The Femoral Hernia is caused by the intestine or surrounding tissue to protrude a part of the wall of the abdomen that is called the femoral canal.
The femoral canal by nature is a weak ligament, simple activities can put stress on the abdomen therefore allowing the intestine to push through the canal these simple activities include:
-Coughing
-Standing
-Large Bowel Movements
-Constipation
-Abnormal straining or stretching, lifting, or akward rapid movements.
-Obesity
Your femoral canal weakens as you age, therefore the elderly have a higher risk of this type of hernia. Women with a high rate of childbirth also have a tendency of a weak femoral canal and smokers are at high risk due to “smoker’s cough”
Femoral Hernias do cause a lot of pain for some, while other people may feel none, but they also cause medical problems that can grow to be quite serious so you must seek treatment immediately before this occurs.
Femoral Hernia Diagnosis
Frequently a grape sized lump in the groin is a sign of a Femoral Hernia. Other signs include constipation or pain in the groin that can also be signs of a femoral hernia. If you have any or all of these symptoms, consult your physician.
For patients that are harder to diagnosis or an obese patient, MRI’s, CT scans and abdominal x-rays are a helpful tool. These methods are quite uncommon , and diagnosis is frequently made by the simple physical exam and interview with the patient.
A Femoral hernia in a child can often be misdiagnosed because in children they are not as common. There is however, a current study underway on how to better diagnosis femoral hernias in young children to make it easier.
Inguinal hernias can appear in the same area as a Femoral Hernia and often it is too difficult to distinguish the difference without surgery. Strangulation hardly occurs in an inguinal hernia so it is very important to distinguish between the femoral or inguinal hernia.None the less surgery is required to repair both types, so it is likely your physician will opt for repair by this simple procedure.
