stuffed groin/hip.. what to do?

[james_9]

hey gang.

About a year ago ( roughly eleven months i think) I was playing football and I hurt my groin, I beleived it just to be a normal strain and continued to play a game straight after the first, by the end of this game I struggled to even lift my knee up to my waist. I was not too worried though, thought it was just a normal muscular thing and that I would be right to play my other match the day after. Day after came and I was no good to play, and for a while I would rest it for a week or two, then play again only to have to sub myself off due to my groin/hip area hurting again. It was normal for me to play 2 games a week for the past 2 years.

It was then that i started seeing a physiotherapist, who diagnosed me with ostiteus pubis, my pubic bone was tender and I had trouble pushing my knees together ( it hurt ) I went through ages of doing nothing, lost nearly all cardiovascular fitness and then around a month ago this year, I started training for this years season. The other day however, i was training and my groin/hip started hurting once again. Really ticked off. Saw the physio again and has bascially said he hasnt got a clue what is going on, and sent me down to a physision(spelling?). I have had a bone scan, which cleared up the possibilty of having ostitus pubis, however i still suffer physical symptons of it. ie pubic bone being tender.

I have also noticed that my hip flexor gets sore when i run and kick, or somewhere in that area. Also when i lie down, and pull my knee up to my chest to stretch my hamstring, the hip flexer/hip on the same leg hurts, which is weird beacuse really it shouldnt be doing anything. This had led me to thinking perhaps i have a mild form of ostietus pubis mixed with some hip problem, not really sure.

Sorry about the essay guys, just wondering if anyone has had a simliar experience and would be able to shed some light? It would be good to talk to some people who have had a simliar problem and how they have gotten over it.

catchya,

James

[Paulie]

Not many doctors have a cue about osteitis.
If you live in melb, head down to Prahran Sports Medical and see Andrew Wallis.

[james_9]

I live down in tassie, thanks for the suggestion though. I would be particulary interested to speak to people who have had a simliar problems. I have seen doctors and physiotherapists and neither have been able to help me, I was pretty much told to rest and it all should be fine

[Coxy]

hey gang.

About a year ago ( roughly eleven months i think) I was playing football and I hurt my groin, I beleived it just to be a normal strain and continued to play a game straight after the first, by the end of this game I struggled to even lift my knee up to my waist. I was not too worried though, thought it was just a normal muscular thing and that I would be right to play my other match the day after. Day after came and I was no good to play, and for a while I would rest it for a week or two, then play again only to have to sub myself off due to my groin/hip area hurting again. It was normal for me to play 2 games a week for the past 2 years.

It was then that i started seeing a physiotherapist, who diagnosed me with ostiteus pubis, my pubic bone was tender and I had trouble pushing my knees together ( it hurt ) I went through ages of doing nothing, lost nearly all cardiovascular fitness and then around a month ago this year, I started training for this years season. The other day however, i was training and my groin/hip started hurting once again. Really ticked off. Saw the physio again and has bascially said he hasnt got a clue what is going on, and sent me down to a physision(spelling?). I have had a bone scan, which cleared up the possibilty of having ostitus pubis, however i still suffer physical symptons of it. ie pubic bone being tender.

I have also noticed that my hip flexor gets sore when i run and kick, or somewhere in that area. Also when i lie down, and pull my knee up to my chest to stretch my hamstring, the hip flexer/hip on the same leg hurts, which is weird beacuse really it shouldnt be doing anything. This had led me to thinking perhaps i have a mild form of ostietus pubis mixed with some hip problem, not really sure.

Sorry about the essay guys, just wondering if anyone has had a simliar experience and would be able to shed some light? It would be good to talk to some people who have had a simliar problem and how they have gotten over it.

catchya,

James

James,

Not dissimilar to what I went through last year.
I play Oztag and week to week a nagging pain in my lower ab/groin region would get worse and worse. It'd be sore and tight to start the game, as I warm up it's fine, then the next morning it was a struggle to get out of bed. It got to a very bad point when during a game I felt my adductor and something higher up in my groin literally rip.

It hurt to cough, sneeze, laugh, stand up, bend over...just about anything was painful. I couldn't even go for a walk around the block.

I didn't have a bone scan or anything, but my sports doctor said it was likely a mild form of osteitis pubis combined with some strain to the muscles around the abdominal wall, and tightness of my adductors pulling on the pubic symphysis. Pretty much all combining together to make it painful.

I went through about 6 weeks of physio, just doing a lot of core stability exercises, strengthening my transverse abdominus muscles. The exercises are very similar to pilates. Also did some adductor strengthening and work on improving inward rotation of my legs - lots of painful stretching.

After 6 weeks out of oztag I was back playing, although not 100% pain free.
I kept up the exercises and continued running and it got better and better.

Now I only rarely have twinges of pain, and when I do I know it's a sign to get back to my "pilates" and then it goes away within a week.

Core stability and strength, I can't speak more highly of it!

My case was much milder than Paulie's. I remember he was going through his stuff at the same time as me and wasn't having anywhere near the success or relief I did, so don't take either of our stories as though they will apply directly to you.

However, I'm sure the docs here will be the first to tell you that improving your core stability and strength will do no harm.

[james_9]

hey Coxy,

That does sound a little similar to what im experiencing, although my recovery has taken alot more time. If you had any sheets with the exercises you used that would be great. Only thing that is worrying me is how when i bend my leg leg up to my chest, my left hip/hip flexor (not really sure exactly) hurts. Which is making me think that i might have some sort of joint problem?

cheers,

James

[Coxy]

hey Coxy,

That does sound a little similar to what im experiencing, although my recovery has taken alot more time. If you had any sheets with the exercises you used that would be great. Only thing that is worrying me is how when i bend my leg leg up to my chest, my left hip/hip flexor (not really sure exactly) hurts. Which is making me think that i might have some sort of joint problem?

cheers,

James

Dammit, I had a whole reply typed and my browser crashed! LOL

Gist of it was, how do you go with straight leg raises? Can you do one leg at a time?

With me I could do one leg at a time, my right leg (I think) hurt more than the left.
Trying to lift both at the same time was murder!

Having my leg pushed up to my chest was fine, it was when I was trying to do it under my own muscle power that was agony. The pain was at the front lower left of my groin, not in the hip joint itself.

As far as exercises go I can't think of the names or an easy place to find diagrams, but the main one I do is this:

- lie down on a mat with knees bent about 45 degrees, shoulders back and looking straight up at the ceiling
- concentrate on tightening your deep ab muscles (that took some getting used to with me)
- once you have that hold position, slowly lift up your groin, keeping your lower abs tense and your shoulder blades against the floor so your lower back and bum are off the floor
- hold it for 10-20 seconds then slowly lower back to the floor

Repeat that 3-5 times a set, do about 3 sets.

Once you've got that movement pretty stable you do the same thing, but while holding you lift your right foot of the floor slowly, keep the position stable (no shaking if you can avoid it) and slowly extend it straight. Hold for 10-20 seconds then bring your leg back and down to the original position and lower your back to the floor again.

Do that with each leg 3 times a set, do about 3 sets.

When you get adventurous you can start lifting the free leg up into almost a high kicking position while still keeping your pelvis steady and balanced.

Hope that makes some sense.

Obviously if there's any pain, STOP. The most important thing at the stage you're at is to try and get the pain to settle down, then worry about strengthening.

Also, if you haven't done so already, go see a sports physician rather than a physio, particularly one that has experience dealing with footballers. They tend to be a little more knowledgeable about all the different conditions that go on down there. Can also perhaps give cortisone injection or something to help if they think that's useful.

I went to a guy who does work for the Queensland Reds rugby union team and he was pretty good.

Good luck!

[james_9]

hey coxy
Thanks for all your info, I will definately give it a go! You may have missed out in my first post but I mentioned that i'm actually going to see a physician in about three weeks, I just spelt physician wrong :D Hopefully he can sort me out.

When I am lying down flat I can lift both legs (keeping them straight) without any difficulty, and now I can also lift the left leg without it hurting. However when I add any extra weight to the leg (ie lifting up both legs with only the left one) it starts to hurt in my groin/hip area.

[james_9]

Also when you say deep ab muscles, do you just mean the ones closed down towards the groin as possible?

[Paulie]

Coxy - how things have changed ? Nearly 2 years later 90% there, just got another 4 weeks before I can start running. Shin splints are placing me behind the 8 ball, but its good to finally see results.
James_9: You have to find someone who has a clue about osteitis.
Rest doesnt do nothing! I took 16 months off and yeah.
You need remedial massage on your adductors. Core stability & stretching :)

[Coxy]

Also when you say deep ab muscles, do you just mean the ones closed down towards the groin as possible?

Yeah, you can feel them around the top of your hips and above the pubic bone. If you haven't done anything with them they're difficult to flex in isolation, but once you get the hang of it it's easy.

Ask your physio to show you. Mine put his hand down on my side and when I got it right he told me so I knew what it felt like.

Paulie: great to hear you're coming good :-) Definitely agree that rest is useless, which is why they call it "relative rest". Do things that don't hurt, but don't do nothing ;-)

Another tip when you do start running - compression shorts (Linebreak or Skins are good, Linebreak are cheaper). Really helped me a lot when I started running.

I still wear them, feel really good on my quads, hammies and adductors.

[james_9]

Thanks for the tips, I will let you know how I go at the physician.

cheers,

James

[Coxy]

Thanks for the tips, I will let you know how I go at the physician.

cheers,

James

Oh, be prepared for him to have a real push on your pubic symphisis during your examination. And believe me, if you've got osteitis it is going to kill! LOL

My physician had his thumb jabbing in there and my face was contorting and he just said calmly "that hurts a bit doesn't it?"

[Unregistered]

oh, my physio has already pushed and prodded me on my pubic bone, hurts a fair bit. Apprantly it shouldn't! Also hurts when he pushes into my hip flexor, so not really sure whats going on. I will report back when I have seen the guy.

[james_9]

the post above is me, just forgot to sign in.

[steely834]

hey, they are all the symptoms of oseitis pubis i went through the same thing, the best thing to keep up your fitness is bike riding if you cant run or swim. Most physio's dont have a clue what to do the ones i saw said just rest it, others told me too strengthen my stomache mustles up. Since ou live in Tas it would be difficult to see the bloke i saw that qured me so you will have to search around Tas till you can find someone

[james_9]

Did you have any trouble with your hip flexer/hip joint?

[russell]

This sounds really similar to what I have as I had OP for over 3 years. After going through a few physios I found a guy who actually had had a similar problem to me which was good as he really understood the problem and also my frustration! I did the same type of exercises that are described above and they helped alot as I can now jog, swim and cycle with little pain. The one thing I would stress is that you should build up the activities really slowly (this was done over 4-5months) and stop if it hurts. I still can't play soccer but it's a big improvement.

[jon@ATX]

james i have the same problem with my hip flexor i injured it running track it hurts to run but jogging is fine i was wondering if u have any advice?

[kjwilkin]

james i have the same problem with my hip flexor i injured it running track it hurts to run but jogging is fine i was wondering if u have any advice?

Hi there,

I know of a good sports physician in Melbourne that specialises in these problems. He was also an elite athlete.

Let me know if you want their contact details.

[cmeg]

Hi, I have been reading this discussion, and I have a very similar problem, and am having trouble finding someone to treat me - most physios/myo/osteos etc have told me to stretch or taped my back - I feel like its a waste of time looking for treatment! I live in Melbourne, can any of you recommend someone in Melbourne who is good with this sort of thing?
thanks

[Flash]

if its groin related, garry Mitiris or Pat Allen.

Garry is in Mount Waverly i believe.

excuse my spelling

[Flash]

Garry Mitritis or Pat Allen in melbourne ive herd there great with groin injuries. if i was in melbourne be seeing one of them in no time.

[jack]

hey guys,

My history sounds quite similar to everyone elses... I had a 18 month history of groin pain that started on one side and eventually spread to both sides. I am at elite level athletics but also play heaps of aussie rules. I was unable to play past the 1/2 time break at footy and lost all my speed in sprinting. I had pain with all offline running.

I have pain to touch on my pubic bone, really tight groin muscles, some popping in the pubic bone. I also was very weak and painful when squeezing my knees together.

I initially saw two physios and a GP- all who told me I had a groin strain and that rest would help. After taking 4 weeks then 6 weeks off my pain kept returning.

I tried all the shorts and tapes and none helped me at all.

I was then referred to a Melbourne surgeon call David Young (apparnetly the best hip / groin surgeon in Aust!!!) who said he would not operate untill I saw this physio called Chris Bell. He works with that Andrew Wallis guy I think. He also works with StKilda footy club and is an absolute brain. He knew exactley what was wrong, explained it in depth and although the rehab was slow returned me to full activity.

This guy is serious a step above the normal physio- trust me dont waste your time with them, they only guess. Chris apparently see's mostly all hips and groins?!

He works at Prahran Sports Medicine and Malvern Sports Physio- can be hard to get into but if you ring and chat to him before hand he normally will find a spot so he can throughly assess you (or he did for me since I was sent from David Young).

Im wrapped that Im not back to fully fit and avoided all surgery.

Good luck guys, I hope you all get as good as I am

cheers

Jack

[kjwilkin]

Hi there,

John O'Donnell is actually the best for hips. Many AFL clubs use him. David Young is more of a generalist orthopaedic surgeon.

I would recommend going to see a sports physician that specialises in groin and hip problems that works with the AFL as they see these injuries a lot. At Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre Chris Bradshaw and Andrew Jowett are great with hips. The number for Olympic Park is 9427 0366.

Just some food for thought.

[Flash]

Hey Jack your story is very similar to mine, and ive got Osteitis Pubis. But rest and Physio is the way to go to see if you get better that way. Take Kjwilkin's advice and get in contact with one of those blokes, other wise you can always go and see Gary Miritis in Melbourne.

All the best

[mylaw]

People usually don't go to doctor immediately after an injury thinking it would go away ,but in reality it worsens .If an injury takes more than a week ,then it surely calls for an expert doctor ,although finding the right doctor for a disease is sometimes takes quite long