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Small Inguinal Hernia
Hello,
Good to be here. To start off I am a 35 year old male. About a decade ago I suffered an injury near my groin while doing some pretty intense labor that I now realize was a mistake. Ever since then I have experienced pretty substantial symptoms. Specifically, constipation, intense tightness in my right leg, (same side as the injury), urine dribbling and even numbness around the area. I have had many opinions but definitely need to find relief. Some of my doctors still suspect the hernia/ fatty tissue is the cause of my problems while others believe it is a sensitized nervous system. I do have some nerve related issues that I have suffered from since birth as the result of being a breach birth. However, I did not have any of the symptoms listed above until after the injury. Also I have some pretty nice pain emanating right from the location of the injury.
Over the years I have had multiple scans done such as cat scans, MRI’s, cat scan with intravenous dye. I was also told that the cat scan with contrast was not done correctly and the technician did not capture the photos at the correct time. That is when the doctor scheduled an MRI. I was told by another doctor that the scans were fine.
Moving onto the present, several months ago a doctor finally scheduled an ultra sound and the technicians impression was that I had a small inguinal hernia based on a “heterogeneous isoechoic area” measuring 0.8cm in thickness and 2.9cm in length that “moved with Valsalva technique”. So I have seen three different surgeons that do hernia repair and one scheduled another cat scan as a follow up to the ultra sound which went against the findings of the ultra sound. One of my issues is that the three doctors I visited all knew one another so I am a little skeptical that the second one just agreed with the first one and the third one just agreed with the second. They did make good points though, as in if they decide to move forward with surgery and it finds nothing or the injury is insignificant it could cause me more problems. The doctors basically told me that the kind of symptoms I am experiencing are not generally associated with a hernia and if they were they would expect it the by very large. All three doctors did do a brief examination of the area including the cough test while applying pressure. They all said that they could feel “something” but they could not really feel anything “protruding” like you would want to feel.
Sorry for having so much text but I am trying to get right to the point while being thorough. I would love to hear some opinions and possibly any recommendations including where I could go to get some answers. I am in so much pain when trying to just sleep I grind my teeth at night. I really need to find out what is going on and how I can manage this pain. I have been prescribed muscle relaxers and NSAIDS to help with the pain. However, I just take Advil which I know is also an NSAID but I don’t like the idea of taking them long term.
For reference, I am very close to Northern Virginia and live on the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in case anyone has any recommendations.
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5 Replies
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You need to see a true hernia specialist. Your symptoms can absolutely be related to inguinal hernia or a sports tear. Also a specialist should know that a dynamic ultrasound is significantly more accurate than any CT scan also it’s incorrect to claim you will have more pain if intervention is considered
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This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by drtowfigh.
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Hello Dr. Towfigh,
Thank you very much for taking the time to stop by. I was wondering if you could possibly recommend someone in my area that I may be able to go to. My zip code is 25414 if that helps. Also so you are saying that if I press my doctors for something it should be a dynamic ultra sound? I looked that up and it looks like I would have been asked to move during the ultrasound. I did not do anything like this during my ultrasound test that showed evidence of a hernia.
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This reply was modified 1 month, 3 weeks ago by
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I wonder if during your heavy labor incident, you may have damaged your spine at L1/L2? That is where the genitofemoral nerve is derived from. There is a peripheral nerve surgeon in Baltimore that is supposed to be excellent, Dr. Eric Williams. I wonder if you could consult with his office to see if you may have a peripheral nerve entrapment. Do you ever have any back pain? You could also consult with a neurosurgeon to see if it is from the spine.
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Hello Katherine,
Thanks for the response. At this point I am not really sure. I have seen many doctors and they are divided. Some of them think that I have an overly sensitized nervous system and that is the path to go down and others believe that I should pursue the hernia route.
I will do some research on this doctor and maybe even give his office a call. As I mentioned my lower spine was damaged as a result of me being a breech birth. I have had pain as well as numbness in my lower back region since I can remember. However, none of the other symptoms were present until I experienced my injury. It is possible that I injured myself, sensitized the nerves in that area and that have never became unsensitized. That is what at least one doctor hypothesized so far.
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Hi Jordan, I’ve learned substantial info and knowledge from your thread. I have had a lot want to talk about with you with my experience. Due to my English ability, I could not express myself full in English, I leave the message to support you. I am sure people in the Forum will provide you with lot of help to you. Thank you for your story.
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