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  • Femoral hernia pain

    Posted by mela414 on October 13, 2016 at 1:10 am

    Hi, I am new to this group. I have been having pelvic, abdominal and groin pain for months. I must say I’ve had several surgeries for endometriosis in the past and eventually a total hysterectomy because of unrelenting pain and severe adhesions. I also have IC and IBS but have been pretty ok for the past 14 years with an occasional flare up of pain attributed to PFD or adhesions. I would watch my diet take soma and treat the Pelvic Floor Dysfubction with trigger point injections and PT.
    a few months ago things took a different turn. The pain was awful. Trigger point injections did not help and PT made things worse. In addition the home lunges and stretches that were advised to me only worsened my pain and left me incapacitated.
    I remember that the pain became unbearable after being constipated from taking too much calcium carbonate as advised by my orthopedic. He was treating me for osteoporosis and really put a fear in me. I took stool softeners to ease things but when I finally had a BM the pain and tugging started and would continue for the entire day. There were days I did not eat because I feared pain after a BM. I could barely stand up.
    I know I have chronic pelvic pain but have been functional and doing ok until this episode. I finally started to think outside the box and asked my gym to order an MRI and then when things started to change I even made an appointment with a NY sports hernia specialist because I thought I had a severe strain. He did an exam and said I did not but thought he felt a femoral hernia. He sent me for a more detailed MRI and it showed up. My previous MRI said suspicious for I femoral hernia but this more detailed one actually shows it and refers to it as a small femoral hernia. I don’t know the size.
    I have a deep pain on the right side which gets worse as the day goes on. It is constant. The doctor I consulted with said it won’t go away on its own and that it was a small fatty hernia. He said I would need surgery whenever I was ready. He is a top notch surgeon and does not take insurance so it would cost me out of pocket. He also said that someimes people don’t have pain from them when they are so small but sometimes even the small ones can cause symptoms.
    I really feel comfortable with this doctor a new don’t want to start looking for someone’ else that might not be as good to do my surgery. I am very petite and don’t want to have any injuries. I had a bad laparoscopy 20 years ago when they severed the inferior epi gastric artery so I know things can happen.
    This pain is wearing me down. Can such a small hernia cause so much pain. Does anyone have any experience with this to share. Much appreciated.
    Thanks
    Mel

    mela414 replied 7 years, 12 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • drtowfigh

    Moderator
    October 13, 2016 at 4:03 am

    Femoral hernia pain

    Please keep us posted.

  • mela414

    Member
    October 13, 2016 at 3:44 am

    Femoral hernia pain

    Wow… Thanks so much for the response. I really appreciate your input. I was just so torn on what to do especially with the insurance consideration. I am on Medicare.
    The doctor took his time with my exam, was so thoughtful and listened to what I had to say. He was actually referred to me by Hopsital for Special Surgery.

    I know I have a lot of pelvic stuff going on but this is different. It even hurts when I sneeze. I told him
    I would bring the surgical
    Reports from my endometriosis surgeries and hysterectomy images if he wanted to see what had happened. I am so afraid of having another adhesion mess which was I thought was this was at first but then I felt i this deep pain that started in one specific spot and was always there. The rest I already explained. I wanted to discuss the adhesions with the doctor and possibly having a GYN surgeon there to look for and possible
    Endometriosis and remove it. At 57 there shouldn’t be but then again I had to restart my estrogen patch which i was reassured was a very low dose and i would be ok with it.

    I don’t want to look for more problems. I just want to cover all bases and feel better. I am realizing this hernia needs surgical attention now. There is no way I can wait any longer. I hurt too much and have no quality of life since this happened. It ruined my whole summer. I am
    Usually able to deal with pain and get out but this has really done me in. Even though I have Medicare this is my health and I want the best treatment. I don’t want a repeat of severing an artery.

    I just realized I found an article you wrote on this in Pelvix Rehab. I emailed it to myself and saved it as a PDF to show the hernia surgeon and my GYN.

    I’ve been going to this new pelvic pain GYN for over 6 months…I’ll spare all the details… but he’s helped the IC with instillations. He attempted the pelvic pain i had been describing with trigger point injections. Some made me flare worse and others did nothing. Anyway I called him on a weekend in agony and that s how we got the ball rolling for the MRI I requested. I had him Feel Where it hurt but no one ever mentioned hernia. Pushing on it and massaging made it worse. My orthopedic consult to check if it was a hip flexor problem or labral tear said to get checked for sports hernia and that’s how I wound up in NY.
    Sorry for the typos. …it’s late and I’m on my iPhone but was do excited to respond to you. This has been a nightmare and although no one wants surgery I can’t continue like this. At least you made me feel validated Thank you

  • drtowfigh

    Moderator
    October 13, 2016 at 2:50 am

    Femoral hernia pain

    Yes yes and yes!

    As I’m reading your story I recall how many hundreds of times I’ve heard the same story, and a hernia was the cause of the chronic pelvic pain. In my patients, they never really had the diagnoses they were labeled with, such as IC and IBS. It just led them astray and delayed their diagnosis and therefore treatment. Many of my patients had hysterectomies unnecessarily. I even had a 20-year old female last week who was told she needs a hysterectomy for her chronic pelvic pain and endometriosis. I fixed her hernia. She’s pain free after 8 years.

    Hernias can be painful. Size is not a determinant of the pain. If anything, smaller hernias are more likely to hurt than larger hernias.

    Femoral hernias should be repaired regardless of symptoms. Laparoscopic repair with mesh is the gold standard.

    I know your NY hernia and sports hernia specialists. They are excellent. Stick with them. Your investment will be well worth it.

    And please tell them about our forum.

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