• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

That Bump Above Your Belly Button Might Be An Epigastric Hernia

September 23, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

Have you ever noticed a small bump on your belly? Although it could be a multitude of different things, lumps on the abdomen can sometimes be down to hernias, of which one of the most common types is epigastric.

What is an epigastric hernia?

Hernias happen when an internal part of the body, such as the intestine, pushes through a weakened part of either the surrounding muscle or wall of tissue. Although sometimes they aren’t noticeable at all, the tissue can bulge out to form a visible bump.

Advertisement

Epigastric hernias happen when fatty tissue pushes through an area of the abdominal wall that’s either weakened or hasn’t formed properly, usually occurring somewhere between the belly button and the breastbone. They’re typically quite small and may only be noticed during activities that put a strain on the abdomen, like coughing or laughing.

Do they have symptoms?

The vast majority of epigastric hernias don’t have symptoms – within medicine, this is known as being “asymptomatic”. As a result, they can go undiagnosed, although they might get picked up if someone goes to their doctor concerned about a bump, or during tests like CT scans that are being run for another reason.

However, there are occasions when people may experience pain, ranging from mild to severe, in the abdomen. This is usually an indicator that the fatty tissue poking through the abdomen wall is being “strangled”; in other words, the blood supply and therefore, oxygen supply to the tissue is being cut off.

Can they be treated?

There are typically three treatment options for those with an epigastric hernia, depending on its severity and location, someone’s general health, and their level of physical activity. 

Advertisement

Although the hernias usually don’t resolve themselves, if someone isn’t experiencing pain then treatment is usually as simple as observation – doctors will keep an eye on how the hernia progresses over time. This can be done by tracking the external size of the hernia and using imaging tests like ultrasounds or CT scans.

Where hernias do end up causing severe pain, surgery is an option. This can be elective or emergency, although it’s more likely to be emergency if medics think that the hernia has become stuck or strangled. 

During surgery, doctors make an incision in the abdomen where the hernia is located and push the fatty tissue that was poking out back into place. They then either stitch up or use a combination of stitches and plastic mesh to close the hole in the abdominal wall.

What causes them to happen?

Epigastric hernias are common in babies and young children, but they can develop at any age. Their exact cause isn’t known, although there are certain factors that put someone at a greater risk of developing one.

Advertisement

Risk factors for developing any hernia can include heavy lifting or other strenuous activity. For epigastric hernias in adults, the primary risk factors are being overweight or having previously been pregnant; these can both put a strain on the abdominal wall and cause an existing opening to expand over time.  

All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.

The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions. 

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Harvard University to end investment in fossil fuels
  2. North Korea says call to declare end of Korean War is premature
  3. Asian stocks fall to near 1-year low as oil prices stoke inflation worries
  4. “Unique” Medieval Christian Art Discovered By Accident In Sudan Desert

Source Link: That Bump Above Your Belly Button Might Be An Epigastric Hernia

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • 1-Year-Old Orca Takes Out A Big Fat Seal In This Award-Winning – And Extremely Badass – Photo
  • Saturn And Neptune Will Reach Their Brightest In Days – And Look For Saturn’s Temporary Beauty Spot
  • Reindeer Bring A Gift Greater Than Any Of Santa’s – Hope Of A Stable Climate
  • If Deep-Sea Pressure Can Crush A Human Body, How Do Deep-Sea Creatures Not Implode?
  • Meet Ned: The Lonely Lefty Snail Looking For Love
  • “America Will Lead The Next Giant Leap”: NASA Announces New Milestone In Hunt For Exoplanets
  • What Did Neanderthals Sound Like?
  • One Star System Could Soon Dazzle Us Twice With Nova And Supernova Explosions
  • Unethical Experiments: When Scientists Really Should Have Stopped What They Were Doing Immediately
  • The First Humans Were Hunted By Leopards And Weren’t The Apex Predators We Thought They Were
  • Earth’s Passage Through The Galaxy Might Be Written In Its Rocks
  • What Is An Einstein Cross – And Why Is The Latest One Such A Unique Find?
  • If We Found Life On Mars, What Would That Mean For The Fermi Paradox And The Great Filter?
  • The Longest Living Mammals Are Giants That Live Up To 200 Years In The Icy Arctic
  • Entirely New Virus Detected In Bat Urine, And It’s Only The 4th Of Its Kind Ever Isolated
  • The First Ever Full Asteroid History: From Its Doomed Discovery To Collecting Its Meteorites
  • World’s Oldest Pachycephalosaur Fossil Pushes Back These Dinosaurs’ Emergence By 15 Million Years
  • The Hole In The Ozone Layer Is Healing And On Track For Full Recovery In The 21st Century, Thanks To Science
  • First Sweet Potato Genome Reveals They’re Hybrids With A Puzzling Past And 6 Sets Of Chromosomes
  • Why Is The Top Of Canada So Sparsely Populated? Meet The “Canadian Shield”
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version