Dr. Anthony Gonzalez, Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery at South Miami Hospital, explains incarcerated hernia is when the lump does not go away. "You lay down and wake up in the morning and the lump is still there. Whatever is protruding out is stuck in the hole."
He also says it is dangerous, because what is cut off from the rest of the abdomen is losing its blood supply, and that can progress to strangulation.