What is up with hernia's?

I have been wondering about this for awhile and now that kristen was tormented with them yesterday i am trying to understand why so many of us get hernia's. ive never had one (knock on wood) and don't understand how we get them or how to prevent getting them. any insight would be helpful

Hey there!  Sorry I am only just seeing your question today.  I too had a hernia, but all is better now.  It isn't particularly that WLS patients have more of them than the rest of the world.  In most cases, our hernias are incisional.  This is the same as with women who have incisional hernias after giving birth by C-Section.  Muscle takes far longer to heal than skin tissue or the tissues of the stomach and bowel.  Often times, incisions will start to reopen during that first year after a surgery (because we get so excited by our improved health that we may not take as much care as we should) but progress so slowly they aren't noticed for quite some time.  Another common type among us are hernias occurring in the lower abdomen or around the navel.  For most of us we do (or did) carry the majority of our weight in our midsection.  This puts a great deal of strain on our abdominal muscles and can cause them to seperate from one another allowing bits of bowel to push through.  Essentially that is all a hernia is... a seperation of muscle tissue which allows things underneath to poke through instead of being held firmly in place by the muscle.  I hope this helps.  Sometimes I go on, and on, and on.... *grin*