What is a Hiatal Hernia?

“A hernia is where internal tissue or part of an organ pushes through a weakness in the body part’s “wall” that normally keeps it in.”

“The insides of the belly are held in the abdominal cavity by the abdominal wall, for example. That is the wall affected by inguinal hernias. The organs of the abdomen are also kept in place by the diaphragm. The diaphragm separates the abdominal cavity’s organs from the heart and lungs in the chest cavity. It is a dome-shaped muscular layer between the two cavities. The diaphragm is the part of the body that is affected by a hiatal or hiatus hernia. This muscle moves up and down for breathing. There are no open holes in the diaphragm, but key structures and vessels run through it. The biggest one of these is the food pipe, named the esophagus. It runs down from the back of the mouth to the stomach, connecting the two, and is critical for pushing food down.”

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