# Umbilical Hernia mesh: risk at high pressure

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-hernia-mesh-risk-at-high-pressure/685199>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 2, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-hernia-mesh-risk-at-high-pressure/685199 "2014-04-02T21:29:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Umbilical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecb155/32.png) [@Umbilical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbilical)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-hernia-mesh-risk-at-high-pressure/685199/1 "2014-04-02T21:29:18Z")

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I have an Umbilical Hernia with an opening of around 10mm (0.4 inch).  
The surgeon told me that the procedure of the operation is to inspect during the operation if a mesh is needed, otherwise they just sew it together. My opening size was on the edge between small and large (where a mesh becomes common).

I think the opening is caused to a large extent by heavy weightlifting (i.e. heavy deadlifts). I asked my surgeon if I could lift heavy again with a mesh, he could really answer this question, or he didn’t answer this question on purpose. If I cannot do heavy lifting again I prefer to not take a mesh, as I have no major complications right now.

This has made me worried, I know that several weightlifters/powerlifters/bodybuilders have (had) Umbilical Hernias. So I would expect a surgeon to know about this. Also I couldn’t find any (medical) literature about the risks involved having a mesh and putting high pressure on your core.

Any answers/literature/comments are welcome!

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-hernia-mesh-risk-at-high-pressure/685199/2 "2014-04-02T22:06:07Z")

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Since this is a real-life medical question, we prefer them to be in IMHO rather than General Questions. That way you can get opinions as well as factual information.

**samclem** , moderator