Lower Left Abdominal/Groin Pain Severe/Chronic

[chroniclowerleft]

Heres the situation, Male 30 years old, 5'7 145lbs, in perfect medical condition, healthy as a horse until 2 years ago.  A sudden onset of pain occured for basically no reason, normal daily routine and it just bang happened.  I was urinating at the time and it almost dropped me to the floor.  I thought it was strange because the pain was not subsiding so I went to the hospital after work and the final diagnosis was, it will take time to rear its head, whatever it was.  Fine, I went about my days and weeks until about 6 months later, the pain still hadnt left but was becoming increasingly difficult to function.  Had to stop work to get this figured out.   A limp has started on the left side the pain was seemingly increasing by the week.  Any movement will affect it, lifting, walking, sudden movements it was getting to the point that even sitting or standing for long periods was just too much.  Had a slue of tests done, colonoscopy, CT MRI, barium enema ultra sounds, muscular structure checked repeatedly.  Every test you can think of I got, but all came back normal, except for one, the CT scan showed that everything was okay, but the root of the mesentery had been rotated anticlockwise about 180 degrees, but the radiologist mentioned that it is not likely the problem.  A surgeon did some tests and confirmed that I have a malformation on my left side, basically where the pain is , but he has never heard of it causing any problems?  His opinion is that there is a groin pull, for 2 years?  and that the pain is just increasing on its own, even though all activities are cancelled.  In addition, I  have no sexual activity any sort of movement feels like I am being ripped in half on the left side.  The surgeon put his finger on the left side of the groin while I was standing up between the thigh and the base of the penis and I thought I was going to die.  The pain is extremely hard to control, I am now on fentenyal and endocets throughout the day just have some sort of ability to walk.  I am not getting any better and its getting to the point that I will need a wheelchair to go shopping.  For me, a completly healthy person, who never has had an illness in life, blood tests are all normal to go from working 40 to 60 hours a week to 0 in a matter of 6 months because of increasing pain a groin pull just doesnt seem right?  No signs of a hernia either, the surgeon did say there was an IMPULSE that he felt, but not a hernia.  I need help to find the answer to this, can the mesentery rotate in adulthood, or has it been there the entire time, and can it cause pain, or is there another answer, there are no more tests to be done and I need a fresh pair of eyes on this.  Everytime I think the pain cant get any worse, it seems to affect something in my life.  I dont want to be in a wheelchair and walking has become so painful even limping and not putting pressure on the left side doesnt even seem to help anymore.  Please help, any answer no matter how obscure would help thank you in advance,

[dhaddad]

Im in the same boat. Im 25, very athletic and healthy, and recently started feeling tingling/burning near the left side groin area...My upper thigh is numb and I am waking up in the middle of the night due to this (like right now) and the pain comes and goes. My doctors have not been able to help yet, but there's definitely something going on.
The pain is intolerable at night....I don't know what I have. Any help would be appreciated.

[hv2laf]

I have the same problem as this 30yr old guy that started this thread.

Im 21, 6'4 175 lbs. Im pretty athletic. Work a good 40 - 50 hours a week as well. Ive been tested up the wazzooo. The doctors pretty much think Im making this stuff up since they cant find an answer right away and Im just going to keep bugging the **** out of them until they get an answer. My pain is not as chronic as his seems. But It gets very difficult to walk at times, I definitely get asked periodically why am I limping. My lower left lumbar pain just started not too long ago. But ive had the groin pain for awhile it shoots down into my left testicle and feels like its going around back to my back. The more my groin hurts more my back hurts works both ways.
I have my MRI results, a couple of the images look questionable to me like twisted veins and possible hernia. But Im pretty sure the docs are gonna say it looks fine. I have the images on my pc if anyone is any good at looking at these Id take a second opinion. Thank you!

[CalGal]

If this is neural involvement, find a PT in your area who does both visceral manipulation and nervous system manipulation - look in the Barral Institute website or call them directly.

Barring that, do you have an osteopath in the area that does both body and cranial osteopathy? Again, I'm thinking neural impingement. And there appears to be a 'right-sided' pattern to this and my own response would be to forget the surgeons and try to deal with someone who has a wonderful understanding of the viscera and nervous system.

[chroniclowerleft]

Things have gone down hill, new symptoms include right ear and eye deteriation, permanent right thigh numbness, right hand goes numb from time to time, and my arms fall asleep at any time.  Sleep apnea is now involved.  Its like my body is being picked offf one by one.  Anyone have any ideas, the doctors are clueless.

[chroniclowerleft]

Thank you again for the information, just an update.  The last surgeon I went to told me he does not think the mesentery is the issue.  Since my upper right thigh has turned numb, he believes that it has something to do with the spinal cord, the lower regions or possible nerves are being disrupted.  I dont know who or what to believe anymore, but I guess the next step is to check the lumbar region and ensure that section is okay. Thanks again.

[CalGal]

Well, I'm not sure I agree with the surgeon, but he's supposedly the expert on the subject. Here's my understanding - it's a huge sheet of connective tissue that forms ar huge skirt that folds over about 2-3 time (overlaps) and at the bottom edge of the skirt is the small intestine. Think of a girl's skirt with a big 'sausage' at the hem............anyway, in order to nourish this portion of the bowel, you've got to get all sorts or blood vessels and nerves to it. They run through the mesentery. So how in the heck can he say it wouldn't affect you with pain if it's twisted or turned. Every connective tissue sheath in the body contains mechanoreceptors and pain receptors, although that's a fairly new finding (check the fascia2007 conference results) so perhaps the docs don't realize it yet. Connective tissue is VERY alive, and it's able to contract to a degree, which hasn't been recognized to date. Most doc's think that only muscles contract - not so.

Check this for definition of mesentery if you're unsure: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4356

May I ask where in Canada?

[chroniclowerleft]

Thank you so much for such a quick response.  Heres the issue, I have been to a surgeon who said, that the mesentary has no nerves that would affect pain, in addition I live in Canada and this seems to be such a rare case that no one even knows how to deal with it.  Your response makes total sense and I will be passing this along to my current doctor who is not totaly convinced that it is the mesentary but suspects that an adult rotation has occured and we are despartetly trying to find someone in Canada that deals with the mesentary specifically, thank you so much.  

[CalGal]

It's possible a rotation in the mesentery can cause problems. It's a 'apron' of connective tissue and all of the nerves and blood vessels run through it. In people with adhesions, if portions of the small intestine and mesentery are 'trapped' by adhesions, it can cause quite a bit of pain. You may want to consider speaking with someone who has been trained to work with a form of visceral manipulation such as trained osteopaths in Europe use. There are a number of people in the U.S. who are very qualified in the techniques. Check with the Barral Institute in Florida. Remember, you want 'highly qualified,' not someone who has just started classes. You can find a list of people online, but make sure they've got 'lots' of classes under their belt, and use the visceral modality often.

It's not a quick technique, because you're gently stretching connective tissue and that tissue CAN''T be forced - it has to be coaxed.