Know Your Hernias: Ventral vs. Groin vs. Flank
Abdominal, ventral, and flank, oh my! Doctors use a lot of different words to talk about hernias. Some of them overlap or have similar meanings. Don’t let the jargon confuse you or keep you from seeking care. Learn what different terms mean and how to talk to your doctor about hernias.
Ventral Hernias: On the Front of Your Body
“Ventral” means “on the front of the body.” For hernias, ventral describes a painful bulge or mass on the front of your abdominal wall.
“When I use the word ventral, it just means that a hernia is on a patient’s front side,” says Cullen Carter, MD, a surgeon at UVA Health. "Ventral encompasses some of the primary, very common hernias, like incisional, umbilical, or epigastric.”
Carter says providers often use “ventral” with a more specific word. For example, if you have a hernia near your stomach, your doctor might call it a “ventral abdominal hernia.”
You can recognize a ventral abdominal hernia by its symptoms: a painful bulge or lump near your stomach that gets bigger or more painful when you cough, sneeze, or strain.
The shorthand to remember? Any hernia on the front-middle of your body is a ventral hernia.
Groin Hernias: On the Front of Your Body, But Lower Down
There are two common types of groin hernias: femoral and inguinal. They happen on the front of the body, but doctors don’t use the word “ventral” to describe them. Why? Because even though they’re on the front of your body, they’re not near your stomach.
“When people use the word ‘ventral’ with hernias, it usually means it’s on the front of your belly wall, not the groin, and typically at the midline,” Carter says. “People use the term ‘groin hernia’ to describe femoral and inguinal hernias instead.”
A painful bulge near your groin that gets bigger when you cough, strain, or lift things could be an inguinal or femoral hernia.
A sports hernia is also near the groin, but it’s not a traditional hernia. When you have a sports hernia, you have strained groin muscles, but there’s no actual hole in your intestines or bulge of tissue poking through.
If you have groin pain, but there’s no bulge, you might have a sports hernia.
Flank Hernias: On the Side of Your Body
If your hernia isn’t on the upper front of your body (ventral) or the lower front of your body (groin), it might be a flank hernia. “Flank” simply means on the side of the body. A painful bulge on the side of your body could be a flank hernia.
Flank hernias, also called lumbar hernias, are rare, but if you have one, you should see your doctor right away. They are most common in people recovering from kidney or spine surgery, or an injury after an accident or fall.
Still Not Sure What Kind of Hernia You Have? Seek Care Anyway.
A new or unknown medical problem can be scary. When you have a hernia, you want to know exactly what kind you have and how to treat it.
If you’re not sure what type of hernia you have — or even if you have one at all — you should still seek care.
Our providers can help you figure out what’s going on and answer your questions along the way.
“If you’re having severe pain, or there’s a mass sticking out of your groin or stomach that you can’t push back in, schedule an appointment,” says Aaron Sachs, MD, a surgeon at UVA Health. “It’s important to talk to someone and find out what’s happening.”
Learn more about the hernia care we offer in Charlottesville, Culpeper, and Northern Virginia.
