Just how common is a hernia?

Pretty much every time I've been to the doctor for an exam, I've been checked for a hernia. But the few people I've known who have had one have been VERY aware of it -- they never could have missed it. Are very minor hernias that the patients don't even notice common? Do doctors often find anything during those checks? Or is it just easy to do (i.e., it just takes a second, requires no special tools, etc) so they figure "Why not?"

Inguinal hernias are pretty common...maybe a quarter of men have them. They may not cause symptoms until they progress, and they don't always progress. But if you have one and don't know about it and it does incarcerate or strangulate, you run the risk of emergency surgery. Better to do a 10 second check and be informed.

Can anyone give a detailed explanation as to how the hernia examination is done, any links to an instructional video?

For as long as I can remember, the doctor used to always check me for hernia during every physical. All the way up until my 40's, for as long as I had complementary physicals annually at work. Once those stopped, I never got checked for hernia again. Afterwards, I had a friend and heard of others who would get a hernia and not even be aware of it. Once I knew that to be the case, i wondered why I was no longer getting checked. Thinking that there is a possibility I could have one and not know it, I am surprised they no longer check. And of course now, my primary care doesn't even have me remove any clothing.

The doctors felt it was so important every year to check me for hernia, from the time I was very young. Even as a condition of employment with the company's physician. And then each year after, during the company's complementary annual physical.

And then all of a sudden, nothing. As if it no longer bears any importance. I started seeing a personal physician when I was 50, which was actually a husband and wife team in their own practice. Then my latest primary care a few years ago, who doesn't have me remove any clothing at all.

Virtually all my adult physicals included an inguinal hernia check in which the doctor inserts a finger into the inguinal canal and asked me to cough. The coughing increases pressure in the abdomen and can cause a bit of intestine to poke through a gap in the abdominal muscles. A serious condition results if the hernia becomes strangulated which blocks the passage of material through the intestine. My lovely lady doctor discovered a hernia on me when I was in my fifties. I had it repaired just a few years ago after it got more pronounced and before I got too old for the surgery.

Inguinal hernia is really common.

In school years we were checked for it every year. My friend went for a planned operation like that. I didn't ask for details then.

In 97 I had a planned appendectomy. At that time my grandfather was with me in the ward, he was having an inguinal hernia.

Then somewhere in 2005 I got a hernia while repairing a car.

Oddly enough I was in the hospital, and my father was there right away with an inguinal hernia. There was a week between us.

Already in 2024 my father got a hernia on the other side. They did the operation, now everything is fine.

Its very common and hernia repair is one of the most common surgeries in the USA. It only turns into a medical emergency if part of the intestine has its blood supply cut off or if the testicle has its blood supply cut off. Its usually an elective surgery. My brother has had surgery on both sides for inguinal hernia. There are other types of hernias as well.

I have 2 inguinal hernia surgeries, one on each side 4 years apart. The first was done robotically with minor discomfort in the recovery. The second was done manually with virtually no discomfort and an easy recovery, and yes, the danger of strangulation of the intestines is real which I am glad I avoided

Since physical exams have become fully clothed 15 minute consultations, hernia checks are a thing of the past for me.