# Pulled Muscle, or Hernia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulled-muscle-or-hernia/249027 "2004-06-07T01:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulled-muscle-or-hernia/249027/1 "2004-06-07T01:57:09Z")
How can I tell if I have a pulled muscle, or a hernia, or some other kind of rupture? I have a couple of spots in my stomach area, one of which is fairly large, that are excruciating when I make certain movements, particularly when bending over or pulling myself up. In fact, I didn’t at first think it was a pulled muscle, but rather that I had pinched something because bending over was when I first discovered the pain. The largest area runs vertically, adjacent to and about 2 inches to the left of my navel and appears to be 2 - 3 inches long and an inch wide, judging from the area of pain. I should probably note that I’m overweight, so a “feel” test of the affected areas doesn’t seem to reveal much, at least not to me, an untrained lay-person. I wanted to Google the problem, but couldn’t figure out how to approach the search… So, any of you Doper physicians out there care to take a stab and what I can to do more accurately identify the problem? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pulled-muscle-or-hernia/249027/2 "2004-06-07T03:23:16Z")
The best way to tell what’s going on is to CALL A DOCTOR and MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR A DOCTOR TO LOOK AT YOU, and the sooner the better. The doctors and medical practitioners who participate on this message board are not going to diagnose online.