GROIN PAIN

What causes Groin Pain?

At the junction between your trunk and your leg the groin region has numerous muscular attachments onto the front of the pelvis and hip joint. Most groin pain arises from injury or inflammation of these muscles or their attachment to bone. Other less common causes of pain, especially in active people, are the hip joint, lumbar spine and pelvis joints, symphysis pubis or even hernias. Accurate assessment by a skilled physiotherapist is necessary to provide correct diagnosis as early as possible.

Why does it keep coming back?

Groin pain frequently presents as a recurrent or chronic pain. It can be very debilitating and potentially career threatening for serious athletes. These ongoing problems are often associated with inadequate recovery of muscle strength and flexibility of not only the groin muscles but also the spine and pelvis. Return to activities that place stress on the groin such as sudden stops/starts, changes of direction or kicking seems to have the greatest risk of re-injury.

How can Physiotherapy help?

A skilled examination will assess severity and help provide appropriate time frames for recovery and return to sport. Hernias and suspected stress fractures will also be referred on to the appropriate investigations. Programs that involve exercises of the hip, thigh and pelvis muscles have be shown to provide more benefit than from stretching and other ‘passive techniques’ alone. Exercises directed at improving stability of the spine and pelvis, are also often necessary to provide complete recovery.

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