“Can you live with a hernia without surgery?”

Yes. The danger of a hernia, which is an abdominal wall defect, is that bowel may become stuck in the opening and compromised. The symptoms of this event are pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distention, and skin changes or redness over the hernia. In the absence of symptoms (pain, bowel obstruction), the risk of an emergency is fairly low. Once symptoms develop, that risk rises to over 30% and surgery is encouraged. Studies also demonstrate an improvement in quality of life following hernia repair. Please consult with a general surgeon for evaluation. Avoid heavy lifting until then.

If the hernia is not painful or does not become incarcerated or strangulated.

That's a loaded question. Some people, for whatever reason (including not being aware that they have a hernia), go their whole lives without repair. However, there are some that have serious, and sometimes life threatening, complications from an unfixed hernia.

Yes you can. But the bulge involved with a hernia contains a portion of the small intestine. This intestine can become trapped which is termed “incarcerated”. The blood flow to the bowel can then become compromised. This is called a strangulated hernia which is a surgical emergency.

Hernias rarely turn into emergencies but it is possible. Repair is usually recommended when it grows larger in size or become symptomatic or bothersome.