This is dodgy and there is a mixed bag of results possible here. In my testing I can get a hit on the second search if I:
1. Change to Draft View
2. Set Review Markup to show all markup
3. Include a ^? where the first comment ends

I prefer your simpler suggestion of searching the larger strings first but perhaps you can experiment with the above preconditions to arrive at a solution which is independent of that.

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia