What you need to know about hernias

Surgeons repair around 800,000 groin hernias in the US each year. Read more at straitstimes.com.

NEW YORK – Mr Kevin Saunders, 59, was in yoga class the first time he noticed the problem. “We were doing some sort of twisting pose, and I felt this very unusual sensation on the left side of my groin,” he said. It felt like a “squishy, gurgling sensation”, he added, almost as if there were “air bubbles in my groin”.

It was unpleasant but not painful, so he tried to ignore it. A few months later, however, he noticed a bulge had formed in the same area, about the size of a lima bean. He had it checked out and was diagnosed with a groin hernia, one of the most common medical conditions affecting men.

Around 27 per cent of men will develop groin – or inguinal – hernias at some point in their lives, according to a 2017 study, while only 3 per cent of women will. In total, surgeons repair around 800,000 groin hernias in the United States each year, making it the most common surgery in the country.

The risk of developing a groin hernia increases as people get older. So, while the overall percentage of people with the condition has declined in recent years, the total number of cases is increasing as the population continues to age.

The condition can be deeply uncomfortable and disrupt a person’s life, said Dr Benjamin Poulose, a hernia surgeon at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, but it typically does not require immediate surgery.

However, in rare cases, groin hernias can develop into a serious medical condition requiring immediate attention, and can even be life-threatening.