D ear Anne,After helping my friend move into her apartment, I noticed this weird bulge around my groin.I heard you can get a hernia from heavy lifting, could that be what's going on?What can I do about it? --"Adam"
"Hernia" is a broad term referring to the protrusion of any structure through its normal anatomical boundaries. One particular type of hernia, known as an "indirect inguinal hernia," is very common among young men. It happens when an organ from the abdomen--usually small bowel or, in women, ovary--ends up poking through a specific defect in the abdominal wall. Don't feel bad if you've been slacking off at the gym, though, because this defect isn't something crunches can fix