If a portion of tissue pushes through the wall of the femoral canal, it's called a femoral hernia. A femoral hernia will appear as a bulge near the groin or ...HealthlineSubscribeFemoralHerniaMedicallyreviewedbyElaineK.Luo,M.D.—WrittenbytheHealthlineEditorialTeam—UpdatedonSeptember17,2018CausesSymptomsEmergencysymptomsDiagnosisTreatmentOutlookWhatisafemoralhernia?Yourmusclesareusuallystrongenoughtokeepyourintestinesandorgansintheirproperplace.Sometimes,however,yourintra-abdominaltissuescanbepushedthroughaweakenedspotinyourmusclewhenyouoverstrain.Ifaportionoftissuepushesthroughthewallofthefemoralcanal,it’scalledafemoralhernia.Afemoralherniawillappearasabulgenearthegroinorthigh.Thefemoralcanalhousesthefemoralartery,smallerveins,andnerves.It’slocatedjustbelowtheinguinalligamentinthegroin.Afemoralherniacanalsobecalledafemorocele.Womenaremorelikelythanmentosufferfromafemoralhernia.Overall,femoralherniasarenotcommon.Mostherniasthataffectthegroinareinguinalhernias,andfewerthan3percentofallherniasarefemoral.Mostfemoralherniasdonotcausesymptoms.However,theycanoccasionallyleadtosevereproblemsiftheherniaobstructsandblocksbloodflowtoyourintestines.Thisiscalledastrangulatedhernia—it’samedicalemergencyandrequiresimmediatesurgery.CausesoffemoralherniasTheexactcauseoffemoralandotherherniasareunknownmostofthetime.Youmaybebornwithaweakenedareaofthefemoralcanal,ortheareamaybecomeweakovertime.Strainingcancontributetotheweakeningofthemusclewalls.Factorsthatcanleadtooverstraininginclude:childbirthchronicconstipationheavyliftingbeingoverweightdifficulturinationduetoanenlargedprostatechroniccoughingSignsandsymptomsofafemoralherniaYoumaynotevenrealizeyouhaveafemoralherniainsomecases.Smallandmoderate-sizedherniasdon’tusuallycauseanysymptoms.Inmanycases,youmaynotevenseethebulgeofasmallfemoralhernia.Largeherniasmaybemorenoticeableandcancausesomediscomfort.Abulgemaybevisibleinthegroinareanearyourupperthigh.Thebulgingmaybecomeworseandcancausepainwhenyoustandup,liftheavyobjects,orstraininanyway.F