Painful Facts About Groin Injuries & Why They Occur!

Groin injuries are all too common in youth sports today. They also are prevalent among active adults and recreational athletes as well including walkers, soccer players, baseball / softball players, basketball players, skaters, and those who participate in other activities.

The most common types of groin injuries include adductor (muscle) strains, muscle pain, joint dysfunction, and inguinal hernias. Some lesser common types of injuries include athletic pubalgia (sports hernia), pelvic fractures, osteoarthritis, entrapped nerves, and intrapelvic disorders. (1)

Straining your groin or dysfunction in your hip joint that refers pain into your muscles seems to be the most common cause of groin pain in the St. John’s area among the active population. This article will mainly discuss groin muscle strains and how to properly diagnose the injury as well as why these injuries often happen. We have previous articles you can refer to that discuss muscle strains more in-depth both on the diagnosis of the injury and the treatment of the injury.

Diagnosing Hip & Leg Pain in Saint Johns, Florida

At St. Johns Chiropractic & Performance, we help active adults & youth athletes get out of pain quickly & rehabilitate their injuries so they can get back to doing what they love without limitation. Dr. Grant Speer is an expert with sports injuries and has an extensive background in diagnosing aches & pains, finding the root cause of the injury, pain reduction techniques, and rehabilitating the injured tissue to prevent further injury.

We have helped many people in Saint Johns, Florida with joint, muscle, and nerve pain and have found lasting solutions to help them stay active without pain!

As mentioned above, there are many other causes of groin pain that should be ruled out before assuming that the pain is coming from the muscle or the joint. Hernias, rashes, lymph node irritation, and pelvic disorders can mimic the same kind in pain that is felt when there is dysfunction in the muscles or joints. This is why it is important to go to a sports injury specialist or rehab therapist so that they can rule out more serious causes of pain.

Why You Have Groin Pain

There are six muscles on the inner portion of our thigh that collectively make up of our groin. This are located just inside our hip flexor. The primary function of these muscles are to bring your legs towards each other and to stabilize your pelvis during movement. Of these muscles, our longest muscle called our “adductor longus” is responsible for the majority of groin strains because it has a poor “lever arm.”(2)

Soccer players are particularly susceptible to this sports injury as about 11% of all injuries and soccer are groin strains.(2) This is due to the high number of running, rapid deceleration, cutting, accelerating, kicking, and reaching with your legs. Muscle strength, tissue (muscle, ligament, tendon, nerve) flexibility, muscle imbalances (mainly in your abductors and adductors), overuse, limited hip range of motion, previous groin injury, and poor core/pelvic stability are all common causes of groin muscle strains. (1-2)

Youth Athlete Muscle Strain Facts

Recovery time for a groin strains highly differs with each injury. With all muscle strains there are different grades and the least impactful injury can have you back on the field within a matter of days whereas the worst strain (tear) can have you sidelined for months and possibly even requiring surgery. You can refer to our previous article for more information on recovery times for muscle strains and the different grades for each injury.

The worst part about groin strains is that they are difficult to completely recover from. Out of all the muscle strains out there, groin strains typically have the highest chance of re-injury. They are labeled the most chronic muscle strain out there. This is often seen in athletic or physical sports like soccer, football, basketball, and baseball players as well as runners.

This makes your rehab and recovery from your groin strain even more important. Please refer to our past blog on how to recover from a muscle strain and look for a future blog on recovering from a groin strain!

Professional Athletes and Groin Injuries

Many professional athletes have had issues with groin injuries over the years. Many of them also struggle with the chronicity of the issue as there is a very high chance of reoccurrence with this injury. There are too many soccer and hockey players to list that have had this issue.

Professional athletes have proven that groin injuries are nothing to mess around with. Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis suffered a mild groin injury that kept him out of a playoff elimination game which they lost, ending the Lakers season. Current Arizona Cardinals defensive and JJ Wyatt tore his groin when playing for the Houston Texans and had to have a major surgery on the injury.

If you know someone in the Saint Johns, Florida area (Durbin Crossing, Aberdeen, RiverTown, Julington Creek Plantation, Beachwalk, Silverleaf) who is not able to live the active lifestyle that they want because of an injury or pain and could benefit from our thorough approach and comprehensive care, please share this post with them or send them our way!

We are conveniently located just south of Jacksonville in between CR 210 and Race Track Road, near where St. Johns Parkway and Longleaf Pine intersect! Right across the street from Patriot Oaks Academy in the 32259 zip code! Only 4 minutes from Durbin Park! We are committed to offering the best chiropractic care near you!

We help active adults & youth athletes get out of pain quickly & rehabilitate their injuries so they can get back to doing what they love pain-free! So, whether you’re looking to make a lifestyle change, recover from chronic pain, or become a better athlete, our experts at St. Johns Chiropractic & Performance can help you improve.

Do you need a chiropractor in St. Johns, Florida? Contact or call/text us today at 904-217-7078 to schedule your appointment.

References

  1. Sedaghati P, Alizadeh MH, Shirzad E, Ardjmand A. Review of sport-induced groin injuries. Trauma Mon. 2013 Dec;18(3):107-12. doi: 10.5812/traumamon.12666. Epub 2013 Oct 14. PMID: 24350166; PMCID: PMC3864393.
  2. Tyler TF, Silvers HJ, Gerhardt MB, Nicholas SJ. Groin injuries in sports medicine. Sports Health. 2010 May;2(3):231-6. doi: 10.1177/1941738110366820. PMID: 23015943; PMCID: PMC3445110.

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