Before I entered the medical profession, I always thought that an umbilical hernia was something unique to a newborn baby, soft and floppy, on the navel, like a “small soft shell egg” that would deform and become bigger or smaller as the child cried. After being a doctor, I found out that many older middle-aged and elderly women, because of childbirth and obesity, the abdominal wall becomes weak and a small packet protrudes near the navel, slowly increasing in size, which is clinically known as an umbilical hernia. The clinical manifestation of umbilical hernia is a round hernia protruding from the umbilical ring and disappearing when lying down. Clinically, there are two types of umbilical hernia: pediatric hernia and adult hernia. The former is more common than the latter. Pediatric umbilical hernias are mostly present at birth due to incomplete development of the umbilical ring; adult umbilical hernias are more common in obese people with weak abdominal walls, middle-aged and elderly people and menstruating mothers, as well as in patients with chronic diseases with increased intra-abdominal pressure, such as patients with cirrhosis of the liver and ascites. With the growth and development of children, umbilical hernia in children can heal on its own within 2 years of age, so it is not necessary to operate on infants and children within 2 years of age, but if the hernia does not disappear or shrink after 2 years of age, then surgery is needed. However, if the umbilical hernia does not disappear or shrink after 2 years of age, surgery is required. However, many of the middle-aged and elderly patients with umbilical hernia I met in clinic do not pay attention to it. Secondly, there is not enough knowledge about umbilical hernia and it is considered as a minor disease of no importance. Third, some people take umbilical hernia seriously, but after consultation, they find out that umbilical hernia has to be treated surgically, and in many cases, the umbilical foramen has to be removed, so they are reluctant to operate because they are afraid of surgery or cannot accept the treatment method of removing the umbilical foramen. However, in fact, because the hernia ring of adult umbilical hernia is tougher, less elastic and non-expandable, it is easy for the contents of the umbilical hernia to protrude and not return, which is medically known as intussusception. It is then no longer a “soft egg”, but a sudden increase in size of the mass and severe pain, which can later cause intestinal obstruction and intestinal necrosis, and even life-threatening in severe cases. Imagine, once the contents of the umbilical hernia (intestine or large omentum) are stuck in the small umbilical ring, the consequences of ischemia and necrosis are unimaginable, so adults with umbilical hernia should be operated as soon as possible. So how should the surgery for umbilical hernia be done? Is it true that there is no navel after surgery, as many people say? In the past, the umbilical hernia was repaired and the umbilical hole was removed, which is one of the reasons why more patients are reluctant to undergo surgery. At present, we mostly use repair surgery that preserves the umbilicus. During open surgery, we make a curved incision around the umbilicus, pay attention to avoid damaging the umbilicus and preserve the blood supply of the umbilicus, which reduces postoperative complications such as ischemic necrosis of the umbilicus and can preserve the umbilicus intact; during laparoscopic surgery, the location of the hole is chosen on the lateral abdominal wall, so there is no need to touch the umbilicus at all, thus better protecting the umbilicus. The procedure of preserving the umbilicus has been well received by many patients and is more acceptable to them. The surgery also applies a patch, thus avoiding recurrence.