[NickMaybeHasAHernia]

@newagehernia thanks for the follow up. I’m going to go get an MRI privately done and then go from there. You’re right in that I will most likely need to be opened up to see what’s really on.

[NickMaybeHasAHernia]

@pinto @good-intentions

Thank you both for your kind responses and follow up. I’m sorry I didn’t respond to either of you sooner. I’d just like to summarise what you’ve said, based on your replies:

1. While (possibly) an extreme measure, going to a surgeon who does pure tissue repairs (such as Dr. Kang/Brown/colleagues) is a good step to take, since many surgeons who do hernia repair using mesh are not hernia experts, but mesh experts and won’t have the expertise to fully understand issues surrounding occult hernias.

2. Imaging studies can often be inconclusive with occult hernias, and follow up needs to be done if there is a clinical suspicion of a hernia.

I have a follow up question – is there any particular next steps I should be doing, in terms of whether or not my symptoms are related to a hernia? I ask only because I don’t know how exactly I’d go about getting an appointment with a surgeon to talk about what’s going on.

On my end, a slight update: after meeting with this new neurologist I will be having a physical examination and spinal fluid taken out for testing this summer, as the neurologist feels that a lot of my symptoms are related to a syrinx. I guess once this particular round of testing is done and if any neurological issues are ruled out then my thoughts about my symptoms being the signs of something physical going on have a little more weight.