Northern Light EMMC hosting virtual hernia information session

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – If a new bulge or lump around your belly button or groin area is causing you pain or discomfort, there’s a chance it might be a hernia.

For anyone with questions about hernia, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center is offering to help.

Thursday at 6 p.m. they’re hosting a virtual hernia information session featuring a local hernia surgeon.

Northern Light says about 10% of people develop a hernia during their lifetime, and about a million hernias are repaired each year.

At EMMC, the majority of those repairs are done via robotic surgery which comes with a shorter recovery time than traditional methods.

“When we do that sort of repair, we make three or four small incisions that are about the size of your tiny fingernail. We put a camera on the inside and we pull everything back to where it belongs and then we typically will cover the hole with a mesh. And that’s different than the traditional methods which are open surgery, which usually has a much longer incision, probably about six to eight inches on the outside of the groin,” said Dr. Matthew Sharbaugh, EMMC surgeon.

If you’re interested in attending the virtual info session, you do have to register.

You can do that online at northernlight.org/emmchernia.

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