What Is Hiatal Hernia?

A hiatal hernia is when your stomach is pushed up In the chest and through an opening in the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the muscular wall separating the chest cavity form the abdomen. A Hiatus is an opening in your diaphragm. There are two major hiatal hernias, sliding and paraesophageal. The more common of the two is the sliding hernia. That is where the stomach, and the part where the stomach and the esophagus connect, pushes up into the chest. Paraesophageal hernia is when a part of your stomach squeezes through the hiatus. This is a more serious hernia because it can cause your stomach to become strangled and can cut off the blood supply.

What Causes Hiatal Hernia?

Hiatal hernia can be caused by being to over weight, straining, coughing a lot, and frequent bending. It could also just be hereditary. Some people are born with a weak or overly large hiatus. A hiatus is an opening in your diaphragm. Studies have shown that large amounts of pressure on the stomachs abdomen causes a hernia.

What Are Some Symptoms In Hiatal Hernia?

When you are experiencing bad abdominal pain or severe chest pain, you could have Hiatal Hernia. Listed below are signs and symptoms that you will feel if you have Hiatal hernia.

- chest pain
- coughing
- difficulty swallowing
- heartburn

How Is Hiatal Hernia Diagnosed?

Your physician will most likely find a Hiatal Hernia when he is trying to determine the cause of your heartburn. There are 2 test that will be run to determine this, A barium X-ray and Endoscopy. A Barium X-ray can determine if there is any thing backing up into your esophagus. You will swallow a chalky liquid an hour before the X-ray so that they can see more distinctly then a normal X-ray. It focuses more on muscles, your intestines, and esophagus. An Endoscopy is another test that could be taken. This is a more advanced test for a more serious case. This is when a long skinny tube that has a camera on it is pasted though your esophagus and into your stomach to check for any damage done to you esophagus. In some cases a biopsy is done.

What Triggers Hiatal Hernia?

There is not a know cause for a hiatal hernia but generally it could be caused by a few different things. Hiatal hernia can come about after a serious injury to the body. It could also be caused by straining and lift heavy objects. Some people have inherited this. Although we are not sure of what causes this, we do have many ways of preventing this from happening.

How is A Heital Hernia Treated?

Hiatal Hernia not even recognized by some people. If you do however recognize theses symptoms, changing simple ways of your lifestyle will help them to subside. Making sure you don't lift anything heavy, lose weight, exercise, don't strain, sleep on an incline, staying away from fatty or fried foods, dieting. This can all help to prevent Hiatal Hernia.