Diet & Excercise

The Impact of Obesity on a Hernia Repair Surgery

Published August 14, 2018 By William Brown, MD

What You Need to Know

One of the causes of an inguinal hernia is weight gain, and a hernia can take months or years to develop. The tear in the abdominal wall can occur and grow larger as weight increases strain and pressure in the area. So, not only does weight gain increase chances of a hernia, obesity has a negative effect on post-surgery recovery and results.

What’s the difference between carrying a few extra pounds, being overweight and being obese? Being considered overweight or obese refers to a body weight that is greater than what is healthy for your height. Of course, the taller you are, the more weight you can carry. You can determine whether you fall into the overweight or obese category by calculating your body mass index (BMI). Calculate your BMI.

BMI Categories:
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9
Overweight = 25–29.9
Obesity =…

Acute or Chronic Pain After Surgery?

Published July 3, 2018 By William Brown, MD

How to Avoid Chronic Pain After Inguinal Hernia Repair Surgery

Pain directly after an operation is called acute pain. It is related to the operation itself and resolves as you heal from the operation. Chronic pain is pain that persists even after everything is healed.

Chronic pain after hernia repair can be debilitating and affect every aspect of your life. Be sure that you do everything you can to avoid chronic pain and promote rapid healing.

Avoid mesh hernia repair. Problems with mesh are the most common causes of chronic pain after hernia repair. Sometimes mesh will often become stiff with scar tissue and then when you bend and twist and the mesh does not bend and twist with you, you have pain. Also there are many sensitive structures in the inguinal region. If a nerve or the spermatic cord get stuck to the mesh then you will suffer…

7 Ways to Prepare for Your Non-Mesh Hernia Repair Surgery

Published April 14, 2018 By William Brown, MD

The healthier you are prior to having non-mesh hernia repair, the better and quicker your recovery will go. After dealing with the pain and inconvenience of living with a hernia, no matter how long or short a time, you’re looking forward to getting back into your regular routine. Here are seven of Dr. William Brown’s best tips for preparing for non-mesh hernia surgery.

Tips To Prepare For Hernia Surgery

1. Quit smoking three months before your surgery
If you do nothing else to prepare your body for a successful recovery, do this one thing. Your body requires strong collagen to repair itself, and nothing weakens collagen like smoking does. If you smoke, you are taking a significant risk for the hernia repair to fail. Coughing associated with smoking also endangers your repair. A smoker’s cough contracts muscles in your abdomen. The strain can pull out sutures before you have a…

How to Prevent an Inguinal Hernia

Published February 24, 2018 By William Brown, MD

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

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While Dr. William Brown can repair hernias, he’d prefer people do what they can to prevent them. Often, unless you’re avoiding a hernia from recurring, you don’t think much about what you can do to prevent an inguinal hernia. Luckily, much of the advice is common sense and easy to follow. Chances are that you’re already doing much of what you can.

Don’t smoke
This isn’t the 1950s anymore. We know smoking causes death from serious problems with your cardiac and respiratory systems. But smoking also attacks collagen, making you look older than you really are and weakens your muscles that depend on collagen to remain strong. Weak collagen leaves you vulnerable to an inguinal hernia because your muscles tear more easily if you’re a smoker.

Don’t ignore…

Prevent a Sports Hernia

Published September 10, 2017 By William Brown, MD

Best Stretches for Sports Hernia Prevention

What exactly is a sports hernia? It’s a difficult-to-diagnose injury that is caused by repetitive movements that many sports—such as tennis, running, basketball, dancing, wrestling, football, hockey, and soccer—involve.

Not only can a sports hernia develop from repetitive movement; it can also happen as a result of a sudden twisting motion. When a sports hernia occurs, it can cause truly debilitating pain that remains persistent and can threaten the performance of many athletes. Because these injuries are severe and have the potential to hurt an otherwise great sports career, it’s very important for athletes to do their best to prevent sports hernias from happening.

What’s one of the best ways to prevent a sports hernia?

Stretching! Do this before engaging in any type of sport—or any strenuous activity, for that matter. When you stretch, you’re helping your muscles become more flexible and therefore less…

Age Discrimination and Sports Hernias

Published August 21, 2017 By William Brown, MD

Sports Hernias Past 50

Although Sports Hernias are mostly associated with athletes in their prime (ages 24-40), this painful condition can occur in teenagers and those over the age of 50. Theses injuries do not discriminate based on age.

While the main cause of developing a Sports Hernia is repetitive, rapid changes in direction while playing sports, age can assist in causing the issue as well. Why? Because a Sports Hernia tends to develop when a weak spot in a muscle gets stressed and rips. This damage creates pain and weakness. A Sports Hernia feels like a sharp pain in the lower abdomen, groin, thigh or testicles (in men). This pain gets worse when playing sports, exerting energy or exercising, and can also be felt while lifting or during a cough, laugh or sneeze.

The beginning symptoms of a Sports Hernia will often start with pain in the lower groin…