A friend of mine (40 year old male)?

a friend of mine (40 year old male) had his apendix removed about 2001 and it was a very large incision..prob 8 inches across.now when he is working and lifting he has bulges on both sides of the incision and sometimes its painfull and always uncomfortable...this never goes completely away but it bulges more some days when he is bending and lifting a lot..it also seems to bulge more on the bottom of the incision...i was told it was a hernia by one person and another said it is just fat deposites around the scar...can you tell me anything about this??