Being overweight is a common cause of abdominal hernias, especially hiatal hernias. Losing weight can prevent a hernia from developing or relieve symptoms of an existing hernia enough to avoid surgical repair. The doctors at Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas are the experts when it comes to helping you achieve your weight loss goals with diet, weight loss medications, or bariatric surgery. If you have any questions about hernias or weight loss, please call one of their offices in Denton, Frisco, or Flower Mound, Texas, or schedule an appointment online.
A hernia occurs when an organ or other internal body part protrudes through the abdominal muscles. The most common types of abdominal hernias include:
When you’re overweight or obese, the extra weight increases the strain and pressure on abdominal muscles. As a result, the muscles weaken and become susceptible to developing a hernia.
Obesity is the most common cause of hiatal hernias. Being overweight or obese may also cause multiple hernias in the abdominal muscles.
After you develop a hernia, extra weight causes it to get larger over time. That can lead to serious complications, such as the intestine becoming trapped in muscle tissue and strangulating due to loss of blood flow.
Losing weight relieves excess pressure on the abdomen, which can prevent a hernia from developing, improve hernia symptoms, and avoid complications such as strangulation. Weight loss alone may be all you need to reduce the size of your hernia and eliminate pain.
Hernias never go away on their own, and the only way to treat a hernia is with surgery. You may need to lose weight before your doctor performs surgery to repair your hernia because being overweight increases your risk of complications such as infection, slow wound healing, and blood clots.
The team at Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas offer nonsurgical methods for weight loss, including individualized weight loss medications, diet plans, and ongoing support from their registered dietitian.
If you need hernia repair and you qualify for bariatric surgery, then weight loss surgery can help you lose a significant amount of weight in a shorter period. The types of bariatric surgery performed by the experts at Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas include:
