Physiotherapy for a child’s inguinal hernia can be used as a complementary measure to conservative therapy to support healing. Especially in the case of inguinal hernias that run without complications and can easily be repositioned, physiotherapy with gentle massages and playful strengthening exercises offers various possibilities for affected children and parents to deal with the inguinal hernia.
How do I recognize a hernia?
As a rule, a hernia inguinal hernia causes hardly any pain in children, unlike in adults. It is usually the parents who become aware of the hernia while changing the diaper. Signs of this can be a strong restlessness, a whiny child or pain from pressure.
In children, an inguinal hernia is palpable due to a soft swelling. The swelling occurs in girls in the area of the labia and in boys in the groin area directly under the skin. An experienced physician can also detect the swelling visually by pressing on the child’s stomach.
Severe pain can occur when parts of the intestine get into the hernial sac and become trapped. This can also lead to problems in the blood supply, redness and swelling. In the worst case, such a hernia can also lead to intestinal obstruction.
Due to these usually very obvious symptoms, a hernia in children can usually be detected quickly, so that more complex diagnostic procedures such as X-rays or ultrasound examinations can be avoided. The early detection of an inguinal hernia makes it easier to limit straining movements as far as possible and to move the hernia sac again if possible, so that healing is possible without surgery. These articles may also be of interest to you:
- Groin pain
- Inguinal Hernia
Causes of inguinal hernia
Too weak connective tissue is responsible for inguinal hernia in childhood. During pregnancy, the inguinal canal of the unborn child is filled with peritoneum, which recedes at the end of the pregnancy, closing the inguinal canal. If this does not happen (especially in premature births), the weak connective tissue cannot withstand the pressure of the internal organs well, so that even slight physical exertion, coughing or sneezing increase the pressure to such an extent that a hernia occurs.
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