Umbilical hernia or outie?

[Berryyoghurt]

Hi, my 7 year old DC has always had an outie belly button, and recently someone mentioned to me it could actually be an umbilical hernia. I’m a little worried about this now as apparently it can be dangerous, but I don’t remember any health visitors or doctors mentioning it while he was a baby.

Has anyone else experienced this, and if it is an umbilical hernia, is treatment recommended?

It is quite a large bulge, with a crease on the bottom part but not the top. It is soft, and can be completely pushed inwards, but then pops back out again.

I will try and get a GP appointment tomorrow about it, but any knowledge/experience welcome!

thanks in advance

Can't tell without examining, but umbilical hernias (If it is one) are absolutely the best sort of hernia to have. I've never known one get stuck, unlike inguinal hernias which can indeed get stuck, which is an emergency...and are what almost all of the worrying online stories about hernias are about. Lots of babies are born with umbilical hernias, and normally nothing is done about them because they are so non worrying, and the majority heal up by themselves by school age. If it is an umbilical hernia, because of the age, it might be worth a surgical referral, but generally doing something about it would be more for cosmetic reasons than anything else.