What is it?
A groin injury causes pain where your thigh meets your abdomen. You often feel it when you stand up and walk, and when you sprint or kick. In football it is a common injury, and it usually involves the adductors, the muscles on the inside of your thigh.
The injury can happen suddenly, when you sprint off or kick a ball. The pain can also build up slowly and last for months.
Groin pain can also come from your hip, or from an inguinal hernia. So we first work out where your pain comes from.
Common causes
- Sprinting off, turning or kicking hard
- A previous groin injury
- Weak adductor muscles
- Little sport-specific training
- Playing at a higher level
How we diagnose
We ask how the pain started and which movements bring it on. Your physiotherapist examines your adductors, abdominal muscles, groin and hip. That tells us whether the pain comes from a muscle, a tendon or your hip, or whether your GP should take a look.
With VALD Force Decks and Force Frame we measure the strength of your adductors and compare left with right. With ultrasound, your physiotherapist can look at the muscle or tendon when that helps your treatment (ultrasound has its own fee).
Treatment approach
You follow an active exercise programme for your adductors and the muscles around your pelvis. For long-standing groin pain, this kind of programme works better than passive treatment alone. You make the exercises heavier step by step and finish with sprinting, turning and kicking.
You train under supervision in our gym.
Expected recovery
After an acute injury, you usually use your leg normally again within about 3 months. Long-standing groin pain often needs an exercise programme of 2 to 3 months.
The strength tests let you follow how your adductors get stronger.
