When you were a child, did you hear people talk about “innies” and “outies”? They were referring to the belly button. In medical terms, an “outie” may be in actuality an umbilical hernia. Read on to find out what the symptoms of an umbilical hernia are and how they are treated.

Most umbilical hernias occur in babies. Your belly button represents the place where you were attached to the placenta in your mother’s womb. Usually once the stump is internalized it stays that way. Sometimes, though, the intestines can protrude through this weakness in the abdominal muscle and cause pain.

Babies are notorious for straining. They don’t have command over their muscles yet, so when they use the bathroom or try to roll over or even cry, straining occurs. This can cause the intestines to push towards that opening.

In infants, the umbilical hernia usually closes by the time they are a year old. As the child gets older, they strain less and the intestines settle back into their normal position. Some parents even strap a coin to the belly button if they notice that it protrudes when the baby cries.

If it persists, you can take your child to the doctor. As long as there is no pain associated with it, they may advise watching it for a few more years before treating it any other way.

Umbilical hernias are also seen in adults, although not as much. They might be the result of unresolved hernias from childhood that never healed but haven’t caused trouble until later in life. The signs are the same, including a protruding belly button with or without pain. If there is pain, consult your doctor right away.

In either adults or infants, when there is pain associated with the protrusion it could mean that the bowel has become strangulated. In that case, the intestine does not return to the abdomen when the child stops straining. It is trapped and food that passes through that portion may have a hard time, if it can pass at all.

In children, this could mean excess crying from pain. If the baby is not hungry, wet or sleepy, there could be another cause – the hernia. Your baby may even become sick, vomiting on occasion. When you touch the hernia, it is swollen, warm to the touch or causes the baby to cry.

In this situation and in adults, surgical intervention is really the only treatment. It repairs the defect so that the bowel is safe. Also, if the defect widens, more of the bowel can become strangulated, causing more serious problems. After the surgery, the belly button will be an “innie” permanently.

Does your baby’s belly button protrude when they cry? Are you an adult with an “outie” that hurts? You more than likely have an umbilical hernia.