If you have pulled/strained your groin muscle, you will be restricted in movement and certain postures due to pain. How to deal with this problem and return the discomfort to your groin, we will tell you in this article.
Groin pulls are common in people who play sports that require a lot of running and leaping. In particular, suddenly jumping or altering instructions is a most likely cause. Groin pulls typically appear in individuals who play soccer and football, and they make up about 10% of all injuries in expert hockey players.
What Does a Groin Muscle Pull Feel Like?
Here are some symptoms of a groin pull:
- Pain and tenderness in the groin and the inside of the thigh
- Pain when you bring your legs together
- Pain when you raise your knee
- A popping or snapping sensation during the injury, followed by extreme pain
Groin pulls are often divided into three degrees of seriousness:
- 1st degree: Moderate pain, but little loss of strength or movement
- 2nd degree: Moderate pain, moderate to moderate strength loss and some tissue damage
- 3rd degree: Serious pain, extreme loss of strength and function due to a complete tear of the muscle
- To detect a groin pull, your medical professional will provide you a thorough physical examination. Tests like X-rays and MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) may be required to rule out other problems.
What to Do With a Pulled Groin Muscle?
Gladly, a groin pull will generally recover by itself. You simply require to offer it some time and rest. To speed the healing, you can:
- Ice the inside of your thigh to reduce pain and swelling. Specialists suggest doing it for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for 2 to 3 days, or up until the pain is gone.
- Compress your thigh using an elastic bandage or tape.
- Take anti-inflammatory painkillers. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen and naproxen, will assist with pain and swelling. But research studies show their results are controversial particularly if taken long-lasting. Furthermore, these drugs can have side effects; they need to be utilized only periodically unless your medical professional specifically states otherwise.
To assist tissue healing, your medical provider will assist you in active extending and enhancing workouts. Depending upon grade of injury, this can begin instantly or may need a number of days of rest. Pain is used as a guide. Too aggressive and more damage might occur.
Groin pulls can end up being chronic if the factor it happened is not identified and dealt with. Your doctor or physical therapist must evaluate your core, hips, and lower extremities for prospective sources such as weak point or instability that might be including stress to the groin. Treatments that deal with not only the groin but likewise dysfunctions affecting the groin accelerate recovery and minimize the threat of recurrence.
The majority of the time, these conservative treatments will suffice. However not constantly. If these techniques still do not help, you may wish to think about surgery. While surgery may provide you relief, it’s a last resort. Not everybody can return to their previous level of activity afterward.
So talk over the pros and cons of surgery with your doctor. You should also think about getting a consultation.
After the Treatment
Everybody would like to know how quickly they can return in the game after a groin pull – and how soon the pain will go away. However there’s no simple answer. Healing time depends on how major your groin pull is. It might take 4 to 6 weeks, but that’s simply a rough price quote. Individuals heal at various rates.
In the meantime, switch to a new activity that won’t put too much stress on your groin muscles. For instance, runners could attempt swimming.
Whatever you do, don’t rush things. Don’t attempt to return to your old level of exercise until:
- You can move your leg on the injured side as freely and as quickly as your other leg
- The leg on your injured side feels as strong as the leg on the unimpaired side
- You feel no pain when you walk, the jog, then sprint, and finally jump
If you begin pressing yourself prior to your groin pull is recovered, you might re-injure yourself. And if you get further groin pulls, they may be harder to deal with and take longer to recover. They can even result in irreversible disability.
Groin Muscle Pulling Prevention Steps
Given that groin pulls can be painful and devastating, the best advice is to prevent them. You should:
- Always heat up your legs and groin muscles before physical activity. A light jog or other activities to increase body temperature have actually been revealed to minimize danger of muscle spots.
- Use shoes with good assistance that fit well.
- Always increase the intensity of your exercise gradually– no more than a 10% boost a week.
- Stop working out if you feel pain or tightness in your groin or the within your thigh.
- Do routine reinforcing workouts for your thigh muscles, especially if you’ve had a groin pull previously.
Groin injuries can result from included stress due to weak point somewhere else. If associated with sports and you have a history of groin injuries, ask your medical professional about activities that can help reduce your danger.
Take care of your groin!