COMMON SPORTS MEDICINE CONDITIONS

Groin Pain

Location

Groin pain is a common injury in people doing weight-bearing sport. There are a large number of causes for groin pain and it is therefore important that the injury is carefully assessed by a specialist so that the correct diagnosis can be made. Groin pain can be caused by bruising, stretching or tearing the muscle fibres that extend between the pelvis and inner thigh. These adductor muscles or the tendons that attach them to the pelvis are stretched and inflamed as the thigh moves beyond its normal limits from the body's centre. Strenuous workouts, with inadequate warm up and without sufficient rest time being allowed to restore normal function, are inclined to severely stress the adductor muscles. Otherwise, muscles and tendons in the area may become more prone to irritation and injury.

Symptoms

Sudden sharp pain in the groin area during exercise will usually be accompanied by pain and tenderness in the hip/groin region, followed within 24 hours by swelling and inflammation spreading downward, with the skin being discoloured as bruising appears within 48 hours. Walking and especially running will be painful.

Diagnosis

If the pain is anything other than newly onset (acute), rather than long standing, physical examination will involve careful movement of the leg and hip joint to evaluate the extent of damage. If a more serious condition is suspected, imaging with x-ray, CT or MRI scan may be recommended. For example, long standing pain in the groin area may be an inguinal hernia which may need surgical attention.

Treatment

A groin strain may be first- second- or third-degree in severity and treatment will be geared to this. The degree of damage to be treated can range from simple bruising of the adductor muscles, pulled tendon or muscle fibers, the symptoms of which typically last a week, or a severely stretched or separated tendon which may take some months to heal. Early examination will help confirm whether the groin pain will respond to rest, compression and other conservative treatment or needs further investigation.

Further help:

Groin anatomy
www.physioroom.com/injuries/groin_and_pelvis/groin_strain_full.php

Pain management
www.thewellingtonpainunit.com/treatments.asp