Hernia or Torn Muscle - What kinda doc to see?

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So, here is the deal. I went to this deal that is kinda a cross between the boy scouts & military boot camp - and I came back with what I *thought* was a torn muscle in the between the belly button & groin area on the right side. I normally keep a pretty rigorous workout schedule, but I've limited myself to running & pull-ups to try & give it a chance to heal. Unfortunately - it seems to've just gotten worse over the last four weeks.

Symptoms:

When I go out for a run, it is usually a little sore\tight. After the first mile or so, it loosens up & I don't notice it. Sometimes after running, when I do anything that results in tightening my stomach, (bowel movemet, pull-up, coughing, etc) it kinda hurts.

How it happened:

I've wracked my brain trying to figure out what caused it - there are plenty of things that probably could've during those nine weeks. But I started noticing it after a hike where a bunch of guys were hanging on to me. Long story short, a bunch of guys trying to keep together at midnight thru the woods with fully multi-days on, and I had five of them behind me hanging onto my pack, and I wound up people jerking back while I was trying to walk forward at a very rapid pace. After it was injured (if that's when it happened), I still continued all the physical activities...hundreds of push-ups & sit-ups, 24 hour hike, etc. Does that sound like a hernia or a pulled muscle envirnment?

Anyway - I go to show a buddy what an atomic situp is this last week thinking it isn't gonna hurt to do one, (I haven't done ANY core exercises for four weeks) and it HURTS. I probably *could* do one, but it hurts really bad, so I didn't finish. I don't know if this has any bearing on anything - but I had my appendix removed about a year and a half ago. I say this because - the muscle\hernia is about an inch and a half directly below the three inch scar in my stomach AND I was told my appendix had been ruptured over a week before I went to the hospital. I wasn't trying to play tough guy - but I literally did not feel ANY pain in the area at all - just sick as a dog. I think I may be lacking in certain internal nerves.

One last thing, if I lay down & lift my feet off the ground like I'm going to do flutter kicks, there is a slightly larger "bulge" in the side of my stomach where it hurts than the other side. Doesn't really hurt to push on it.

Soooo - if you were a betting person would you guess it was a hernia or a torn muscle? And...I am going to setup an appointment with a doc, but I can't decide if I should go with a muscle doc, family doc, or try to talk to the one who did my appendix surgory into looking at me...is he going to be privy to information from he surgory that anothe doc isn't going to have?

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Start with your GP. He/she should have all your records including surgical reports.

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And - I was planning on doing a 5K this weekend. Any downsides to that?

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Go see a doc. Any doc.

GL,

Jo

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

Remember the policy of these boards about no medical advice...

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Ooops - sorry. Um - well without giving "medical" advice per se, knowing I'm going to run a 5K this weekend - on a scale of 1 - 10, how hard should I push to see a doc prior to the 5K (10 being knocking down the doors...)

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Specializes in Emergency, critical care.

9.5 on a scale of 0-10. Good luck...

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10. If I was you I would'nt do the run until I knew what was wrong. I've worked around injuries before as I'm a weight lifter, but as I get older I'm more cautious than when I was younger as I know the does'nt heal as fast. My rule of thumb is if a certain exercise hurts something, either go really light or give it a rest and work on something else for awhile.

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Specializes in Emergency, critical care.

Usually a pulled muscle would have healed in the 4 weeks you describe; that leaves a possible hernia only time to get worse....the earlier the situation is assessed by a professional hernia man, the more control over the healing process you as a patient would have. In other words, don't wait for an emergency to take action: you will have few options.

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

While we certainly sympathize with your problem, we just cannot possibly answer your questions about a differential nor whether you should partake in physical activity. Only your Primary Care Provider can advise you in the manner you need.

We do hope this resolves without further issues. Good luck.

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