Lower abdomen mystery injury

[skywalkrNCSU]

Hoping someone here can give me any idea of the type of injury I have as I've been to a few doctors, had an MRI done, and so far they are all stumped.

I have had this pain for a while but it hasn't been that bad until the past month or so. The pain is in my lower abdomen and especially hurts when I pick up anything heavy or sit down or stand up from a sitting position. Basically anything where I brace my abdomen.

Like I said it was hurting for a long time but more just an annoyance than anything and I continued to lift throughout. Recently I did some squats for the first time in a long time (recovering from a quad injury, yeah I'm falling apart) and the next day was when the pain really hit and has been pretty rough since. I obviously have stopped lifting and it's gotten somewhat better but anything I do that is semi athletic just gets me right back to where I was before.

I don't know exactly what they can/can't see in the MRI but that was clear. I am pretty tight all over so I have been doing some light leg and back stretches but not sure if that will help this issue at all.

Any ideas?

[WillBrink]

Hoping someone here can give me any idea of the type of injury I have as I've been to a few doctors, had an MRI done, and so far they are all stumped.

I have had this pain for a while but it hasn't been that bad until the past month or so. The pain is in my lower abdomen and especially hurts when I pick up anything heavy or sit down or stand up from a sitting position. Basically anything where I brace my abdomen.

Like I said it was hurting for a long time but more just an annoyance than anything and I continued to lift throughout. Recently I did some squats for the first time in a long time (recovering from a quad injury, yeah I'm falling apart) and the next day was when the pain really hit and has been pretty rough since. I obviously have stopped lifting and it's gotten somewhat better but anything I do that is semi athletic just gets me right back to where I was before.

I don't know exactly what they can/can't see in the MRI but that was clear. I am pretty tight all over so I have been doing some light leg and back stretches but not sure if that will help this issue at all.

Any ideas?

So hernia was ruled out?

[skywalkrNCSU]

So hernia was ruled out?

Yeah should have mentioned, totally ruled out. Did an ultrasound on that too and nothing.

[Hmac]

I saw that happen once. Hard to diagnose - that patient got shuttled from doctor to doctor to the point where they started talking about seeing a psychologist. Ultimately turned out to be a sacral stress fracture. Those are generally best diagnosed with CT scanning, but in my patient that wasn't helpful. Nor is MRI typically helpful. IIRC, I finally made the diagnosis via a bone scan.

[WillBrink]

I saw that happen once. Hard to diagnose - that patient got shuttled from doctor to doctor to the point where they started talking about seeing a psychologist. Ultimately turned out to be a sacral stress fracture. Those are generally best diagnosed with CT scanning, but in my patient that wasn't helpful. Nor is MRI typically helpful. IIRC, I finally made the diagnosis via a bone scan.

I was gonna say that! No, actually I wasn't but makes sense.

[WS6]

I've had similar issues before. Ultimately it was tied to very tense hip flexors and something like a kick, etc. That aggrivated the situation.

[The-Hammer]

I've had similar issues before. Ultimately it was tied to very tense hip flexors and something like a kick, etc. That aggrivated the situation.

That's exactly what my issue is, tight hip flexors. The more I work to loosen them up the better my lower abs feel.

[skywalkrNCSU]

I saw that happen once. Hard to diagnose - that patient got shuttled from doctor to doctor to the point where they started talking about seeing a psychologist. Ultimately turned out to be a sacral stress fracture. Those are generally best diagnosed with CT scanning, but in my patient that wasn't helpful. Nor is MRI typically helpful. IIRC, I finally made the diagnosis via a bone scan.

Ouch, I definitely hope that's not it. The pain certainly feels more muscular than in any bone area but who knows. Would an MRI show a muscle pull/strain? They used contrast as well.

Probably unrelated but I'll throw it out there anyways but the hernia ultrasound showed some enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of my groin at just below the belt.

[jpmuscle]

Ouch, I definitely hope that's not it. The pain certainly feels more muscular than in any bone area but who knows. Would an MRI show a muscle pull/strain? They used contrast as well.

Probably unrelated but I'll throw it out there anyways but the hernia ultrasound showed some enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of my groin at just below the belt.

Funny you mention that. My GF went through a similar issue post gyno related surgery. Long story short at present she has an enlarged lymphnode on her right side that is causing her discomfort similar to a hernia. At first they thought it was hernia, possibly a femoral hernia IIRC, since she actually lifts. Ruled all that out but they still don't know why the lymphode is enlarged to the point of causing discomfort.

[Hmac]

Ouch, I definitely hope that's not it. The pain certainly feels more muscular than in any bone area but who knows. Would an MRI show a muscle pull/strain? They used contrast as well.

Probably unrelated but I'll throw it out there anyways but the hernia ultrasound showed some enlarged lymph nodes on both sides of my groin at just below the belt.

No, muscle strain won't show up on MRI unless it's severe.

Lymph nodes in the groin are common, they will be directly tender, wouldn't usually cause pain on straining. Fine needle aspiration might be useful for diagnosing some types of cancer, not really useful for benign inflammation. As to hernias...ultrasound of the inguinal canal can be problematic, being highly dependent on technique and skill of the tech. False negatives are not uncommon.