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Probable Inquinal Hernia - Weight Loss Question

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tkotitan

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Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Posts: 1
Probable Inquinal Hernia - Weight Loss Question
Posted: 04-10-07 11:51am

I think I have an inguinal hernia. Strangely enough, my dad has the same symptoms as me, and just got back from a specialist who was able to detect it, it as very small and his regular physician wasn't able to find it. Ironically I may be in the same boat.

About 5 weeks ago I was sweeping snow with a push broom and a few hours later out of knowhere my right testicle was in pain. Not excruciating, but I have a high pain tolerance it seems. After 3 days of constant pain, I saw my doctor. I hadn't been for a visit because I am in-between jobs right now and uninsured, the one thing we hadn't done yet was a groin exam as part of a physical. I was worried it might be cancer becasue of the localization of the pain - solely in the testicle. I was examined and no hernia was found, so I guess it could have been a slight tear. We did a uninalysis for infection which came back negative. As prescribed, I took Ibruprofen for a week, and the pain seemed to go away.

But, it've felt the pain recurring in different areas near my lower groin. I've been taking things light physically, but it's been 5 weeks and I still have a pain right near my scrotum on the right-hand side. Some days I feel nothing, other days I feel a pain up higher. Not constant like before, more intermittent. Listening to my dad describe the exact same sympoms and location makes me think I have the same thing.

My dillema is I am unisured for the moment and that may change in a month or two. If the injury is so light that my doctor didn't find it in an exam and I don't even feel pain some days, could I get by for a while taking it easy and avoid complications as it seems to be mild?

A sortof complication/theory is I am a big man, 6'3", I was almost 400 pounds last july, I have been mainly dieting and occasionally exercising (battling one injury after another) and am down to 320 pounds. I am determined to get to 220 pounds and am staying on track. But I've notice while losing weight my (stomach/abdomen - I'll call it "gut") has shrunken and now rests differently than it did when I was heavier. I think I got this injury because my gut is moving differently when I do things like shoveling snow. I wonder what will happen as I continue to lose weight and my gut shrinks. If I am careful, will this minor hernia go away? If I keep exercising on light walks/hikes, will it worsen? I am extremely good at listening to my body and am familiar with good diet and exercise from stretching - I teach martial arts.

I can't find any information relating obesity/weight-loss to hernia. So the question bugs me. I have all this mass, mainly fat, some skin and muscle, that has stretched the tissue of my body. As all of that compacts and shrinks and goes away, how would a minor hernia injury progress?

Also, is there a chance that it is not hernia and just a bad tear that should mend? Like I said, it hasnt gone away in 5 weeks but at times I haven't noticed it and the pain has moved a bit. Sould I take a regimen of iburpofen for another week? My doctor told me not t go more than 8 days straight.

Thanks for any insight.
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Artie

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Joined: 01 Jul 2008
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hernia - weight loss
Posted: 07-02-08 09:34am

I lost around 25 lbs in 2007 due to anorexia...and developed bilateral hernia (both sides). I know of someone else who crash dieted (NOT due to anorexia) and developed a hernia.

I spoke to a doc friend and have seen several websites about this. Yes, extreme, rapid weight loss can indeed cause hernias to appear.

When you diet you are losing muscle bulk as well as fat. The muscle tissue may get weaker, and if a hernia is sitting there quietly, waiting to happen, bingo (you have to be pre-disposed to it, of course).

Also there is a layer of fat (called "omentum") protecting the lower ab muscles. If that cushioning layer diminishes, the muscle probably becomes more vulnerable to tears.

A recent Swedish study showed that obese and heavy men were much LESS likely to develop hernias (!). I know about 20 people (including a couple of women) who've had, or now have, hernias. Almost ALL of them are either thin, or VERY thin. Coincidence?

My hernia symptoms, usually very mild, also "come & go", as they often do in the early stages (apparently sometimes for years). The bulge is not ALWAYS present. One doc says I have it on the left, another doesn't. Get it checked out.

By the way, doc's don't always push immediate surgery anymore. Lately more & more doc's are recommending "watchful waiting" because of the risks of various surgical complications (there was a major study about this released in 2006). However do see a doctor, and all the best of luck.
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