the origins of this weakness date back at birth where at many people the peritoneum does not fully close. If you have the muscle weakness then the intestine will pass through the opening if you lift something heavy, or if you suffer from obesity. Sometimes pregnancy may cause the intestine to slip too, in women's case. More women have inguinal hernia then men, but everyone can contract the illness at any age.

Inguinal hernia is not a dangerous disease, and many prefer to delay the surgery and live with their condition, trying to keep away from heavy object lifting. But this is a misconception, you may delay the surgery but eventually you must fix hernia because in many cases complications appeared when inguinal hernia was left untreated. These complications can be severe and life-threatening, so try to avoid any problems by doing the hernia surgery. It's not a painful surgery with long weeks of recovery, the tehniquies have improved so now it's not painful at all and you'll recover in a few days, much better than living wilt the illness and avoiding some thigh for years. If the bulge caused by hernia is quite painful and it's growing you must go through surgery as soon as possible because that's a sign that complications are on the way.

So, inguinal hernia is a very common disease that has been treated and dealt with for centuries so there's no need to be afraid or avoid surgery if you find out that you are suffering from it. As soon as you see a bulge on the groin visit your doctor and listen to his advises about the treatment.