Comments on: The Trainer’s Room: Abdominal Muscle Strains – Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:34:09 +0000

it hurts to sit and lean forward as well

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:33:16 +0000

hi dr im having right side abdominal pain very low abdominal area thats persisted for about a year and a half from a stair accident…it radiates from the front the side and in my lower back. ive also gone to the dr and shes felt around the area and said i have no hernia and ive also had a ct scan that she said showed no hernia im in a good amount of pain what should i do… could this be a psoas injury or will an mri show exactly whats going on. o let me ad that its just recently gotten worse since i used the ab contour which is an emt stimulation ab belt ive used it twice and stopped

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:34:36 +0000

Hi im a 25 year old male who used to be in elite shape. I have had an abdomnial slash psoas injury i think for about a year and a half from falling down some stairs. ive had my dr press around on it to check for a hernia and do a ct scan to make sure organs were fine and everything checked out ok she said no hernia, so i now assume its a muscle thing……ive been sidelined with a neck injury for the past 6 months so i ordered the ab contour belt so i could still tone and the ems aggravated my psoas and oblique, this has been persisting now for a year and a half and i feel pain in my lower back and side plus in the front but only on the right side….what exactly is my injury and what should i do to get rid of the pain and get back to working out.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:42:01 +0000

Don't listen to the people who say it's all psychological. Why in the world would you get diarrhea from sitting up straight? If it made your back pain better, it doesn't make sense that you would be so psychologically upset. My advice is to go to a different doctor if possible. Maybe keep a detailed diary of what's going on. There could be some easy solution that these doctors just can't figure out. And just please watch for weight gain on mirtazapine. I was on it once and gained 25 pounds. My doctor swore it couldn't be that because "that doesn't usually happen." I pretty much told him I was stopping it, and voila, I was finally able to lose the weight. I have a strong instinct (I'm a nurse by the way) that this isn't psychological at all, the doctors can't figure it out, so they try to make you think it's all in your head. Personally, I'd be willing to bet money it's not. Good luck!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:30:54 +0000

I know this is an old post, but I was just wondering how everything turned out. I think my pain is actually a strained abdominal muscle, but at first I thought appendicitis also. I did a lot of googling and noticed that often the pain from appendicitis usually starts right above your belly button. I had no nausea, vomiting, or fever myself (as well as no insurance), I know the key sign of appendicitis besides all that other lovely stuff I just mentioned is something called "rebound tenderness". If you draw an imaginary line between your hip bone that you can feel on the front and your belly button, the appendix is in the 1st 1/3rd of that area. If your doctor is gently pressing on your abdomen, and you feel the pain right there when he releases the pressure, that's a key sign.

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:45:45 +0000

Hi doctors, I have a question last night i caught a pass in a football game and steched out the right side of my abs under my ribs by the hip and also took a helmet to that side. It really hurts when i cough or sneeze. It hurts to twist my hips and it hurts to get up and down out of bed. I was just wonding what i Should do?

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:11:42 +0000

Hi! I have an abdominal injury that I need help identifying (would like to know what muscle it is if possible). I was 7 months pregnant with my first daughter 3 years ago and when I am pregnant my belly goes very far out in front of me so my muscles understandably are being stretched quite a bit. I was helping my sister take her wagon apart that her kids just rode in at the zoo and it all of a sudden felt like someone stabbed me in my lower belly. I know I ripped some sort of muscle. The pain seemed to go from hip to hip but my OB thinks it is weird because she said muscles are vertical. For the next week I could hardly walk. The rest of the pregnancy I had pain and could not put pants on without sitting down (I had pain when I would lift my leg in a standing position). After giving birth I came home from the hospital and got up to walk and I couldn’t take one step. My husband had to carry me everywhere for days. Even now this muscle bugs me, I cannot push something with my foot that is on the floor out of my way. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

By: Jay A

Jay A — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:36:13 +0000

I am a rugby player, so core strength is very important to me, and for the past few years i have had no problems. I have been in the gym regularly, gone jogging, cycling, and played rugby without any major problems. A few aches here and there but what do you expect after a double hernia operation…

All this until i went to play soccer 2 weeks ago, running wise i was fine, no problems, but kicking the ball really caused it to flare back up again, especially if you are over stretching, or perhaps kick the floor a little. So this maybe the answer to your abdominal pain. The larger these hernias get, the worse the pain gets. For me the pain stetched from my belly button, right down the groin, and inside leg. Not a constant pain but irregular. No more soccer / football for me!!

By: Jay A

Jay A — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:35:46 +0000

Mike,

I'm no doctor, but i had a similar problem which lasted for around 4 years, until i couldn't take the aching anymore. I went to my local doctors and accident and emergency only to be told i had an infection of some sort. After 12 months on anti-biotics, there was no change, so i went to see a physio, asi thought it may be muscle related.

The physio immediately said it was a hernia, if you google inguinal hernias, that should give you a bit more information. It is a hernia that pushes through the inguinal cavity, near your nuttsack… Like you say not unbearable but very uncomfortable.
So i then booked in to see a surgeon, who operated only to find i had 2 hernias!! at an age of 21!!

By: becky

becky — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:27:13 +0000

hi there,
i just experienced this same exact thing this morning doing the pull up/push up p90x dvd and was google-ing strained muscles in the abs when I found this… I was wondering how yours turned out? i was using the chair when mine happened but i went up funny and right away a sharp pain happened in my lower ab sort of above my hip bone towards my belly button. i figured it was pulled muscle no big deal until i tried to do the pushups and it was SO painful. the rest of the dvd was difficult and painful.

i was wondering how you treated your injury and is it better?

thank you!!

By: Dr. Niall McNally

Dr. Niall McNally — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:15:21 +0000

Ask if your doctor is familiar with the kinesio tape method. We have used that on several of our abdominal muscle strain cases and get very positive results. The likely hood of actually tearing the muscle away from the bone is not that likely. however there could be a small tear in the area causing chronic inflammation. Continue with your chiropractor for a few weeks. If there has been no changed in pain levels, then go for the MRI. If your chiropractor is expecting there maybe a small tear in the muscle causing a hernia, then it maybe beneficial to wear the belt. If he does not suspect a hernia then I would not see the need for it.

By: Paula

Paula — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:26:00 +0000

I had an xray done of my pelvic and lower back area…would that show misalignment?
The lift is supposed to only be temporary. He is going to re-xray me in 4 weeks to see if it's doing any good. I am getting bi-weekly adjustments in the meantime to help make sure I stay on the right track.
I am also doing stretching and I walk about 3 miles a day. I ice in the evening while watching tv.
I will try the kegal exercises and see if they help.
Is there a chance I actually pulled the muscle from the bone? Should I get an MRI to see what the damage is?
Also, my chiropractor suggested perhaps wearing a hernia belt…would that be beneficial?

By: Dr. McNally

Dr. McNally — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:35:39 +0000

Have your chiropractor check the pubic bone itself for misalignment. There is an adjustment that can be made in that area that is very helpful. Also look up Kiegel exercises. They are typically done for pregnant women, however are excellent in strengthen the muscles of the pubic floor and lower abdominals. As for the lift. I myself do not prescribe those, however they can be effective. As long as the lift is short term then you will be fine. If he is working with you to perform the adjustments and exercises, eventually the problem will resolve and there will be no need for the lift in the future. If your chiropractor is unfamiliar with the pelvic adjustment, he can contact me and I will explain it to him.
Dr. McNally

By: Paula

Paula — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:41:33 +0000

Hi, I am a 41-year-old woman who is 5'5" and weighs 160lbs. A year ago I pulled the abdominal muscle just about my pubic bone while doing pushups and situps. I have only been walking for excercise now, but it's still not healing. This past week I went to my chiropractor and he did x-rays on me and noted that my hips are not straight and gave me a lift in my right shoe to help correct the alignment. As for the abdominal muscle, he told me that sometimes it takes up to two years to heal and suggested that I ice it once a day. Is there anything else I can be doing to help heal my abdominal muscle?

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 09:05:13 +0000

Hi Dr.

Thanks for reading this, and if you could help in anyway, I would be grateful.

I am 40 years old in general good health, I don't drink alcohol or smoke and look after myself most of the time.
Just over a month ago I started having a dull pain in my left testicle and lower abdomen area during a soccer game. It was only present when I ran. Kicking the ball, stretching was no problem. I thought it was probably a muscular strain.
I tried playing again a few days later and after about 10 minutes it returned. I immediately stopped playing.

I did a bit of weight training after 5 days and there were no problems.
Then 8 days after the soccer game, I started feeling pain again. I was only standing or walking. It would come and go. Then by late evening it was constant. The pain was similar to just after you get hit in the testicles when it radiates to your stomach, but not so unbearable.
After a few hours the testicular pain left and I felt an ache on the side of the pelvic bone. After waking up the next day, there was no pain unless I moved around certain ways – the pain was around the lower left abdomen/hip area.
The testicle however had no pain directly. The pain was when I touched around the epididymis area. But then if I continued feeling around the exact area of pain, the pain moved to another part of the epididymis. But it was localized around that area – behind the testicle close to the body.
I have had varicoceles since I was 21 and they have never caused a problem before (I am aware of).
I had a hip injury (the hip jolted from falling directly on my knee and the leg extended out like I was going to jump on a horse) from soccer around 19 months ago (had around 4-6 weeks break from that) which sometimes feels a little strained, but nothing that prevents me from doing anything. I never got it looked at.

So, after the soccer game I took a month off soccer but was able to weight train and cycle without any problems. There was no pain in the area, but I was aware at times of something in the left testicle. I did sometimes feel the pelvic area at the back left hand side there was a dull pain, but it was not set off due to moving. It would come and go.
I returned to soccer training. I warmed up with stretches, went jogging beforehand and then after about 20 minutes of taking it easy on the soccer field I could feel the lower left ab pain again. This time it felt a little different. Almost like something was slightly twisting something there.
No testicle pain. The pain occurred when I was running or tried to run.
The next 2 days there was some slight pain in the ab with certain movements and a dull pain in at the back pelvic area that would come and go.
What do you think?

And what field of medicine would this fall under?
Thanks a lot.

Mike.