Stoma Hernia

Stoma hernia

        There are many ways of describing a hernia, but one of the easiest ones, though not exactly textbook, is the following: a hernia is a weakening of the abdominal wall. Said weakening usually expands until it becomes a hole, allowing the inner abdominal tissues to protrude through the skin. Sometimes, if the hernia is severe, even some parts of intestine will bulge out through the muscles. Now, a hernia is a pretty serious problem, since it basically opens your inner body to the outside world. Not a good thing at all.

       It is easily fixed, though. A simple hernia repair surgery should do the trick. However, once a normal hernia turns into a stoma hernia, things get way more dangerous. See, a stoma is, essentially, a hole in the abdomen. Unlike the hernia, the stoma is man - made. So, if a hole is already in place, the conclusion that a hernia could follow is not that wild. In most cases, patients develop stoma hernia sooner, rather than later. It is hoped that the stoma will be snugly surrounded by muscles, but the truth is rather dire: most people are not that muscled and, even if they are, the stoma is under constant stress that might affect the integrity of said muscles. Therefore, it is very easy for a person to develop stoma hernia. Several factors that coincide help with the formation of the stoma hernia.

        Firstly, if the person is overweight, then a stoma hernia is almost a surety. All the fat that surrounds the abdomen leaves very little space for the harmonious development of muscles, not to mention that, if the patient does have muscles, they are completely used in keeping all that fatty tissue in place. Of course, an overweight patient has many more problems that do not include the very high possibility of developing stoma hernia: heart issues, breathing troubles and high or low blood pressure. Any of those could harm the patient way before stoma hernia will.

       Another factor is constant coughing. Even completely healthy people could develop normal hernia because of constant coughing. If you already have a weakened abdominal wall, then you should consider the coughing a much more serious problem. When you cough, all your abdominal muscles move up and down. Moving them once or twice is not a problem. Moving them every two minutes, all the time can cause a certain chaffing, which leads to stoma hernia for stoma patients. The last, but certainly not the least important, factor that might be to blame for stoma hernia is infection. If you contract a hospital infection, then the situation can be repaired fairly quickly and will have little to no consequences. However, if the bacteria or virus is home - grown, then it might take a while for someone to figure out what is happening to you. In the meantime, your stoma will keep enlarging and nothing will be able to stop the process. Once the guilty party is identified, the proper treatment should fix everything.

       The thing about stoma hernia is that it has no real symptoms. The patient does not feel pain when the hernia develops and only those patients that pay careful attention to the size of their stoma could tell you that something is not right. The real problem is that stoma hernia develops slowly and over time. When the pain comes in, then the condition is already too advanced to do something about it that does not involve another surgery. However, if you are one of the lucky few that noticed the changes in time, then some physical support for your abdomen might just do the trick. A girth could help you avoid a second operation, though it is not a guarantee.

       Not only is a stoma hernia a danger for the stoma contraption that the patient has strapped to his or her body, but it can be a peril to the intestines themselves. Now, the contraption is easily fixable. The intestines, however, are not. If they become trapped inside the hernia and loose blood supply for long periods of time, then they could die and have to be eliminated. A stoma patient already has a shortened intestinal tract, he or she certainly does not need another part of it to be removed.