Hiatus hernia can be caused by weak hiatal muscles due to genetics, physical trauma, and constant pressure on the muscles. Risk factors include constipation, smoking, and weight lifting. Surgery is recommended to prevent complications such as gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Common causes of hiatus hernia include genetic or induced weakness in the hiatal muscles, such as through physical trauma. Regular and intense pressure on the muscles, such as a frequent and forceful cough, can also weaken them and lead to a hernia. Some risk factors put strain on the hiatus muscles, increasing the likelihood of a hernia. These include constipation, cigarette smoking and weight lifting. While these aren’t considered direct causes of hiatal hernias, experts recommend avoiding these factors to prevent any possible hernias.
A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach bulges upward into the chest cavity. This reaction is due to the weak muscles surrounding the hiatus, an opening in the diaphragm that connects the esophagus to the stomach. Any sudden or intense movement that pushes the stomach up into the chest is often resisted by these muscles; weak muscles allow the stomach to move.
One of the most inevitable causes of hiatus hernia is genetic inheritance. Individuals may be born with weak hiatus muscles if their parents possess weak muscles themselves. The risk of developing hiatus hernia increases if the patient has a family history of the condition. Other risk factors for hernias include genetic muscular dystrophy and the development of an abnormally wide hiatus during fetal maturation.
The most common causes of hiatal hernias, however, involve physical trauma. A direct blow to the diaphragm, for example, can cause a significant amount of damage to the muscles surrounding the hiatus. Recovery from the blow could take a long time, if the muscle recovers fully. This leaves a very high risk period for hernia.
The constant pressure on the hiatus muscles can also wear them down and weaken them. Unusually frequent coughs and hiccups are known to be causes of hiatus hernia. Violent shaking, such as that experienced when riding in motor vehicles with faulty shock absorbers, can also increase the risk of developing a hernia. Some conditions that add tension to the hiatal muscles, such as obesity, also increase the likelihood of a hiatal hernia.
Although a number of people consider hiatal hernias to be a manageable condition, several experts recommend immediate surgical correction. Aside from the occasional discomfort, a hiatus hernia puts a patient at a higher risk of developing gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), in which stomach acids and other enzymes overflow into the esophagus, causing serious damage. The condition has resulted in numerous deaths, leading doctors to advise avoiding the causes of hiatus hernia as much as possible.
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