Hernia Support Group
There are several kinds of hernias, but the all happen when pressure pushes an organ (often the intestine) through a weak spot in a muscle face or wall. Treatment for hernias can be no treatment, to medicines to surgery. Modern surgical methods to treat hernias are much improved over older techniques and recovery times are much shorter.
I have had hiatal hernia for over five years now and I am having severe heartburn. My doctor suggested to take an endoscopy and it revealed that I had ulcer and a hiatal hernia. I consulted a chiropractor and he felt my diaphragm is weak and suggested me to do the hernia surgery from shouldice hospital(http://www.shouldice.com/the-shouldice-repair.aspx ) nearby. Everytime I start to feel a little better, I revert back to my unhealthy condition. I dont know how to get rid of this pain. I cannot be on medication for the rest of my life. Any words of hope would be appreciated. Thank you.
Do you follow all the GERD rules? This requires a huge lifestyle change and a lot of discipline. I got an HH from years of intense exercise and ab machines etc.. So the discipline part was easy for me but i notice most people on this site have a very hard time with that part. The exception to this is that people with a large or medium size HH have a huge challenge. it is not easy to control the issue for these types.
My HH is a small sliding type and I can have regular heartburn if I dont follow all the heartburn avoidance rules. I have been very disciplined for a few years and rarely have an issue now. I can eat way more foods now and not get any reflux or burning.
You have to be really good with the diet part and prop up at night while sleeping and not lie down at all during the day. It takes a lot of discipline to get to this place but it can be done with a small HH.
Anxiety and stress can make your symptoms much worse and that needs to be managed as well.
If you also have an ulcer then you may also have had gastritis for years as well or H pylori bacteria. Have you had your stomach checked recently and been checked for H pylori?
I am having a hard time with the chiro saying your diaphragm is weak?? Not sure what that means. The issue is the relationship between the esophagus and the stomach. The diaphragm can get impacted by a very inflamed esophagus and the stomach may interfere with the diaphragms ability to move up and down especially with a larger HH.. Like you may have trouble breathing while exercising etc. I go to an excellent chiro who actually improved my heartburn to an even better level. I am pretty sure my stomach sits down more now. I was totally skeptical that he could do anything at all. But it doesnt always work. An osteopath can be good with this issue as well if your HH is small but I think a good chiro is better. Mine also had a heartburn issue and got his treated by another chiro.
Surgery is your last result unless you have a medium to large HH. If you check out more posts on this site you will see not all the surgeries work and dont work for very long. Many regret having it done. A few have good results from it.
If you have a large HH you will have a very challenging situation. if yours is small then work harder at all the things I have talked about and you have to be really good with your diet to heal the ulcer. That can be done too. Go to the gastritis site. There are many pros on stomach issues there.
Good luck!
Hello I suffered for 2 years with left side rib pain, swelling and it hurt to breathe. Every doctor I went to thought I was out of my mind, kept saying nothing was wrong so I went on with chronic pain for 2 years!. I think I even joined this blog begging for someone to tell me why I have this rib pain.
Finally I meant a chiropactor looking for help to reduce my rib and breathing pain. He is the one that finally told me I have a Hiatal Hernia. Basically he pushed my stomach back down to where it was supposed to be do surgery required. I went back at least once a week until it started to stay down. It may flare up maybe once every 3-4 months, I go see him and he fixes it. Please call every chiropractor in your area and ask if they can fix your Hiatal Hernia. I'm so blessed to have found Dr Cliff, no pain what so ever and I had suffered for years with chronic pain prior too with all other doctors telling my basically I was nuts.
Thanks for posting. I wasn't sure a chiro could do anything but obviously I was wrong.
Hope your still feeling good.
Regards
G.