Hernia pain can be debilitating if you don’t follow proper steps to manage it. Whether you are waiting for surgery or are just experiencing the symptoms, managing your hernia pain is important to maintain a normal life with the condition. There are various hernia discomfort management processes including medications which are designed for hernia symptoms management. 

So, for coping with hernia symptoms, here are the best hernia pain relief and management tips. However, it should be noted that hernia pain treatment can only be done using surgical treatments, lifestyle changes and medications can only help manage it temporarily.

8 Tips For Hernia Pain Relief & Comfort

• Pain Medication

The most important step for hernia pain relief is using over-the-counter pain medication. This includes ibuprofen and acetaminophen. You can also use cold and ice packs at the hernia site to temporarily reduce the pain and swelling. Also, overusing over-the-counter medication can be harmful to your health, so make sure you get medical help as soon as you feel that the pain is continuing for over a week.

• Lifestyle Changes

Lifestyle changes include several habits that you must incorporate in your daily life to keep yourself safe from hernia pain. Firstly, you should stop performing the most physically strenuous activity. This includes lifting heavy items. You must use proper technique when lifting or ask for help and avoid doing it altogether. 

Similarly, you also have to put a great focus on your diet and ensure you are not eating rich and unhealthy food. It will only worsen your hernia symptoms. If you suffer from indigestion or gas, be extra careful and don’t eat food that will cause gas.  And lastly, you need to take care of your body weight. Obesity can put extra stress on your muscles, which would increase the pain you're experiencing.

• Supportive Medical Devices

Wearable medical devices are often recommended to patients with hernias. These devices offer support and hold the hernia in place to offer some pain relief momentarily. Supportive medical devices include a hernia belt and truss. These devices need to be medically prescribed before you start using them. This is mainly because hernia belt and truss need to be perfectly fitted to your body and tested by doctors to be effective for your case before you start using it.

• Physical Hernia Management

Physical hernia management involves pushing the hernia inside the cavity. This is possible and can help temporarily relieve the pain. However, it should never be performed without proper medical guidance and training. Doctors will teach you the right technique on how you can successfully do it without hurting yourself or making your condition worse. So, while this is a management technique for hernia pain, it should only be done with the guidance of medical professionals.

• Physical Therapy

A much safer alternative to pushing your hernia inside the cavity is to opt for physical therapy for your hernia. While this is also performed under the guidance of a licensed physical therapist, this doesn’t have the possibility of worsening your condition. Physical therapy can help you slowly manage the physical symptoms of a hernia and improve your pain. The goal of physical therapy is to strengthen the muscles that have breached so that the hernia can be managed better by your body. Physical therapy is also recommended to patients after hernia surgery in some cases.

• Symptomatic Medication

Pain is not the only symptom of a hernia. There are other symptoms too that can be a trigger for your pain. For various types of hernia like hiatal hernia, acid reflux is a major symptom and side effect of the condition. So, based on your symptoms and condition doctors will recommend you to take medications that will help you relieve the various symptoms of hernia. These symptoms can trigger pain so they should be taken seriously. With medical treatment, you can actually manage your symptoms safely while doctors assess the severity of your hernia.

• Avoiding Triggers

There are certain positions or physical activities that will most certainly trigger your hernia pain. It is of utmost importance that you don’t do such physical activities. This practice will help you adjust yourself accordingly so as to not do physical activities that would trigger your pain even further. There is no way to find out the triggers than by learning from your own experience. Just make sure you are mindful of your physical actions and take note of the ones that cause hurt.

• Watchful Waiting

When you start showing the symptoms of a hernia, doctors often recommend watchful waiting. This is done to assess the severity of the hernia and understand its growth and trajectory. If doctors feel that the hernia has the potential to cause pain or grow to become unmanageable, they will recommend surgery at the earliest. However, in certain cases where the hernia is asymptomatic or very small, doctors may recommend patients to just use lifestyle changes and monitor the hernia to check that it doesn’t start growing.

Conclusion

While the management tips for hernia pain are effective up to a certain extent, the only way to get rid of the pain is to get a hernia surgery. So, if you are going through the symptoms of hernia, make sure you get a thorough medical diagnosis soon. It will help you understand the treatment plan and opt for the surgery as and when necessary. To get the best minimally invasive hernia surgery, you should absolutely visit MASSH. 

We specialize in laparoscopic surgeries and offer the best treatment for all types of hernia. Our holistic medical care and functional medicine treatment options are suited to help you treat all types of hernia from the root and prevent resurgence. Check out our website to learn more about our treatment options or visit us today to give our world-class medical treatments a try.