Anyone have a hernia that could not be seen at all on imaging?

Without any semantics, I'm asking if any of you have/had hernia pain that is completely consistent with it but it was never found on physical exam or imaging. For myself, I have been getting pain the last yea rand a half, off and on, almost entirely dependent on if I was doing valsalva/lifting heavy(ish) weights. There has not been any herniation found with US, not bulge either.

From what I understand, its more common for people to see the actual defect than experience the obnoxious pain before then. I have not had any inciting traumatic events to cause it and sometimes the pain radiates to my testicle on that side (makes sense given the nerves involved).

Always been annoying to deal with, but out of the blue the pain came back, now feeling like a "soreness", even though I haven't been exercising or straining it recently a RLQ pain has just been nagging me the last 24 hours. Could be appendicitis, but I doubt it given its not a pain where that is typically found and its exactly where my old hernia pain was (even tho the pain has never come on for no reason, nor lingered this much in over a year). Does anyone else have an experience remotely similar to this? I know this subreddit is mainly focused on post-op stuff, which I totally understand, but it sucks being in limbo to whether or not I even require the surgery.