Might have a possible hernia--any advice

I've noticed a bump in my ab muscles this week about 2 inches above my belly button. I have no pain at all (just some normal lower back pain that I usually have), but it could be a hernia and I'm going to get it checked out.

If it is one, does anyone have any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Hadrion

Ive never heard of a hernia being that high up. I had one that was probably 3 inches below my belly button

As angerman suggested, Hernia is not that high up - unless you are the first case.....

If it is a bump with no feeling to it (meaning no extra pain), it might be a fat accumulation (cyst) - there are layers and layers of fat beneath the skin, and at times get accumulated into stone like formations (small, medium , large) beneath the skin ~ generally and easily removable by surgery with no adverse implications if you leave them alone AS IS either.

Yea, could be a possible lypoma. Ive had a couple of those also.

Unless it is a Hiatal Hernia, which occurs in half the population over the age of 50, I'm not sure.

I have a bump/lump in the center of my stomach about 1 inch above my belly button that I've had since I was 16 (I'm 34 now). It's on top of my ab muscles (in-between the crevice actually), similar in size and shape to a piece of chewed up gum -- maybe a little smaller -- and doesn't really protrude. There's no pain or aesthetic issue. A doctor years ago told me that it was probably just a fat deposit. About four years ago, I developed an eraser head-sized, flat red/brown mole on top of the area. My acupuncturist and dermatologist checked it out and said they saw no issue. That's been my experience with what sounds like something similar (sans the mole). In any case, I'd get it checked out by a professional to make sure it's OK.

IH - With regards to hernias do you know if there is anything that be done to treat or heal them without surgery?

Silverlin - For Hiatal hernias, this is a technique that some chiropractors are familiar with.

This comes from Dr Donaldson DC:

This is a complete diagnostic and healing technique for hiatal hernias.

First off, keep in mind that we neither recommend nor promote self-diagnosis and/or self treatment, but you have a right to know anything you want to know.

So, have the "patient" lie on his/her back. Have the patient hold her/his breath as long as s/he can and time this with a stopwatch or second hand. Place the heel of your hand just below the sternum (onto the solar plexus) just slightly left of center with the butt of your hand just barely touching the base of the ribs. If you can "almost" feel the rib cage/sternum, you have the position correctly. With the patient breathing normally, press downward and toward the patient’s feet on the patient’s exhalation. You will use a steady pressure and hold as the patient breathes in and then you will press again along with the exhalation, downward and inward. On the next exhalation, you will perform your last press toward the patient’s feet with steady pressure. A chiropractor will, upon the end of the patient’s exhalation, give a slight, quick thrust.

You will use the fleshy part of your hand for this pressure, not the butt of your hand. Normally once is enough, but sometimes a chiropractor will do this two, three, or four times. When completed, have the patient hold her/his breath and time it. If the breath holding is 50% longer (e.g., one minute prior to therapy, and one and a half minutes after), then you can assume the person has a hiatal hernia. Why? The portion of the stomach that has leaked into the chest cavity takes up space that the lungs could us if the stomach wasn’t in the way.

If you are squeamish and cannot do this or the person with the problem has brittl. bo.es, you will want to visit a chiropractor or kinesiologist.

This technique is both the diagnosis and the treatment. In most cases, the problem is fixed immediately, though some will have to get this treatment periodically over the rest of their life. It simply depends on the person. But you will know immediately when you get relief.