Dr. Rynne, I recently had a friend who lost her boyfriend due to the ruptured hernia and am now concerned about my ongoing issue. I am female, 54 - for some 20 years I have occasionally dealt with what I refer to as my hernia - never diagnosed by a DR and as a matter of fact I have never even brought it up at a dr visit. It sometimes feels like something is protruding through my ribs. The pain is so severe that it stops me dead in my tracks - I see stars and cannot move until I straighten out and push it back into my body. I ve been reading about overweight being the cause of sometimes this kind of issue (yes I am overweight) but I m also worried that it could be something else and I certainly don t want whatever it is to rupture. Lately I feel a pulsating in that area....I do not like to go to Dr s office - I know I am overweight (230) 5 6 - is this mostly a weight problem that will go away if I lose weight or do you think it is something I should get checked out.