1. < Digestive Health

Hiatal Hernia. What helps?

Posted by betterb4 @betterb4, Feb 13, 2017

I was just diagnosed with a small hiatal hernia but I'm feeling pretty miserable. I was a perfectly healthy person and this all started a couple months ago. It started with a feeling of a "lump" at the bottom of my esophagus (or top of my stomach). Sometimes I had a burning feeling in my esophagus. I mentioned it with my gastroenterologist before a routine colonoscopy; she pretty much dismissed it but immediately put me on Prilosec in the morning and Zantac.It really doesn't help very much. before bed. I had and EGD and she diagnosed and irritated esophagus and stomach and a small hiatal hernia.
I have now given up coffee, wine, chocolate, beef, tomatoes and eating after dinner (everyday the list grows.) We have propped our bed at an angle. I am afraid to eat. She insists that the hernia is not causing this, but it must be. I'm in my 50's, perfect weight and have never even had heartburn. If this doesn't improve soon, I am thinking of going to Mayo for a full evaluation. I can't live this way and I DO NOT want to be on medicine the rest of my life.

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ohio333 | @ohio333 | Mar 7 1:16pm
In reply to @1285meet "Diagnosed about 4 months ago. He didn’t say anything about a sliding hernia. In fact, he..." + (show)
@1285meet

Diagnosed about 4 months ago. He didn’t say anything about a sliding hernia. In fact, he acted like the HH was no big deal. After the endoscopy, he said “everything looks good. Oh you have a small hernia. “. I was having Gerd symptoms. But I didn’t even realize the two things were connected after listening to the doctor’s comments. I discovered that on my own.

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I have no idea why they act like this is no big deal. Some people have little symptoms with hernias but some people have very horrible symptoms! I would ask him if it is sliding because if it's not sliding it's there all the time and is more serious. If it's sliding it can come and go.

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1285meet | @1285meet | Mar 9 11:16am
In reply to @ohio333 "I have no idea why they act like this is no big deal. Some people have..." + (show)
@ohio333

I have no idea why they act like this is no big deal. Some people have little symptoms with hernias but some people have very horrible symptoms! I would ask him if it is sliding because if it's not sliding it's there all the time and is more serious. If it's sliding it can come and go.

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Thank you. I will keep following up with him.

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jlharsh | @jlharsh | Mar 9 12:36pm
In reply to @1285meet "Diagnosed about 4 months ago. He didn’t say anything about a sliding hernia. In fact, he..." + (show)
@1285meet

Diagnosed about 4 months ago. He didn’t say anything about a sliding hernia. In fact, he acted like the HH was no big deal. After the endoscopy, he said “everything looks good. Oh you have a small hernia. “. I was having Gerd symptoms. But I didn’t even realize the two things were connected after listening to the doctor’s comments. I discovered that on my own.

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I relate to symptoms you describe @suellyn and love your idea @1285meet for online PT. Some exercises/stretches you describe I am already doing and find helpful. Reading your posts I am revisiting my local GI telling me I have a small HH that makes no impact on anything, and interested to learn more. What the heck is a sliding HH @ohio333 ? I’ll check out online PT. My other concern is if something is happening that will cause bigger problems if it doesn’t get addressed.

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ohio333 | @ohio333 | Mar 9 1:13pm
In reply to @jlharsh "I relate to symptoms you describe @suellyn and love your idea @1285meet for online PT. Some..." + (show)
@jlharsh

I relate to symptoms you describe @suellyn and love your idea @1285meet for online PT. Some exercises/stretches you describe I am already doing and find helpful. Reading your posts I am revisiting my local GI telling me I have a small HH that makes no impact on anything, and interested to learn more. What the heck is a sliding HH @ohio333 ? I’ll check out online PT. My other concern is if something is happening that will cause bigger problems if it doesn’t get addressed.

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There are 2 types of hiatal hernia. One is sliding, it goes up and down the esophagus so it can be hard to diagnose. The other is Paraesophageal (meaning next to the esophagus). Those are less common but more serious.

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yardsend | @yardsend | Mar 9 10:06pm
In reply to @1285meet "I have a small HH and I found a few physical therapists on YouTube. One has..." + (show)
@1285meet

I have a small HH and I found a few physical therapists on YouTube. One has been particularly helpful to me. Diaphragmatic breathing, standing stretches with arms up, sitting stretches with arms up and bridge poses. Oh and a wedge pillow for sleeping. This is not a quick fix, but over time I’ve felt much much better. I stopped coughing and got off Omeprazole.

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I checked out YouTube PT for hiatal hernia and was overwhelmed. Can you please tell us which sites you have found helpful?
Many thanks,
Sarah

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1285meet | @1285meet | Mar 10 5:40am
In reply to @yardsend "I checked out YouTube PT for hiatal hernia and was overwhelmed. Can you please tell us..." + (show)
@yardsend

I checked out YouTube PT for hiatal hernia and was overwhelmed. Can you please tell us which sites you have found helpful?
Many thanks,
Sarah

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Searching Hiatal Hernia Treatments, I liked the exercises on the site AskDoctorJo. You don’t need any equipment.

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