Medical Questions » Hernia Questions » Question No. 513
| Question: | My belly button gets a bulge that comes and goes. What could this be? Is it serious? |
| Answer: | You probably have an umbilical hernia. This occurs commonly in children, where it often disappears by five years of age, and also in elderly people who are overweight or injure themselves.
An umbilical hernia rarely causes problems in children, but in older people, a small piece of fat, or even gut can protrude into the belly button hernia and become trapped there. This causes severe pain, and is quite serious if gut is involved.
It is generally sensible to have these hernias repaired when they are small, because as they enlarge, the problem becomes harder to correct with surgery. If you are overweight, losing those excess kilos will improve your chance of successful surgery and may reduce the risk of gut entrapment.
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