A few hours after a leg workout consisting of squats and lunges, I noticed soreness in my right groin that has hung around for a couple weeks. My first worry was that it might be a hernia, but I can’t detect any bulge or lump at all on my right side. My understanding is that you will pretty much always feel a bulge if a hernia is the issue, so I’m guessing that it’s a muscle strain. From your experiences, is this basically correct, i.e., lack of bulge means strain as opposed to hernia?
Thanks
It’s worth having it checked if it is hanging around long-term. I have had a hernia I couldn’t feel to the touch. I’ve also had a strain I thought might be a hernia and wasn’t. So could go either way.
Do the things that relieve a muscle strain (ice, rest, compression, NSAIDS) make a marked difference?
Sorry to burst this bubble but this is not true. A hernia will only present as a bulge if it is big enough for something to stick through the tear in the muscle. I have a small tear that was only detected after a untrasound when it was hurting. The only sure way to know if you are worried is to get it checked.
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Yes I agree. I have two herniated disks and nothing visible. An herniated disk can even be asymptomatic, but when you feel pain… Ouch! It is not a simple back pain! To erase the doubt you have to perform a magnetic resonance an get visited by a specialized doctor. My doctor was able to diagnose exactly what disks was herniated without even look at the resonance, and then check his diagnosis with that of the doctor who perform the resonance.
If you get a herniated disk the options are really limited: surgery is the last resort and no doctor takes it into consideration except for severe cases; physiotherapy is the first thing that is proposed, but it only serves to make the symptoms less annoying. there is however a very, very interesting option, and that is ozone therapy. doctors who specialize in this therapy obtain excellent results, but always advise before trying physiotherapy. the problem is that they have to be really good and experienced doctors, because it is still an injection in the spine.
This is a different injury, my friend
It’s gotten substantially better since my original post, but getting it checked out next week just to be safe.
Thanks for replying, but this is a totally different issue. I’m actually talking about inguinal hernias, where tissue came push through the muscles of the abdomen. This is quite different from the problem of a herniated disk.
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Oh, I’m so sorry for reading without attention and you are nice to have underlined it with kindess.
Anyway, I’m so lucky to have an inguinal hernia too 
it is so little that I haven’t notice it but it appeared during some exams for a varicocele.
As I know it always depend on the size, but as you said, this type of hernia should be more easily visible.
PS: after these comments I’ve realized that I need a trip to Lourdes 