Hernia Surgery

New York Hernia Center

General Surgeons & Advanced Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgeons located in Upper East Side, New York City, NY, Secauses, NJ, & Darien, CT

Patients dealing with hernias can find advanced treatment at New York Hernia Center. The team helps those in Brooklyn, the Upper East Side, and the metro area of New York City as well as Secauses, New Jersey, and Greenwich, Connecticut, through state-of-the-art laparoscopic hernia surgery. For more information, call the office nearest you, or request an appointment online.

Hernia Surgery Q & A

What is a Hernia?

A hernia is the medical term used to describe an abnormal opening in the abdominal cavity and is generally applied to two scenarios.  

  1. A hole or defect in an area where there should be intact strong tissue, such as the muscles and fascia of the abdominal wall.  
  2. An unusually wide opening where there is normally supposed to be a narrow opening, such as in the diaphragm or the pelvis.

The normal pressure inside the abdomen is higher than what is seen in the chest or outside the body, so hernia defects, when present, allow things like a loop of bowel or a piece of omentum (the fatty apron which hangs down from the midportion of the colon) to protrude or “herniate” from inside to locations outside the abdominal cavity. When that occurs the hernia is experienced as a lump under the skin.

What Causes a Hernia to Develop?

There's a variety of reasons for a hernia to occur. In fact, hernias can even be present at birth if there was abnormal development of the abdominal wall. Hernias can also develop over time in areas of weakness or from excessively high pressures. Some of following conditions are frequently associated with hernias:

  • Pregnancy
  • Lifting excess weight
  • Straining for bowel movement or urination
  • Obesity
  • Chronic coughing
  • Trauma to abdomen

The cause and location of the hernia will determine how the hernia is categorized and how to proceed when treating the condition.

How Does Hernia Surgery Help? 

The only effective treatment for abdominal hernias is surgery, and healthy patients can typically expect good outcomes. The surgery will be performed laparoscopically, which means the surgeon will use special instruments and a camera inserted into the abdominal cavity through tiny incisions. Avoiding a large cut to access and repair the defect makes laparoscopic hernia repair minimally invasive, and it requires less downtime than traditional open procedures. The laparoscopic procedure typically utilizes a mesh to strengthen the weak tissue that resulted in the hernia development. This reinforces the repair and reduces the risk of the hernia re-occurring.

Details of the hernia repair will depend on the type of hernia being treated and the severity of the condition. Because these factors are so individual to each patient and to each hernia, specific questions are best answered during an in-office consultation.  At that time, questions regarding the length of the procedure, recovery time frame, and post-surgical instructions can be addressed.

Insurance Plans

We accept all major insurance plans that provide members with out-of-network benefits. We participate with Medicare and 1199. We do not take Medicaid or any 3rd party managed Medicaid plans at this time. Please call our office for more information at (212) 203-2146.

1199SEIU
Aetna
Blue Cross
Blue Shield
Cigna
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield
Empire Plan
Fidelis
GHI
Health First
Medicare
UnitedHealthcare/Oxford Health Plans
Our Locations

Choose your preferred location