Hip Pain keeping you from playing/living/moving?!
Ever pulled your groin so badly it hurt to walk? Have hip tightness that makes it difficult to do the things you love?
I have. And having been through that journey, I wanted to share some things that help with new or lingering groin pain.
Where this post is focused on today is the inside of the thigh. It is an area that isn’t trained specifically in the gym but is used in our lives daily. Adductor strains occur mainly due to cutting and pivoting movements in sports like hockey and football (1). Many people think that the strain or pull comes from lacking flexibility, but it is heavily due to the opposite! Strength (or lack thereof) is often the issue when looking at risk factors for a groin strain (2). The other main risk factor is having a previous groin strain (unlucky for my situation) (2).
Now the big question is how do we build up the strength? And what kind of ‘strength’ do we need?
When we first injure the muscle, we need to do some passive modalities and specific yet challenging exercises like isometrics and manual stretching to get the muscle through a full range of motion before we are able to transition into active exercises focusing on eccentric (braking) motions (2). Controlling the deceleration of our bodies with our lower limbs and building strength for this is what will help keep groin pain away in the long run - even if you’re like me and have a previous strain!
Questions about your specific case? Reach out to us or book a Complimentary Consultation today!
Kelly, B. T., Maak, T. G., Larson, C. M., Bedi, A., & Zaltz, I. (2013). Sports hip injuries: assessment and management. Instr Course Lect, 62, 515-31.
Tyler TF, Fukunaga T, Gellert J. Rehabilitation of soft tissue injuries of the hip and pelvis. Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2014;9(6):785-797.