Hernia?

Okay, so I wake up this morning and I'm a little tender on the inside of my groin. I've got about 1500 miles in for the year and have done three centuries in the last three weeks so it's not "that" kind of pain. I've got plenty of saddle time in.

Poking around down there, I noticed that the right side of my groin is puffy and swollen. Dragged out the good old A&P book and started rooting around. Then I started looking up hernia's online. I'm about 60% sure it's a hernia but don't want to go to the doctor just yet, in case it is really riding related and will clear up on its own.

How many days do you think I should give it to go away before seeing my Dr? Anyone else have/had one? What did you do for treatment? And most importantly, how long were you off the bike if you had surgery? It's the middle of race season! Perfect timing NOT!!!!!!!!

Jeni

It could also be an infected hair follicle or other type of abcess (these can occur at any time - no matter how much saddle time you have in). Sometimes they can be just hard little (or big!) lumps for a time until they finally come to a head to drain. Sometimes they are painful/warm to the touch - sometimes not. Not a nice option - but you can usually treat them at home and unless they are really nasty they don't require surgery.

I had a groin hernia. When I coughed, the guts pushed out thru the hernia and made a mushy swelling. I could push them back in so the groin was flat, cough, and they'd swell out again. Pretty gross.

Hernias should be checked immediately, due to the possibility of strangulating your intestines.

Nowadays hernia repair is outpatient surgery. When I had it (and I had a bad one) it was inpatient, and I was on limited activities for about 2 weeks, then gentle activities after that.

Call the doc TODAY and describe your situation. Strangulated intestines or enlarging the hernia if you have one is really not a cool thing. (I waited too long and ended up with a monster-sized hernia)

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

...Nowadays hernia repair is outpatient surgery. When I had it (and I had a bad one) it was inpatient, and I was on limited activities for about 2 weeks, then gentle activities after that.

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Good to hear! I have an abdominal one that is close to popping but hasn't yet (they found it on an internal pic when they were yanking my gallbladder). My dad had one repaired ten years ago and it took weeks for him to recover...I'm tickled to hear they've improved the surgery.

I always wonder how bike tourers (say, cross-country, etc) manage if they get one of those (The infected follicles... not hernias). I'm no sissy and I think they're debilitating...

If you think at all that it may be a hernia, have it checked IMMEDIATELY!! They are definitely not something to let go. I'd rather end up being embarassed and being told that it was just an infected hair follicle (fill in the blank) than to have let it go, be a hernia and have it strangulate, painful AND dangerous! Keep us up to date Jeni please

Doctor's appointment is 10:15 tomorrow morning. I'm now almost postive it's a hernia. It's much too deep to be a hair follicle. I'm hoping my doctor takes pity on me and we take a "wait and see" approach (after confirming that it's not going to kill me! :D ) as I'm smack dab in the middle of race season and it looks like surgery would have me off the bike for up to SIX weeks! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Jeni
with a bump down "there"

Alright Jeni I've waited patiently - what did the doctor say?????

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Originally Posted by mtbdarby

Alright Jeni I've waited patiently - what did the doctor say?????

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General Practictioner had no idea what it was but did rule out of hernia. Her first thought was prolapsed cervix due to its location. After palpating the area she "thinks" it's a cyst on one of my glands down there. I have an appointment with a gyno next week. Saga continues but she did say that since it doesn't affect my riding, to keep riding!

Jeni

Thanks for thinking about me.

Aha! After dragging out the A&P book again, I have no figured out what I have. My doctor mentioned it and I told her to write it down but then she didn't so I forgot what she had said until I was staring at my Anatomy book turned to the section on Women's Reproductive System. It's the Bartholin Gland. Says they ususally grow slowly, usually are painless, can get as big as an orange! :eek:

Let's hope it doesn't grow to the size of an orange before next week when I see the gyno! I'd have a hell of a time riding my bike this weekend, if so!

Trek,
I had a Bartholin's cyst for years...really. My Gyno took the stance that as long as it did not bother me, to just leave it alone. Sometimes, they will abcess and become EXTREMELY painful. Fortunately, mine never did. Last fall, just because I was tired of it always being there...I had it drained. It was no big deal. I did not require any anesthesia, or numbing agent and it was all done in-office. So far, it has not returned.

Hope you find this encouraging, if it comes to it...don't fear the draining, it was totally manageable.

Not trying to be too intimate and nosey here, but you mentioned the Bartholin's Cyst. I'm familiar with that as they thought at one point I had it, I ended up having something much different and fairly rare but it appears in the same general area and description. Here's the question, is the bulging in the space of the groin between your labia and thigh or is the actual labia involved making you feel/appear to have suddenly "grown" a testicle? Sometimes bartholin's when they become inflamed are quite painful and appear/feel like you've suddenly gained a new piece of anatomy you were never born with. I know when my angiomyfibroblastoma appeared, gyn's originally thought bartholin's due to the location appearance and pain. Mine ended up being a rare tumor that mimicked the bartholin's. They couldn't understand when they tried to lance what they thought to be the cyst, that they never got anything but blood from it, it was because there was no cyst but the thankfully benign (was a type of tumor I found out could have been malignant). Good luck

Mary,
You're not being too nosey. That's what this list is for. It's between the labia and the thigh. I have not grown a testicle but thanks for the smile. :p
Jeni

Oh and I'll make sure to talk to my new doctor about the possibility of it NOT being a bartholin's cyst if anything funny should arise.