Can You Drink Alcohol with Hernia?

Hernia is a condition in which your internal part of the body, such as organ or fatty tissue, squeezes through an opening or a weak spot of muscle /connective tissue (fascia). Treatment can vary, depending on the severity of the disease. Some lifestyle measures have an effect, too. Quitting smoking if you’re a smoker, for example, can help a lot to prevent the problem from worsening. How about alcohol? Is it still OK to drink with hernia?

Hiatal hernia

There are a number of different types of hernias – one of them is hiatal hernia, an abnormal condition that occurs when part of the stomach bulges through an opening in the diaphragm called ‘hiatus’. Hiatus is a normal hole where the esophagus (food tube) passes and connects to the stomach.

The stomach can sometimes pushes upward and causes a hernia through hiatus. This problem is more likely to occur when you have weakness in the muscles surrounding the hiatus.

Other factors that may cause hiatal hernia are as follows:

1. Having abnormal large hiatus (birth abnormality).
2. Injury that affects the hiatus area.
3. Intense, persistent extra pressure that hits muscles surrounding the hiatus such as chronic coughing, frequent lifting heavy object, and excessive straining during bowel movements.
4. Obesity and age may have an effect, too. In fact the disease is common in obese people and more common in adults age 50 /older.

Typically, a small hiatal hernia doesn’t bother you a lot and you don’t have any symptom. But if it gets larger, this can cause a number of symptoms and discomforts. For example, a large hernia can cause heartburn by allowing food and more acid to flow back into your food tube.

Some home remedies and non-surgical treatments can help soothe and relieve the symptoms. But if the hernia has become very large, surgery is required. The good news, there is only a small number of cases that require surgery.

GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)

It is a chronic digestive disorder in which what you find in your stomach (especially stomach acid, or sometimes stomach content) back up into the esophagus. This frequent acid reflux can also irritate the lining of your esophagus.

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Heartburn, a burning sensation in the chest, that occurs twice or more a week is the classic symptom of GERD. Nevertheless heartburn can also be caused by something else, not always associated with GERD.

The burning sensation may spread to the throat, followed with chronic irritation in the throat, feeling of a lump in the throat, or sour taste in the mouth. Other GERD symptoms include:

1. Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing. Sometimes swelling can be painful.
2. Sour liquid, or/and bad breath.
3. The acid reflux may also cause dry cough.
4. Sometimes the reflux could be painful, causing chest pain.
5. Sore throat (hoarseness).

There are a number of factors that can cause and worsen GERD. These include; cigarette smoking, pregnancy, obesity, and certain conditions (such as scleroderma (disorders of connective tissues), dry mouth, and asthma).

Can you drink alcohol with hernia?

In general, the connection between alcohol and hernia is up in the air. Though heavy drinking is associated with a number of health conditions, it is not clear yet whether it has an effect to increase the risk of developing hernia.

Alcohol may have nothing to do with hernia. But heavy drinking can sometimes make hernia-related problems more likely. For example it can aggravate heartburn (GERD), a common problem in people with hiatal hernia.

GERD in people with hiatal hernia is quite common. Normally, hiatus is responsible to prevent acid from backing up into your esophagus by applying pressure to the stomach. With hiatal hernia, this function doesn’t work effectively. As a result, there will be more stomach acid that flows back to the esophagus, making GERD more likely.

Alcohol can relax the valve between your stomach and esophagus, making GERD worse. And though it’s not stored as fat, the excessive amount you drink is bad if you’re trying to lose extra pounds of your weight.

To keep safe, it’s recommended to drink only in moderation. And if you have hiatal hernia, you may need to significantly cut down on your booze intake.

Alcohol is not the only one. The following things can also worsen hernia or make your GERD more likely:

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1. Certain foods. Restrict foods that make your hernia-discomforts worse! For examples, spicy foods, onions, chocolate, coffee, mint, and tomato-based products can also trigger heartburn. Some of these foods are very rich in acid.
2. Poor in dietary fiber. Fiber can help a lot to prevent constipation and straining during bowel movements. So get adequate fiber by eating more high-fiber foods.
3. Being obese! As noted before, obesity is a risk factor of many types of hernia. More excess pounds of weight you gain, the higher the risk of having hernia and developing hernia-related problems such as GERD. Obesity may also aggravate the disease, making it worsen more quickly.
4. The way of how you eat matters, too. For example, eat smaller meals throughout the days instead of eating 2-3 large meals a day. And if you want to lie down after you eat, wait about 2-3 hours! Also, late-night snacks are not recommended.
5. Cigarette smoking. Tobacco smoke can hurt many parts of the body, including abdominal muscles and tissues. It can also lead to chronic cough that aggravate the hernia.
6. Heavy lifting. If you need to lift heavy object, do it carefully – if necessary ask someone else to help you.
7. Tight clothing. Avoid wearing tight clothing, especially one that is very tight around your middle!

How to cut down on alcohol?

If you think it’s still OK to drink, again do it in moderation to keep safe. Or follow your doctor instructions – sometimes alcohol is forbidden for some types of hernia.

There are a number of ways to help cut down on your alcohol intake, here are some helpful ones:

1. Know exactly what you’re buying – choose small glasses (125 ml) rather than large ones (250 ml). For example, if you’re a wine drinker, small glasses can help spread one 750 ml bottle into 7-9 glasses (125ml) for a few days.
2. Drink with foods! Try enjoying your drink with a meal so you can have a leisurely period of time without losing control on how much you drink. Drink without an empty stomach can help allow the body to absorb alcohol more slowly.
3. Avoid any triggers that can drive you lose control on what you drink. Find your urges to drink, and then avoid them!!
4. Fill your free time with some alternatives. Sometimes it’s not easy to cut down on your booze intake if alcohol has occupied a lot of your time, especially when you have days of leisure – developing new hobbies, healthy activities, and even good relationships with others can help.
5. Keep track of how much alcohol you drink. If necessary, use a drinking tracker card and keep it in your wallet!