Hard to Detect Femoral Hernia Advice. Please Help!

[ALevitt]

Recently my wife experienced the sudden onset of sharp groin pain consistent with that of a Femoral Hernia. We’ve heard the horror stories of life threatening complications (i.e., incarceration, strangulation) due to misdiagnosis and non-treatment, so we’d like to act fast and either rule it out or find a medical solution.

Thanks to Dr. Towfigh’s advocacy online, we know that this type of hernia can be both dangerous and very difficult to detect, so we understand that our choice of physician is crucial for proper diagnosis. If we were on the West Coast we’d immediately make an appointment with Dr. Towfigh, as her insight online has helped us to understand the potential gravity of this oft misunderstood ailment, but we live in New York City.

Do any of the experienced professionals on this forum have recommendations of trusted New York based colleagues qualified to detect/treat a femoral hernia? Are there are any New York based patients who have recommendations based on positive experiences?

Lastly I have a few questions regarding femoral hernias:

1. Is it dangerous to exercise (e.g., yoga, steady state cardio, weight training) with a femoral hernia? My wife likes to exercise and is worried that if she indeed has a hernia that she may make it worse or more dangerous if she remains active.

2. Are there any signs to look out for that would help us know whether she’s at risk of developing complications associated with a femoral hernia?

3. Anti-inflammatory medications have not eased her pain. Are there any pain management protocols specific to femoral hernias that we should try?

Your answers will help us to choose the right path and ease our minds while we attempt to rule this out.

Many thanks,
Adam

[Chaunce123]

Hard to Detect Femoral Hernia Advice. Please Help!

ALevitt,

I’m just a fellow patient, but I do know that Dr Towfigh has co-authored a book with a Dr Brian Jacob who resides in NYC from Mount Sinai so they may have some other degree of collaboration as well. Their book is the “SAGES Manual of Groin Pain” http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319215860

http://www.nychernia.com/

Additionally, Dr Goldstein regularly answers questions on these very forums and is extremely knowledgable, I think he is located upstate.

http://www.littlescars.com/

Anyway, those may be two early leads to go on, but certainly in a great city like NYC there will be other experts available as well.

Hopefully that is helpful for the interim, best of luck to you and your wife.

[pszotek]

Hard to Detect Femoral Hernia Advice. Please Help!

I would agree. If you are looking for answers in NYC then Dr. Jacob is your man. Also would recommend Dr. Goldstein. Best of luck.
Dr. Szotek

[sngoldstein]

Hard to Detect Femoral Hernia Advice. Please Help!

There are many causes of groin pain; most of which are not life threatening. Unless the patient is fairly obese, a hernia capable of strangulating should cause an obvious bulge. The other sign of a hernia being the cause of the pain is if it is gone in the morning and gets worse during the day. The few strangulated femoral hernias I have seen that were not obvious were in elderly women that were a bit stout.

As far as exercise goes, studies have shown that coughing, sneezing and jumping increase intraabdominal pressure more than lifting and yoga should really not be a problem so, in general, my advice is that if it doesn’t hurt, it’s probably OK.

The signs of a strangulated hernia are severe pain in the groin and abdomen, nausea and vomiting, inability to pass gas and a painful lump. I have, however, seen patients without the severe pain despite having compromised bowel.

There are no special protocols for pain management of a hernia except to get it fixed. Your first step, however, is to get a diagnosis. I would agree that Brian Jacob is a good choice in NYC.

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