Hiatal Hernia (Hiatushernie)

Your diaphragm is the large muscle plate separating your chest from your abdominal cavity. It is a boundary — the most important horizontal boundary in your body. It separates what happens above (heart, lungs, breath) from what happens below (digestion, abdominal organs, the earthly). In a hiatal hernia, part of the stomach shifts through a gap in the diaphragm upward into the chest cavity. The boundary that was meant to hold no longer holds.

Medically speaking, a Hiatushernie is common — many people live with it for years without noticing. Others feel heartburn, a sensation of pressure behind the sternum, difficulty swallowing, or a tightness that sometimes resembles heart trouble. Medicine treats the symptoms — acid blockers, dietary adjustments, surgery in severe cases.