ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- A hernia occurs when part of your insides bulges through an opening or weakness in the muscle or tissue that contains it. There are many risk factors associated with hernias.

"General risk factors would be obesity smoking family history connective tissue disorder men are at much higher risk for inguinal hernias while women are at risk for umbilical hernias." says Dr. Micah Katz

Dr. Katz explains there are different surgeries that are given to treat the condition.

"There are open hernia surgeries and there's minimally invasive including robotic regardless they all involve make incisions pushing things back where they're supposed to be and then typically placing a piece of mesh to prevent recurrence."

Recently Cayuga Health has introduced a new type of treatment called robotic-assisted hernia surgery which reduces patient pain while providing a faster recovery.

"We are very fortunate to have the da Vinci platform at Cayuga medical center it is robotic surgery some people have the conception that the robot is doing the surgery which is not the case With the robotic surgery the surgeon controls all the instruments except for using our hands and long instruments we use a robotic platform where we have a console and each of our movements is reflected by the robot."

If you have any concerns about a hernia it is suggested to contact your provider.

To learn more about this new therapy click here.