Do you wonder what does Femoral hernias feel like? Well, femoral hernias are the rarest form of hernias. These hernias occur when tissues push themselves in the muscle wall of inner thigh or groin. They may produce groin discomfort, painful lumps or abdominal pain.
Take a look at the blog further to find out the early symptoms, diagnosis, surgical options and other key aspects of femoral hernia.
Early Signs and Symptoms of Femoral Hernia
Femoral hernia does not produce many symptoms during its early occurrence. However, people with severe conditions may experience symptoms of femoral hernia like:
- Pain in the abdomen
- Vomiting tendency
- Nausea
- Groin discomfort worsening with lifting, standing and straining
The growth of a lump on your upper inner thigh or groin is the most apparent symptom in this case. The lump may either be tender or painful. In fact, this lump tends to disappear in several individuals when they lie down.
Femoral hernia shows different presence in different males and females. For instance, this kind of hernia occurs mostly in older females. This is because women at old age have a wider pelvic structure.
Causes of Femoral Hernia
Internal tissues may push through a weak point in the muscle wall near your inner thigh or groin. This ultimately leads to femoral hernia.
The exact cause of the occurrence of Femoral hernias is not clear. Some person may have weak muscle walls right from their birth. Excess pressure or straining situations are some probable causes of femoral hernia. These may often lead to femoral hernia due to the following reasons:
- A strong and persistent cough
- Giving child birth
- Having ascites, a condition of fluid build up in your abdomen
- Receiving peritoneal dialysis, a treatment for kidney related complications
- Suffering from obesity
- Experiencing difficulties in passing stool or urine
- Pushing and lifting heavy objects
What are the different forms of Femoral herniation?
A femoral herniation may become incarcerated, strangulated or obstructed. These conditions may eventually lead to additional complications and symptoms.
Incarcerated femoral hernia
The other names for incarcerated Femoral herniation are trapped or irreducible femoral hernia. This state suggests that a hernia gets trapped in the femoral canal and does get the scope to get back to the abdomen.
Obstructed Femoral herniation
This kind of hernia may result from painful obstructions in your intestine. In this condition, your intestine generally becomes entangled and ultimately leads to hernia.
Strangulated femoral hernia
In this condition, the hernia prevents your blood from reaching the bowel. This medical condition is, in fact, a situation of emergency that may turn fatal if not treated timely. Strangulated hernia leads to life threatening conditions and needs prompt medical care.
Among the major serious complications of femoral herniation, strangulation is one of the most common. A rigid, narrow and unyielding femoral canal mainly leads to this kind of hernia.
This complication may often exhibit complications like:
- Fever
- A faster heart rate
- Vomiting
- Change in skin colour surrounding the bulge or lump
- Nausea
- Excessive tenderness and worsening pain in the area of the bulge
Lack of immediate surgery may lead to decay of intestinal tissue resulting from strangulated femoral herniation. This may produce consequences like life threatening infections.
How is it different from inguinal hernia?
Different forms of hernias may occur in different parts of the body. The lowermost part of the muscles of the abdominal wall is present in the groin area. When tissue pokes through this part of the abdominal muscle, you will develop groin hernia.
One of the most common types of groin hernia is inguinal hernia. In this condition, either fatty tissue or your intestines protrude into your inguinal canal. This canal is basically the passage connecting your lower abdomen to your genitals.
In contrast to femoral herniation, inguinal hernia occurs mostly in males than in females. Femoral hernias are comparatively rarer than inguinal hernias. However, femoral hernias are more severe and serious.
What are the risk factors for femoral hernia?
You may experience high risks of femoral hernia depending on certain factors like:
- Gender: Females are 10 times more prone to developing femoral hernias than males. This is due to females having a broader pelvic region than men.
- Age: Considering age groups, femoral hernias are likely to occur in adults than in children. However, a child may also develop femoral hernia if he/she fall prey to any medical condition.
- Family history: Risks of femoral hernias may occur from genetic causes. You may be more prone to risks of femoral herniation if you any of your family members has a medical history of groin hernia.
Surgical Interventions
Diagnosis of femoral herniation reveals surgery as the ultimate procedure to resolve your femoral hernia. Surgical intervention fixes the weak part of your muscle wall. Repairing femoral herniation through surgeries can take place by:
Open surgery
This procedure involves anaesthetising either the entire body of the patient, or simply numbing the local area of lump. The surgeon gets access to the hernia by making a small incision in the groin. Next the surgeon moves the bulging tissue back into the abdomen. Finally, he/she will repair your femoral canal with the help of strong stitches.
Laparoscopic surgery
This procedure takes place with minimal invasion and includes general anaesthesia. The surgeon will make small incisions into your lower abdomen with a laparoscope along with a camera. The surgeon pushes the bulging tissue back into your abdomen just like the open method. However, laparoscopic surgery is not suitable for large conditions of hernia.
Summary
The above blog explains major complications, early symptoms and surgical options for cases of femoral herniation. Early detection of the symptoms of femoral hernia can be life saving for people. MD.co.uk offers prompt surgical treatment for femoral herniation and save you from life threatening situations.
