Hiatal Hernia Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment

What is Hiatal Hernia?

Hiatal hernia is the protrusion (or herniation) of the upper part of the stomach into the thorax through a tear or weakness in the diaphragm.

Hiatus hernias often result in heartburn but may also cause chest pain or pain with eating.

People with heartburn may experience chest pain that can easily be confused with the pain of a heart attack. That’s why it’s so important to undergo testing and get properly diagnosed.

It is not known how commonly hiatus hernias occur with estimates in North America varying from 10 to 80%.

Causes of Hiatal Hernia:

A hiatal hernia occurs when weakened muscle tissue allows the stomach to bulge up through the diaphragm.

It’s not always clear why this happens, but pressure on the stomach and age-related changes in the diaphragm may contribute to the formation of a hiatal hernia.

Hiatal hernia could be caused by:

Injury to the area
Obesity
Stress
Being born with an unusually large hiatus
Persistent and intense pressure on the surrounding muscles, such as:
when coughing
vomiting
straining during a bowel movement
while lifting heavy objects

Symptoms of Hiatal Hernia:

Generally, small hiatal hernias do not cause any signs and symptoms and are only diagnosed when the doctor sees the bulge while looking for other conditions.

However, larger hiatal hernias can cause signs and symptoms such as:

Heartburn
Belching
Difficulty swallowing
Chest or abdominal pain
Feeling especially full after meals
Vomiting blood or passing black stools, which may indicate gastrointestinal bleeding
Shortness of breath
Heart palpitations