groin strain injury

Ouch !!! It happened to me image I have a groin strain injury, it is alittle painful generally day to day but once I'm running the muscle obviously warms up so dosnt hurt too much. But then once I've finished my run it is extremely painfull and I'm hobbling about. My question is will this get any worse if I keep running on it ??? I can handle the pain now but do not want to make it worse.

Comments

  • Once it's warm, it doesn't hurt "too much"?  

    You're beyond the limit that I'd set for myself.     If it didn't hurt at all when warm and running, then OK... I'd probably carry on. But I suspect you should give yourself a week off - finding some gym equipment to keep up your cardio, without hurting the groin.

    The best advice I ever got, was NOT to static stretch the groin before sport...  but to gently warm up, and after a minute or two, do some dynamic movement of the upper leg to specifically warm the groin area...  but not stretching in the traditional sense.    Then, after the exercise... that's the time to do some static stretching.  You're not stretching cold muscles. Good luck with it Craig...  be sensilbe!

     

  • Gonna lay off my run today - dose up on Ibuprofen and deep heat then try the 5k parkrun tomorrow. Fingers crossed I'll be ok and it dosn't agrivate the muscle too much.

    Their is no swelling or bruising so with a gentle masage and stretches should be ok ?
  • Take it easy- I ended up having to take months off with a groin injury - it was awful and still not got distances back up yet : (
  • Thank you Elaine. I have slowed down and cut back on my running in the short term. The pain is still there but remarkably I ran a PB this Saturday on the parkrun image

    The last thing I want though is to be resting for weeks on end due to a seious injury.
  • I too have a slight groin strain, but which goes away almost completely after a few easy minutes running. So do I rest completely or run easy and see how it goes (which is what I have done for a few weeks)? And does deep heat address the cause or just the symptoms?

    But I'm guessing, Craig , that easing off a bit is a good idea.

     

  • Hi Lunchtime runner. I am in the same boat as you, its bbeen a week now and its not easing off. I'm limping around most of the time but once I've warmed up and start running, a few minutes in and I'm away just fine but as soon as I stop and the muscle cool down I'm in pain again.

    Deep heat is good but be careful in that area, I found out the hard way, do get get any deep heat on sensitive parts. Lol it really hurts



    I'm hoping that this discomfort/pain from the groin strain will go away its amazing annoying now as all I want to do is run for miles image
  • That sounds similar to the problem I had and ran for months on it as I found after about 5 miles the pain went numb! Little did I realise at the time the damage I was causing image
  • Oh dear Elaine, you have me worried now. I have a 10k run coming up mid November so do I keep training or do I just stop and rest ????
  • Hi Crag & lunchtime runner,

    I'd be interested to hear how you both get on. Craig - Well done for the 5k pb. The 10k is still 4 weeks away, so you may still have time for the injury to heal, but only you know what is best. I've had intermittent pain, more towards the hip region & it matches the pain pattern you describe - i.e after warming up the pain goes, only to return again once exercise stops.

    Have had a week off running & felt fine doing a long walk & using cross trainer, but pain returned after running 3 miles on grass.

    Have just been referred to NHS physio & hope to get a diagnosis - don't think it's too serious - I'm never in enough pain to limp or alter my gait.

    Hope those strains all heal soon! good luck everyone.

  • Will keep you posted, I have rested now completely for 2 whole days and its driving me mad, will rest again from running tomorrow but will get out on my bike Friday afternoon to keep fit etc... fingers crossed no running this week will help and get me back on the right track.

    Let me know how you get on at the physio, I will be interested as to what they say to you.

    Seems like this is a very common problem, at least im not on my own... some very good feed back from this forum. Thanks everyone

  • rest up for a week then get back out there fully healed

    dont keep running iff your injured! thats stupid

  • straight to the point but fair enough image

  • Avit - good point - may take a little longer than a week though. I rested for 7 days & it wasnt quite enough.

    Had sports massage last night & feeling much better today....but will be disciplined & give it a few more days before running again.

    Craig - good luck with the injury - can highly recommend a sports massage if you can access one at a decent price. hope the cycling goes well friday (think that works the quads more, but even so take it steady if possible).

    all the best everyone image

  • avit wrote (see)

    rest up for a week then get back out there fully healed

    dont keep running iff your injured! thats stupid

    This is quite possibly true for most people.... and probably the professional advice.  But twice in my life, I've had injuries that got slowly better in 2-4 weeks, then hit a plateau.  I waited and waited, lost patience after xx months... and just went ahead and played football with them, and hey presto, they disappeared completely within 1 or 2 games.

    Maybe coincidence, maybe just my body, but that experience affects how I deal with niggles now.

  • Hi again all..

    Just want to say its been over a month now since my injury and I am still suffering slightly.. I have managed a couple of 10k distances and seem to be on the mend but for anyone new out there that picks up an injury the only advice I can give you is rest as much as you can. Do not make the same mistake as me and keep running on it as it will only cause more pain... an injury is not like a stitch where you can just run it off and all will be fine in the morning.

    Before every run now I always take the time to warm up correctly..

  • Craig a friend of mine has torn his groin, came back too soon and now has got to the stage where he can't even walk without aggravating it. Get physio advice, rest it, but whatever you do, don't race on it!!

  • Just be careful mate, the best thing in the first instance is RICE.

    I don't want to unduly alarm you, but given what i've went through I don't really see how a physio can say with much certainty that a groin strain is just that. There are a number of interlinking groin / hip conditions, and i think they just start out with the most straighforward, treat that, and if it doesn't heal, move onto the next serious option.

    I had a bad experience with an ineffectual/idiotic physio, but the 2nd one i went to was very good.

    The other thing you can do after RICE is begin to work hard on your core - pilates and also glute work. A strong core gets all the muscle in that area firing evenly and lessening the risk of overcompensation/overload. A good physio will assess your core as part of considering your groin injury. Needless to say my first physio hadn't a baldy notion about core.

    Also, a physio will consider if there is any scar tissue on your adductors which will need to be frictioned off before much recovery can take place.

    Good luck

  • I've been out for six weeks now with a groin injury and it's still bothering me.

    I went to the GP and was told it wasn't a hernia, so get out my face and stop bothering me. I've been to the physio and been given core work to do and some gentle walk/jog stuff for the last week, but I'm finding a gentle jog for more than a minute and I get pain. The following day my lower abdomen is painful.

    How long has taken anyone on here to fully recover from this to getting back to running injury free?

  • There's some good advice on here.   Core work will defineatly help in the mid/long term and a good sports/deep tissue massage should loosen muscles off.  Everyones groin can tighten for different reasons.  In runners one of the main causes is instability of the pelvis.    i.e. the pelvis tilting and/or rotating excessively when running. 

    Depending on your posture/body type/running style/old injuries different muscles will tighten up to compensate.    Adductors are a fav because they are actually a strong 'limiter' of tilting AND rotating of the pelvis around the hips when running and they get overworked.

    Hip flexors will nearly always be tight (especially if you've got a driving or desk job!) so make sure you are stretching those.

    Strengthening core, Gluts Med & Min and hamstrings will all help to take pressure of groin.

  • This all sounds really familiar to me! I've been suffering from a groin strain for the last 4 months, I assume it's because I didn't rest it properly.

    Also, it's probably down to the fact that I strained my groin 2 and a half years ago and I don't think it healed properly, i.e. scar tissue etc.

    I've finally decided to bite the bullet and pay for physio, I've been injured so long that I didn't want to wait to have it done on the NHS. Off for my second session tomorrow so I'm hoping I'll be healed in a few weeks maybe.

    Craig Richardson 9 wrote (see)

    Deep heat is good but be careful in that area, I found out the hard way, do get get any deep heat on sensitive parts. Lol it really hurts

    Haha so I'm not the only one that found out the hard way! I agree, it is very painful should you get it in the wrong place

  • I agree, core work will help, plus what worked for me also were walking lunges and squats, loads of them. I've mainly had achilles problems rather than upper leg problems, but would occasionally have to take time off for thigh strains, including one where I seemed to be able to feel all the vibrations going up my femoral shaft while running.

    With that last one, I rested for a month or so, then started adding in walking lunges while walking round my usual running route, and standing squats. Six months on, my upper legs now feel very steely and I am running three of four 10k distances every week, with no twinges whatsoever.

    My legs weren't conditioned properly before - when I started doing the walking lunges I could feel a massive burn on the inside of the thighs after doing 10 or 20 lunges, and I was wobbling while doing them - now they're pretty easy. My adductor muscles in particular have got much bigger, which is bad news as my suit trousers will now go threadbare on the inside top of the leg where my legs rub against each other. Glutes have also got harder.

    I feel more confident about avoiding groin/upper leg injures now - good luck.

     

  • Thanks for the tips. I think one of the main reasons I might have suffered another groin injury was probably down to using the 'Hip Adductor' at the gym.

    My adductors would feel really sore for a couple days afterward but I just thought it was normal and continued with other exercise (e.g. running)... bad idea I imagine!

    I just wasn't sure if it could be a bad idea me using the Cross Trainer at the minute though? I've been injured for quite some time, and although I feel virtually fine most of the time and when walking etc, I now feel so paranoid about setting my injury off again.

    I know I'm definitily not fit to start running again but I'm hoping using the Cross Trainer mainly with my upper body should be okay?

  • Cross trainer should be fine.  Don't use the sit-down Adductor or Abductor machines at the gym - they don't strengthen your muscles for running!   If running involved spreading your legs in and out while being in a sitting position then it would be ideal.  As it is it doesn't and you could be be making issue worse!   Try one leg squats and side steps (hops as you get stronger) and multi-directional lunges - they will all strengthen your aductors and gluts in the way they need for running.

  • Runners Therapist wrote (see)

    Cross trainer should be fine.  Don't use the sit-down Adductor or Abductor machines at the gym - they don't strengthen your muscles for running!   If running involved spreading your legs in and out while being in a sitting position then it would be ideal.  As it is it doesn't and you could be be making issue worse!   Try one leg squats and side steps (hops as you get stronger) and multi-directional lunges - they will all strengthen your aductors and gluts in the way they need for running.

    Thanks however I was just doing lower and upper body workouts in general really, not so much to help with running exactly. I just tend to do a bit of running to help keep fitimage

  • I injured my groin about two weeks ago, rested,iced,stretched then did a slow 5k last night, I felt it slightly hurt and this morning I am feeling uncomfortable but not hobbeling around. When can I get back out running properly? :-( 
  • Cal JonesCal Jones ✭✭✭
    I suffered a very painfull groin strain in December '15. I actually did this coming out of a squat in the gym rather than running. It was that bad that I could only walk with difficulty, couldn't cross my legs when sitting or even stand with my feet together. It was bad, especially as I was training for my first marathon at the time.
    But in January, I went to yoga every day (I have a membership at a Bikram yoga studio). I had to modify most of the poses at first, but by the end of the month I was doing all the poses normally, could walk and was able to start running again. I completed a half marathon in February and managed the marathon at the beginning of April. The month of training I missed did have consequences (last six miles were pretty hellish) but I got it done and the groin was fine.
    It did give me the odd twinge every so often thereafter but, a year and a bit on, it's totally fine.
    For the record, don't ice it. Ice may make it feel better, but it inhibits healing. For me, because it was a gym injury, it was a little different - if you got your injury running, then running may be something you want to avoid for a while. See a sports physio and get a proper assessment before you proceed.
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