Today, I met another patient with inguinal hernia (commonly known as “small intestine gas” or “hernia”) who came to my clinic after failing to take Chinese medicine, and this is the third case since the New Year. One of the patients is an old cadre, and the cost of herbal medicine is more than 20,000 yuan (this money can be used for 3 operations!). The money could have been used for 3 surgeries! These patients are afraid of surgery, and are often brainwashed by the doctors, spending a lot of money, no effect and no regrets, which is very sad. Looking at these patients, I can’t help but want to say a few more words. In terms of etiology, the failure to close the peritoneal sheath formed when the testicles of boys (and the round ligament of the uterus of girls) move down during embryonic development is the congenital pathogenesis of inguinal hernia. Later in adulthood, due to the pushing of increased abdominal pressure (constipation, chronic cough, intra-abdominal masses, ascites), especially in older people whose abdominal wall tension decreases year by year, the intra-abdominal organs or tissues can enter the peritoneal sheath and form a hernia. Ancestral medicine believes that the evidence of hernia includes a rather wide range of contents. It is mainly caused by congenital deficiency of endowment, acquired deficiency of spleen health, weakness of middle qi, deficiency of qi sinking, and weakness of lifting and lifting. Therefore, herbal treatment is currently mostly limited to pediatric hernia patients, because as children continue to develop, there is still a chance of self-healing with the help of herbal medicine to benefit qi and lift or regulate qi and disperse nodules (this chance is not great). However, for adults, who have formed obvious hernia sacs, it is very difficult to heal by herbal treatment only, and the longer it is delayed, the larger the hernia will become, and there is also the risk of small intestine obstruction and perforation. In addition, hernia and syringomyelia are 2 different diseases that are easily confused by the general public. Many irresponsible quacks claim that they can cure a hernia with herbal medicine or acupuncture, but in fact they may be treating a syringomyelia. Of course, surgical treatment is not infallible and has complications such as recurrence, pain, and foreign body sensation. The current surgical recurrence rate is generally 1-3 per thousand, while pain and foreign body sensation can be as high as 10-15%, which very much affects the patient’s post-operative quality of life. Therefore, it is best to go to an experienced hernia surgeon in a regular hospital to choose the right surgery for you and minimize complications. A successful hernia surgery should be “three free”, that is, no recurrence, no pain and no foreign body sensation after the recovery period.