Can a Hernia Heal Itself Without Surgery?

It can be a pretty strange experience, getting a hernia. Maybe you slide into home base and pop! Or you wake up and notice a bulge that definitely wasn’t there yesterday. Perhaps you cough really hard and when you look down, it looks like your belly button collapsed! Or maybe it doesn’t look like anything’s wrong at all, but all of the sudden, getting in and out of the car always hurts … for no apparent reason. What on earth is going on?AdvertisementCleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. PolicyA hernia is essentially a hole in your abdominal wall that allows something (intestine or fat) to stick out that doesn’t normally stick out. The name assigned to the bulge changes based on the location:A hernia in your groin is an inguinal or femoral herniaA hernia in your belly button is an umbilical hernia.A hernia in your abdominal wall at the site of a previous su...