umbilical hernia | Imamother

amother

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 8:54 am

Just curious. My child has an umbilical hernia. I went to the dr today about it and I am going to another, different type of dr next week too to be sure. But if your child had one, what was your doctor's take on fixing it or not, and why? I am curious to see if my dr is in the majority or not. The advice was slightly different than way back when I myself had to go through it.

supermama2

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 9:16 am

I had a ds w/ one. It wasn't too severe but if you pushed on the area you could hear the air/gasses in it which was weird. The ped. told me it would close up in time which it did. If it had not closed after a few months, she would've suggested another step I'm sure.

cbt

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 9:17 am

my son had one as well but it got less pronounced as he got older, it's not even noticeable and he's 5 next week. however, at his 4 year old check up the dr said it was still there and recommended outpatient surgery to fix it. the problem was that we were making aliyah in a few weeks which I told him and he said to put it off unless he complained of pain. which he hasn't. we're going back to the states next week and we'll see his old dr there but because he has never complained I don't think anything will be done.

drumjj

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 9:17 am

ive had it with all three of my kids apparantly its the stomach muscles which have not joined together properly. and it goes away with time, I heard if after two years it hasnt gone away then they do something but after a while it should slowly shrink

RachelEve14

Wed, Jun 03 2009, 9:18 am

Rena still has one (she was 5 in Feb). The doctor checks it every year at her well visit and he told me way back years ago if it hasn't closed by the time she turns 6 we'll talk other options.

amother

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 1:22 am

OP here.
When I had it the dr said to wait till age 6 or 7 because it could go away before then. The dr I went to for my child now said it never goes away and doesn't get smaller but since their body gets bigger it gets proportionally smaller. It could get larger when they are in their middle age or so because other things in the body change, shift, weaken. If no intestine or something is not popping through it now it's not likely for it to happen unless something in the body changes. He said it doesnt need to be fixed until such a point. I find that surprising. Wouldn't you want to fix it before something comes popping through and causing a lot of pain?
He also said it's more important for it to be fixed in a girl because of future pregnancies etc. Things shift a lot more in a woman's body.
And he said just to follow up, but other than aesthetic reasons there isn't much of a point to do something yet. How does all the above strike you?

NotInNJMommy

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 6:42 am

It seems logical to me. DS also has one. The general response from the drs has been:

1.From ped 1, since it has closed a lot since the early days, there's reason to believe it might fully close and waituntil ~5yrs.

2. Current pediatrician (different bc we moved) also has not been responding with a sense of urgency to fix it. HE checks it at well visits to see how big it is (which it not so big at all.) maybe 1/8th of an inch in diameter from how it feels.

It may be true that there's no reason to incur the risks of surgery if there isn't much to lose leaving it alone. (ie. the risks from surgery are more than the risks of leaving it alone).

amother

Thu, Jun 04 2009, 6:48 am

NotInNJMommy wrote:

But my dr seemed to indicated it does not gte smaller/disappear. It just gets proportionally smaller since the body gets bigger.