Hernias can easily disrupt your daily life, especially if you’re used to keeping a strict daily schedule and diet. However, if you want to live comfortably with a hernia, and speed up your recovery in an attractive manner, there are some essential diet and health changes you’ll need to make. With this knowledge, you’ll be well on your way to getting back to normal. To get you started on the right path, here are some key diet and health changes every hernia sufferer should make:
Understanding The Dos and Don’ts of Dieting with a Hernia
Dieting is the most important lifestyle change you need to make when learning to live with, and treat, a hernia. How frequently, when, and what you eat all become essential to a winning, hernia-friendly dieting equation. Additionally, cutting down on your caffeine intake as much as possible will speed up the healing process. Otherwise, there are two key steps you must consider:
Firstly, and most importantly, changing up the types of food you eat is a must. Extremely high-fat foods, super spicy meals, and incredibly large portions all need to go (or at least be enjoyed at a reasonable, moderated rate). Changing to high-fiber foods for protein is crucial, and nuts and berries are your best friend when constructing a hernia-friendly diet. Leafy greens, tomatoes, and other high-nutrient, diverse foods will get you into a healthy, relatively pain-free state while you’re treating your hernia.
Secondly, it’s time to change up your meal times, your meal frequency, and portion sizes. Eating smaller portions, spread out throughout the day, instead of eating three large meals will significantly benefit your hernia treatment. Switching to a grazing diet style can be awkward at first, so be sure to ease into the habit to successfully make the transition. Remember, this will keep the healing process effective, and help you lose weight that will relieve the strain on your hernia as well.
Exercise Adjustments and Useful New Routines
Hernias can be painful and irritating, but they do not have to stop your daily life from happening at a mostly normal, pre-hernia rate. However, making the proper changes to your routines so that you avoid irritating and inflaming your hernia is crucial. All major changes to your lifestyle should be approached at a reasonable pace so that you do not burn out midway through the transition and relapse back into bad, hernia-irritating habits. Exercise, in any form, becomes particularly crucial to consider and reflect on.
All high-impact, extra-strenuous exercises should be cut or kept rare while you’re allowing your hernia to heal. In other words, you’ll need to chill out on any marathons for a while until your body is in better shape. However, low-impact cardio, free weights, yoga, swimming, and many other exercises are still accessible and highly recommended. Not only will they keep you in shape and allow your day-to-day life to stay on track, but the health benefits they provide will speed up the healing process.
What Other Lifestyle Changes Should I Expect?
Exercise and dieting are the most crucial areas of your lifestyle that must change while you allow your hernia to heal, but other key lifestyle changes are recommended as well. Both smoking and alcohol are incredibly irritating for your hernia, so cutting out these bad habits, or reducing them as much as possible, becomes critical to how quickly your hernia can heal. Excessive drinking or smoking will stop your healing in its tracks, and can even make the problem worse. If you need help cutting these habits, reaching out to a support group for help can make the transition easier, and introduce you to a valuable new source of support on your healing journey.
Other lifestyle changes you should consider revolve around sleeping habits, additional eating habits, and your environment. Try sleeping on as consistent a schedule as possible, and avoid eating anything at all (especially inflammatory foods) three hours before bedtime (or any impromptu naps). Doing so will help your body digest properly, and will avoid acid reflux issues that will worsen the state of your hernia.
Lastly, make sure you avoid environments that are extra smokey, where pollen is heavy, or where other allergens that bother your immune system are present. If you can handle these lifestyle changes, your healing process will be not only faster but much more comfortable. Some hernia sufferers will need to have medical adjustments made to their daily routines as well, such as hernia meshes. However, being careful to avoid any legally-troubled devices is key to recovery.
You’ll Be Back to Normal In No Time
While the path to recovery can be challenging, the lifestyle changes you’ll make while healing your hernia will benefit your future in many amazing ways. From kicking bad habits, to exercising more healthily, your new daily activities will get rid of your hernia and keep you on the right track that will help you avoid developing another one down the line.
