Is It Possible?
If you don’t already follow me, you probably came across this page because you were doing an internet search to see if it is possible to heal an inguinal hernia with exercise. You have probably been seeing about a million other web pages that say that it is not possible, and that the only way to fix a hernia is through surgery.
Well, I’m here to tell you that that is 100% bullshit! If you read through this blog you can see my whole story about trying to heal my inguinal hernia naturally without surgery. Why I started, what I had to work through, everything. But I’ll make a long story short here.
I’ve had an inguinal hernia for over 4 years. It was about the size of 2 golf balls next to each other in the inguinal canal when it poked out, which was all the time from the moment I got out of bed in the morning. It was never painful, but it was super annoying especially because I’m an extremely active guy.
Absolutely It Is Possible
I worked to figure out the best way to go about healing my inguinal hernia naturally with absolutely no results until about six months ago. That’s when everything I was doing just started clicking. Through trial and error I figured it out! Literally within three weeks my inguinal hernia was half the size. Then 3 months later it was the size of an M&M. Now I am at a point where the hernia does not poke out ever. I never feel pressure at all except a tiny bit when I am in a forward sitting position.
What Do I Have To Do?
You have to commit to putting in the work. Your inguinal hernia is not just going to get better by itself. There is a weakness in the muscles and fascia that hold the intestine in place which is why you have a hernia in the first place. Strengthen those muscles, and you are one step closer to getting to the point where your hernia will be gone.
If you are not willing to put in the work, then you might as well just go get surgery because healing will never happen.
If you are willing to put in the work, then I think you will find that these exercises hit the spot perfectly. They are designed to target the muscles around the inguinal canal in order to hold the abdominal contents in place, and they do exactly that.
Now I’m not saying that these exercise alone are going to be able to cure every inguinal hernia out there, because there is a lot more that goes into it than just this, but they will get you moving in the right direction.
If your interested in seeing what else I’ve had to do in order to get my inguinal hernia where it is now (there are a few key things), feel free to check out some of my other posts and my youtube channel.
Here Are The Exercises
Healing An Inguinal Hernia With Exercise
Regardless of what the medical establishment will tell you, you can heal an inguinal hernia with exercise. These are the most effective exercises I have found to get it done:
- Exercise #1 Leg Pulls
- Exercise #2 Sleeping Bag (or pillow) Squeeze
- Exercise #3 Leg L’s
- Exercise #4 Reverse Swim
- Exercise #5 V-Ups
- Exercise #6 Knee Circle Leg Extensions
- Exercise #7 V-Downs
- Exercise #8 Around The World
- Exercise #9 Straight Leg Sit-Ups
- Exercise #10 Straight Leg Side Ups
I also do a couple yoga breathing exercises that you can see here.
How Often Should I Do It?
From my experience about 2-3 times a week is the max. When I first tried it I was doing it more than that, but I quickly realized that the muscles would get really fatigued and the hernia would want to poke out more often. So I cut it back to 2 times a week, and it was perfect. Start slow and don’t go crazy. For some people it’s hard to start slow (me included), but believe me, it will be much better if you do.
How Long Will I Have To Do This?
Probably forever at some level. Every time you do the workout you go up 1 rep for each exercise. By the time I got to 30 reps I felt like I didn’t need to wear the hernia belt anymore to keep my hernia from poking out. But the last thing you want to do is get to that point, then just stop the workout. I plan on doing these for the rest of my life in order to keep the area strong and reduce the risk of the hernia popping out again.
Recently, I got to a point where I was doing 50 reps of each exercise. The workout was taking me so long that I decided to strap some 5lbs weights to my ankles and start back over at 10 reps. I’ll keep you guys posted on how it goes!
Remember, without commitment you have nothing. If you don’t want surgery, then don’t get it! Commit yourself to healing and you will heal. The body is a healing machine.
I’m an ex-truck driver and a vegetarian (I have been for over 50 years) and I’m a firm believer that this diet has helped over the years. I’ve traced my hernia start to around 1998 when I was unloading a truck and had this excruciating pain in my back and groin as I was lifting an item to unload.
However I’d also been to India and, much like you say in your vid, one of the ways we (in the west) get this happening is because we use the western way of ‘pooping’ as, in India and many other Asian countries, out in the countryside or up in the mountains men and women squat to do this which in the west we no longer do, so I shall now take your advice and find some sort of foot stool to use in the toilet so that I lift my feet off of the floor and bring them more into my chest as well as use a breathing technique of my own.
Doing this, along with using your belt (when I get it) and the other exercises, can only put me in a ‘win-win’ situation and help me to manage my hernia in the future.
Thanks George.
Sounds like a good plan, and I believe does make a difference with day to day management of the hernia! Thanks for the comment.
Hello Sir,
First of all I would like to thank you a lot for such a great initiative. I am also suffering from inguinal hernia and have recently diagnosed it with the help of a surgeon. My hernia is reversible i.e. I don’t feel it or it is at its minimal when I lie down.
The only question which I had for you is my hernia has entered the scrotum sac and sometimes in the evening I can see a small bulge in my right scrotum sac ( typically the size of a single testis). I want to know whether your hernia ever entered the scrotum or not?
Please do reply, I am 25 yo and physically active guy. I don’t want to stop my physical activities.
Thanks again,
Love from INDIA 🙂
No, my hernia never went into my scrotum. It was only a lump about the size of two golf balls taped together.
Firstly many thanks for your excercise vidso. I have just started out on thr workout.
One question: would you normally hold in the hernia while doing the workout ? I ask because you advocate this generally, but the video doen’t show you supporting your hernia while excercising.
Thanks again
John
Hey John,
No I would not hold the hernia while doing these. I did not need to support the hernia while doing these exercises because it would not poke out or create pressure while laying on my back.
Hello George,
First of all, thanks for this wonderful article on this treatment. Am really glad someone has put this up on the internet.
I would like to do this exercise on a daily basis. But you have mentioned it’s not advisable to do this daily. My question is, can I reduce the intensity on alternative days if I am going to do it more than 2-3 times a week?
Another question is, is there any diet to follow for a better result?
I’d be glad to hear from you
Thanks!
Hello George,
I recently started rope jumping regularly. It does push my hernia out. But I don’t feel pain, I only get uncomfortable. This is a very good cardia, so I would also like to reduce my fat. But it’s pushing my hernia out. So is it okay if I do rope jump workout, then do these exercises?
Or should I reduce my rope jumping? Please Let me know. Thanks in advance!
If you like jump roping, I would try to find a way to hold in the hernia while doing it instead of stopping doing something that you like. I used the Comfort-Truss for this purpose, but if you could find a hernia belt that works for you, that would be the way to go in my opinion.
I read that you did not hold the hernia in but do you wear the belt while doing the yoga and exercises? Thanks for this information. I was scheduled for surgery but when COVID hit I canceled my surgery and I am hoping I can heal with these exercises and avoid surgery completely. Thanks again!
Hey Shawn, Sorry for the late response to this. I did wear the belt all day every day for a long time as to never allow the hernia to pop out at all. If I was doing the exercises while laying on my back, I wouldn’t have to wear the belt because I never felt any pressure while laying on my back, but if I was already wearing I wouldn’t take it off.
Thank You for doing this. Question that i have is, does natural process work for strangulated inguinal hernia as well or
for strangulated ones have to go for a surgery? Any insight into this is greatly appreciated.
If a hernia is strangulated you need to seek medical assistance immediately.
Thank You for taking time and answering my question. Appreciate it!