Abdonminal Pain - Muscle or Intestinal?

[jolleyhearted]

Hi all,

About 4 years I fell while snowboarding and felt immediate abdominal pain in the lower right quadrant (about 1 1/2 inches below and 3 inches to the right of the belly button).  I rested it for a month and it got better, though never really felt 100%.  1 1/2 years ago, while playing hockey I had a really bad case of gas (too many fruits that day).  While playing, the gas pain turned into a massive cramp in the exact same spot.  This time, the pain was more severe and it hurt when I sneezed, coughed or did any twisting or leg extension movement.  My Dr. ordered an MRI which came back as all good, so no detected hernia or anything.  Pain eventually subsided.  The pain is now back again in the exact same spot, though much more mild.  What is different however is that the I feel pain (well very very mild, really discomfort) when gas in my lower intestines passes by the spot of the injury... which to me is weird since the injury is supposed to be in the abdominal muscles.  So, I have 4 questions for the community:

1.  Can hernias be missed by an MRI?
2.  Can you actually injure the intestines themselves (like a muscle strain), and if so, would this type of pain present?
3.  Would gas passing by the area cause pain if it were only an abdominal muscle strain?
4.  What else would present like this?

I should note that I am having a colonoscopy next week for an unrelated reason... just screening as I am at that age when screening should be done.  As such, I have a follow up question for the community.  If there is a mild hernia, would they see it during the colonoscopy?

Thanks in Advance

[jolleyhearted]

Thanks for the answers.   Has anyone ever had similar symptoms?

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  1) Yes hernias can be missed by an MRI.  2) Yes you can actually injure the intestines themselves, but this would most likely cause you much more serious symptoms.  3) No, gas passing the area wouldn't cause pain if it were only a muscle strain.  4) I would think that the original injury is unrelated to your current symptoms.  You might have an intolerance or allergy.  They most likely couldn't see a hernia during a colonoscopy.