1 Manifestation of this pathology

It is very simple to notice the presence of an umbilical hernia in a small child. This problem looks like a protrusion of the abdominal cavity in the navel( umbilical ring).When a child begins to cry or even strains a little, the umbilical hernia in infants starts to increase slightly in size.

After a while, if you do not start treatment, even the intestinal loops may begin to bulge into the umbilical ring. If you lightly press the given bulge with your fingers, the protrusion will disappear. At the same time you can hear a soft gurgling sound. If you do not know what the umbilical hernia looks like in newborns, but you have suspicions, be sure to go to a specialist.

Why do children have this pathology? Before the baby is born, it feeds on the uterus through the umbilical cord. After birth, this organ is cut off by obstetricians, since it becomes unnecessary. Normal is the complete closure of the vessels and the constriction of the umbilical ring within the first month after the birth of the baby. Sometimes this can happen faster. Everything will depend on the size of the umbilical ring of the newborn. To diagnose and determine whether a child needs treatment, only a specialist will be able to after a careful examination of a small patient.

If, during palpation, the navel of the toddler passes the pediatrician's fingers farther behind the abdominal cavity, then you can talk about the onset of umbilical hernia in the baby. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the method of treatment of the problem.

2 Cause

Most of the parents are guilty of the appearance of the pathology of the midwife, who allegedly incorrectly cut off and recorded the umbilical cord of the newborn. But in fact, the reason lies in completely different, and the human factor to the appearance of umbilical hernia in a baby has nothing to do. Approximately 70% of the appearance of the problem will depend on whether the umbilical hernia was in the childhood of one of its closest relatives. At the same time, there are other reasons that can provoke the development of a child's pathology immediately after his birth. These include:

1. Lack of connective tissue - it did not have time to fully ripen. In this regard, umbilical hernia very often occurs in premature babies or those who were born with low weight.
2. The umbilical ring has very weak muscles.
3. The presence of rickets.
4. The anterior abdominal wall of the child has various pathologies.
5. The baby often has problems with normal digestion: he is disturbed by colic, constipation or a strong swelling.
6. If there is a predisposition, the child very often cries or coughs and at the same time the umbilical ring has a weak connective tissue.

Umbilical hernia in infants can make itself felt immediately after birth or a few weeks later. The size of this pathology will depend on the size of the umbilical ring itself. When the child cries, you can accurately understand how the navel hernia looks, because it is especially visible when the muscles of the abdominal wall strain. Sometimes its size is large enough and can even scare parents. Do not be afraid of the appearance of the pathology, after all, as a rule, it does not give the child any discomfort. Depending on the size, the specialist will determine how to treat the umbilical hernia, whether it is necessary to wear a special bandage or patch for a long time. In some situations, a special massage is sufficient, which will strengthen the muscles of the anterior wall of the abdominal cavity.

3 Treatment measures

Treatment of this unpleasant pathology is the use of conservative methods. As the numerous practice shows, surgical intervention is practically not required, especially if the problem can be cured up to three years. As a rule, before the age of three, all the symptoms disappear completely( protrusion and gurgling) of the disease. Quite rare cases can be found when there is a severe pinching of the umbilical hernia. In this case, you can not do without an operation.

Specialists recommend laying the baby on his tummy about 10-15 minutes before the start of feeding. Thanks to this, the muscles of the abdominal cavity are fast enough to strengthen, the press becomes stronger. Prevention of this problem is also laying the baby on the tummy. Such a procedure will be quite useful when a newborn child has digestive problems.

Special attention should be paid to physical therapy. Exercises on exercise therapy should be carried out exclusively in a polyclinic and only under the control of a specialist in this field. Depending on the indications, a set of special exercises for the sick child will be made, and then the doctor will be able to check that it is properly performed. The main task of exercise therapy in the presence of an umbilical hernia in a small child, just like in a massage, is the improvement of blood circulation in this area. In addition, the level of elasticity and elasticity of connective tissue increases, which is located in the area of ​​the navel of the newborn baby. During the exercise exercise, the umbilical hernia should be completely corrected and then carefully covered with adhesive tape. This will be an excellent prevention of repeated relapses that can occur in a child.

4 Massage

In the presence of an umbilical hernia in a child, massage should be performed only by a masseur specializing in this after the appointment of a surgeon. After a while mother can learn to perform this procedure and at home.

There are rules that should be considered when carrying out the massage procedure. These can be attributed to the following:

1. Clockwise on the child's tummy do circular strokes - about 10 circles.
2. Then stroke your stomach against the clock hands - 10 circles.
3. Then, with your index finger, gently push the umbilical hernia so that it hides inward. It is necessary to do so 20 times.
4. The pads of the mother's fingers are around the navel of the newborn. With your thumb, press on the hernia, the other four need to be scrolled around the navel in a clockwise direction. Movement is like screwing a light bulb. Such an exercise must be repeated 10 times.
5. Above the navel of the child and under it it is necessary to massage carefully the horizontal muscles. To do this, place your index and middle finger on the right and left side of the navel. Then they need to make 10 convergent movements. The same movements must then be made from above and below the navel of the crumbs.
6. Massage for the treatment of umbilical hernia does not require any special skills, you only need to be as accurate as possible during the execution of all movements. Do this massage 2-3 times immediately before feeding until the muscles of the abdominal cavity become stronger.

5 Special plaster

In the event that the pathology is large enough, a specialist may prescribe wearing a special plaster.

With it, you can hold the hernia inside until the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall become firmer. Use a band-aid is possible only if the doctor appoints him. It is very important to strictly follow the instructions for use. At the same time, it is worth considering that many children from such a patch may have reddening or irritation in the navel.

If such a reaction to the patch appeared, the specialist recommends replacing the patch with another method of treatment, for example, you can wear a bandage. The result of wearing this device is the removal of the hernia, as well as after the patch, but there are no side effects. Umbilical bandage looks like an elastic and very soft belt, which has a special hernial limb in the form of a small pad in the navel. The bandage of this type slightly presses on the umbilical hernia, but this is enough to prevent its further development. An interesting fact is that the bandage reduces the risk of pinching and helps the umbilical cord to tighten more quickly.

6 Surgical intervention

There are cases when it is impossible to do without surgical intervention. In such a situation, doctors will suture the umbilical ring when the hernia becomes trapped. You need to know exactly what kind of symptoms this phenomenon has. If there is a pinching of the umbilical hernia, then there is a large risk of developing necrosis of certain fragments of the intestine, some of which are trapped by the umbilical ring. Symptoms include the following:

• hernia becomes hard and causes pain in the child;
• it can not be turned inside;
• around the navel begins to form a fairly strong reddening;
• when a fragment of the intestine is jammed, a frequent and severe vomiting begins to disturb the child.

In order not to develop intestinal obstruction and bowel necrosis, when these symptoms appear, you should immediately contact a specialist. Surgeons suture the umbilical ring, and the likelihood of protrusion and pinching decreases several times. Re-emergence of pathology is extremely rare.

7 Preventive measures

As preventive measures, doctors recommend laying the baby on the stomach before each feeding. It is necessary to regularly do massage and a set of special exercises that will strengthen the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall. If the baby will observe the regime of the day and eat right, he will not have problems with digestion. Colic and constipation negatively affects the weak abdominal wall of the newborn baby.

If the umbilical hernia can not be removed before the age of three, then postpone surgical intervention does not make any sense. After three years, connective tissue in the navel almost completely loses its elasticity, and therefore the navel can not recover independently without outside help. The surgery for suturing is incredibly simple and does not bear the life of the child any threat. After surgery, there will be no trace of the umbilical hernia.

As practice shows, in most cases there is a conservative method of treating problems with weak navel muscles, and pathology disappears due to strengthening of the musculature of the baby.