What is meant by small bowel gas / hernia / hernias? A hernia is a part of the body’s tissue or organ that leaves its original site and enters another site through a gap, defect or weakness in the body. Commonly known as “small bowel”, there are umbilical hernia, inguinal hernia, hiatal hernia, incisional hernia, recurrent surgical hernia, white line hernia, femoral hernia, etc. Most of the hernia is caused by coughing, sneezing, excessive exertion, abdominal obesity, straining to defecate, pregnancy, excessive crying of children, degenerative changes in the strength of the abdominal wall in old age, etc., which force the free organs in the abdominal cavity, such as small intestine, appendix, greater omentum, bladder, ovaries, fallopian tubes, etc., to enter another part of the body through normal or abnormal weak points or defects or orifices. What are the manifestations? The more common form is inguinal hernia, where a mass can be seen or felt in the inguinal area. It is most often found in infants and children during diaper changes or bathing. The cause of the lump is an increase in abdominal pressure, such as sudden straining, crying, coughing, sneezing, defecation, urination, etc. Most of them disappear on their own after lying down. The masses are formed by the prolapse of organs in the abdominal cavity, mostly from the small intestine, but also from other organs such as the large intestine, appendix, and large omentum. In women, the ovaries may also be prolapsed, so a thumb-sized, hard and mostly painful lump can be felt. What can I do? A hernia is caused by a defect in the abdominal wall, so surgery is the only way to cure it. If left untreated, the hernia lump can gradually increase in size, which will eventually aggravate the symptoms and threaten the life of the patient in case of intussusception, so surgery should be performed as soon as possible. In infants under one year of age, the inguinal canal may grow and close on its own, so surgery may be withheld and a cotton cord girdle or bandage may be used to compress the deep ring. What areas are susceptible? Commonly: mostly in the inguinal region (hiatal hernia, straight hernia, femoral hernia), umbilicus (umbilical hernia), surgical incision sites after various surgeries (incisional hernia).