Right groin pain, or Left groin pain or both - yes Femoral Hernia - NO OBVIOUS LUMP

This is a very misleading thread. The OP (wacky) is discussing femoral hernias when in fact she has been

told and it seems by several consultants that she does not actually have a femoral hernia.

I also feel that advising others to perhaps pay for tests and treatments is also inappropriate.

Hi Kadhu, its up to you if you pay, but I thought I would give the prices so people are aware of the costs. I had no idea how much these tests cost.

I agree that I was told by three consultants that I didnt have a femoral hernia, or hernia but my GP had diagnosed me with one and something had been found on my first ultrasound so it was extremely confusing. You will see by the comments that people are told they have a hernia then they dont etc.

Its a learning curve.

I have read this topic with great interest. I am a consultant radiologist who works closely with a surgeon . We have a special interest in unexplained groin pain. A detailed ultrasound is the key to the diagnosis but as many of you have found out unless the surgeon believes the radiologist you are not going to get treated. Most Surgeons still believe wrongly in my opinion that if the examination is normal you can't have a hernia. I am not sure how much more information I can post on this site. I will discuss this with my colleague and if he is ok with it I will post our website for anyone wishing to contact us

Well, well, someone who might know about hernias! I dont think you can post a link as it maybe deemed as advertising. Any solid information you can post would be very helpful to the women who have been diagnosed or who may believe they have a hernia but have been told they havent. Difficult as you cant see us. Even though I now believe all my pain in my right groin must have been caused by nerves from a prolapsed disc I would still be worthwhile posting anything that can help give a better diagnosis of hernias without an obvious lump.

There are other links on this site regarding femoral hernias and Anne who is 72 has just posted a message saying she has two and she believes it was caused from horse riding in her early days. From what I remember of her posting it was a suprise to the surgeon. Please post anything on this link though.

Thank you in anticipation.

Hello Everyone Thanks for posting all the helpful information.

I would like to share my story with you as it may help somebody who is experiencing groin pain.

I started suffering from groin pain on my left side and was initially diagnosed with Hip Bursitis and given anti-inflammatorys. These did not help and a month later the pain was increasingly worse and I was struggling to sit down for prolonged periods which was affecting my predominately desk job. 1 month later I returned to my GP and was again told it was bursitis and to take a week off work and just rest and ice pack the area which I did.

The pain kept getting worse and my mobility started to become affected. It felt like a sharp pain every time I moved in my groin area and a constant dull ache in the crease of my groin, this was accompanied by abdominal bloating and pains on both sides. My bowel movements were very regular and for years I have only had 3-4 periods a year which have always been lumpy and heavy. (An internal Ultra sound a few years ago revealed an “insignificant cyst” so I always put the period problems down to the cyst).

I found that I could no longer work a full week due to the pain when sitting/walking etc. and was taking lots of holiday to try and cope. After work and every weekend all I could do was lie down with an ice pack on both sides of my groin. This was increasingly frustrating as I am early 30’s and was previously very active it also was quite depressing battling with the pain and worrying about my job.

After 2 more months I could no longer walk properly as my groin felt like it was “stuck” when I tried to walk the movement just wasn’t there and the pain was getting worse. I saw a different GP who signed me off work for and gave me painkillers which I took but they did not have a diagnosis for the pains as yet. My day to day existence was lying on the sofa and waiting for my partner to finish work so that he could take me to the toilet etc.

After much haggling with GPS’s I was referred for and Ultrasound and an MRI both of which showed nothing .The Ultrasound man was fantastic he could feel lumps in my groin but they didn’t show on the screen. He thought they were adipose tissue. I was also referred to an Orthopaedic Consultant who had no idea what was wrong (due to normal MRI/Ultrasound) but decided send me for scan guided cortisone shot at the hospital.

In the meantime I had decided to take some control of the situation and do some independent research, I found a groin/hernia specialist (who has pioneered a treatment for sports injuries/ligaments/hernias and treats a host of top athletes- I found some of his videos on you tube which were really informative) at a private hospital and asked my GP for a referral which luckily they agreed to. I received my referral letter from my GP and called the private clinic who booked me in the following week. I saw the Consultant who was excellent and thought it was a swollen ligament and advised surgery the following week. I decided that if I was to keep my job, get my mobility back and put an end to the current feeling of powerlessness it was worth it. I booked the surgery which went well and was told that the Surgeon found problems with my left ligament and also an iguana hernia!. The Surgeon repaired both and placed a large mesh over the area. Recovery was rapid and within 1 hour of coming round from the anaesthetic the pain had eased and miraculously for me the movement/mobility was much better. Things continued to improve I returned to work, my mobility was back and I got my life back really. My periods were still a problem but the abdominal bloating had gone.

There were some painful days still as the ligament/hernia healed but things had improved drastically but if I hadn’t been to see the private Dr I would still be lying on the sofa being helped to the toilet and unable to do more than limp on a good day. I think it’s increasingly difficult to get a Hernia diagnosed if your female and MRI and Ultrasounds don’t always show the hernias which compounds the problem. I would always advise if you can afford it to get a private diagnosis and then return to the NHS. I was very lucky that the GP's I saw referred me for scans etc.

For me the potential cost of losing my job was worth paying to get “fixed” in order to keep my job and an income. Groin pain could also be a problem with your ligaments – the hernia for me was incidental as I didn’t even know it was there until I was operated on and I believe it would never have been found if I hadn’t had surgery with Dr Lloyd.

I hope that this helps someone who is suffering with groin pain if only to give some hope that it can be resolved if you take matters into your own hands.

Having just re-read my post, I hope it doesn't fall into the "Advertising" category. If so, please could someonelet me know how to delete the post and I will re-write omitting the Surgeons name. Thank you

Hi Louise,

At the moment you cannot edit or delete your own posts. This has been forwarded as a development idea. In the meantime I have edited your post to remove his name. If any user does want specific details or links to the videos they can use the Private Messaging service to contact you.

Regards,

Alan

Emis Moderator

I'd like to add my story if I may, not sure if it's going to be hernia related as I'm in the initial stages of what appears to be a long road to being diagnosed/repaired or maybe not.

Like Louise32, I woke up one day and had problems in my left groin which has developed into feeling like there is something strangulating.  I've got a similar issue in the right but nothing like the left. I was and still find it very difficult to sit through a full day at work, the pain is chronic and immensely distracting. I sit on a donut cushion which has quietened the pain  I find it painful to lift my right leg as I get a stabbing pain in the groin but strangely in the left where I have problems which affect my sitting, I'm able to lift that leg without pain.

I've had three births, all 8lbs and above, I used to be emensley strong, sort of like a she-man, never waited around for a man to lift heavy things.  My last pregnancy was difficult in that the pregnancy hormones loosened my tendons and ligaments too much, I had a fairly physical job as a rep which involved lots of driving. I ended up having a hysterectomy when I was 33 (3 years post last birth) due to anemia and my gynae at the time saying further pregnancies may not hold so I may as well get in with it.  Fast forward many years and as a side effect of the hysterectomy I now have a prolapse bowel and bladder which are waiting after 5 years of various investigative tests (most of them very humiliating) and the NHS not funding these repairs, we've got over the last hurdle by getting special dispensation and I'm now on the waiting list!  

My left thigh goes numb if I sit for long periods, lay on my left side or flat on my back and I'm hoping and praying that it is the bowel laying on nerves that are causing these symotoms but the sudden onset (incidentally without excercise of any kind) I am a little concerned that it could be a  or bi-lateral hernias in the groin.

Having said that, the issue I had on my right side that has all the symptoms of a hernia too improved a huge amount after a had a course of magnesium and laying off all roughage, spices and caffeine as my Kinesiologist said that I've got issues with the illeocecal valve, where the small intestine meets the large.  I'd never heard about it before but I experience all the intestinal symotoms constantly that you all refer to. I'm back on all the normal foods but tend to avoid too much roughage even though I also suffer from constipation which I find Lactulose helps like a charm!

What doctors, specialist etc fail to understand is that we are not crazy women, these symptoms are real and debilitating and as a result affect our lives, lifestyles, families, incomes and futures, I would have been able to hold down a much higher poistion in my job had it not been for these problems. In the long run the country will suffer from the appalling slow diagnosis process and the lack of doctors who are hands on and humble enough to listen to what their patients have to say. 

I will report back after my operations and let you all know if my symptoms have abated, once the bowel and bladder repairs have been done. I hope I've added food for thought.

 be emensley nskey  

 

Cant believe what you guys have been through. I have had two hospital stays with Kidney stones so when I had low right groin pain in November last year with D&V I went straight to my GP. She told me she thought it was a Femoral Hernia, She rang the local A&E handed me a note and told me to go to A&E where a Dr would be waiting. I got there20 mins later and sure enough a Dr took me straight through.A venflon was put in my arm and I was taken to ultra sound. She had just started doing it when she stopped andtold me to get myself back on the chair, while I was doing this I heard her on the phone to CT, next thing I know Im having a CT, I felt so tired I kept nodding of. After the CT I was taken to a ward, From what I have been told I slept for 48 hours when I woke a Dr was waiting to talk to me. He said Yes I had a hernia but they had also found a tumor on my kidney (how did they see a left kidney cancer from a right groin ultra sound.) Doesnt matter, Im so glad they found it. In January Mr Karim at Wexham Park hospital carried out a robotic partial nefrectomy (not sure about the spelling)on me I was back at work as a ward health care assistent two months later (end of Feb) I still have right groin pain and have been told I need to have the hernia fixed as soon as pos, if its left any longer it might strangle my bowel. Ok today I recieved a letter telling me to ring and make a date to have the surgery on the hernia. I had to work so put letter aside to sort out on Monday. Was moving a patient up the bed and felt what I think was a tear just above my pubic hair line, can still only feel the right side lump so hope everything ok and the bowel is not caught up and strangulated.

 

Hi there

I have severe right groin pain and just been in hospital twice over 2 weeks. 5 days first visit and 8 days second visit. I have been sent home with this severe pain because MRI ,CT and ultra sound come back all clear except a small kidney stone( something Iget regularly) . The registrar doc said he felt a femia hernia and would need a operation but because everything was clear no more was said about the hernia . The next step is the surgeon wants a bowel investigation as an outpatient. I am so ill and the pain is unbearable. I sleep a lot but that's probably all the pain killers I have been given. I cannot live like this. Can anyone help me on what I should do next

I finally saw a surgeon about the pain in my right groin.  Ironically, I have felt much better in the last two months, although I will occasionally feel a sharp pain near the top of my thigh. To my surprise, the surgeon diagnosed me with a femoral hernia and scheduled surgery for September 25. It will not be open,as he says the laparoscopic will be able to pin point the hole. He will use mesh in front and back. He wanted to do the surgery earlier, but later is better for me now. I am sure if I was in the same pain as I was earlier, I would be begging him to operate today. 

I am relieved to have a diagnosis. I will keep you posted. My thoughts are with all of you with similar symptoms. I will keep you all in my thoughts.

Christmas Eve I found a strange lump near my hip. The lump could get painful or uncomfortable at times especially when I went to the toilet. It was only there when I was vertical, when I was lieing down it was difficult to feel. I went to the doctors a couple of days later and was told it was a hernia and was refered to a surgeon. The waiting list at my hospital was too long so I was refered to another city's hospital.

A month later I saw a surgeon who told me it was small... because I didnt know that already. He didnt believe it was a hernia (despite 3 gps telling me it was) so he refered me back to my hospital for an ultrasound.

The guy who did the ultrasound said he could feel a lump but nothing showed up on the ultrasound so I was refered for a MRI.

I am convinced that my results will come back saying they couldnt find anything. The lump is still there and still painfull sometimes, like when I go to the toilet.

What would my next move be do you suggest.

Dear Wacky,

I'm in horrific pain!! I can't feel my right thigh and have pain in my groin area.. In the groin area it feels as if it's popping and pain in the bottom of my vagina. I've had 3 MRI'S in the last 2 months.. They can't seem to find anything to be causing this horrific pain!! I'm also having a ton of comstipation and I don't go the bathroom either. So upon reading this info from Wacky it seems I might have a femoral hernia. Wouldn't the MRI'S show this.

Thank you,

Please help me get out of osin