Sports Hernia
What is a sports hernia?
A sports hernia (also known as athletic pubalgia or Gilmore's groin) is no the same as a normal hernia. It is an injury (usually a tear or strain) to the muscles, tendons, or connective tissues in the lower abdomen/groin region, often where abdominal muscles and adductor muscles attach to the pubic bone.
Symptoms
- Persistent pain in lower abdomen and/or groin area
- Sudden and intense pain at time of injury
- Difficulty in pinpointing exact location that pain is growing from
- Pain extends beyond your scrotum and/or inner thigh
- Feel pain when coughing or sneezing
- Difficulty participating in physical activity
- Pain goes away with rest, but comes back during physical activity
When to see a doctor
- Perform balanced strength and conditioning - ensure both abdominal/core strength and hip/adductor strength are worked on
- Avoid overusing muscles by incorporating rest days and not suddenly increasing training intensity
- Don't play through pain
- Use proper mechanics when kicking the ball: strike with the whole trunk, not just the leg, avoid abrupt stopping of the leg after contact (have a smooth follow-through
- Strengthen the core and hip
- Pelvic tilts
- Trunk rotations
- Side-lying hip abduction
- Side-lying clams
- Bridging progression
Prevention
- Balanced strength and conditioning- ensure both abdominal/core strength and hip/adductor strength are worked on
- Avoid overusing muscles by incorporating rest days and not suddenly increasing training intensity
- Don’t play through pain
- Use proper mechanics when kicking ball, strike with whole trunk, not just leg, avoid abrupt stopping leg after contact-have a smooth follow-through
- Strengthen Core and Hip
- Pelvic tilts
- Trunk rotations
- Side-lying hip abduction
- Side-lying clams
- Bridging progression
Recovery
- Ice and used NSAIDs for pain and swelling
- After the pain starts to ease, begin moving the hip more each day to loosen the hip and pelvic muscles; cat-cow stretch