Adductor Injury is how bad?

[Ryan1982]

Inside of left leg on the adductor I have a null pain at the moment.

It started with the muscle twinging whilst walking (this is after a weekend of football) on monday on the way to work 3 weeks ago. It didnt hurt but was obviously irratable. I treated with ice every night for 20minutes and in the mornings. I spent about 20minutes of my day walking to the train station.

I wanted to know if i could play football on the saturday (6 days after initial injury) as it really did feel fine.

I booked in for physio as the football season is underway and wanted quick treatment. After 5 days waiting for my first treatment the leg felt absolutely fine except for a slight discomfort when the area was prodded, but there was no effort in walking.

The physio went straight at the muscle with intense force with the thumbs on the muscle (i assume she was breaking this muscle down) but it felt almost over the top, I have a high pain threshold but this was to the point i was gripping onto the bed in absolute agony/ like large iron rods trying to peirce through my leg. She said it will be a few days till the pain subsides and will be replaced with bruising.

Weekend goes by in agony (in agony) and monday she re-treats my leg with massages/ laser treatment/ ultra sound. I cancel my wednesday appointment after she told me to book another 4 more, then by the end of the session she thinks only 2 saying it doesnt look as bad as she thought.

Its now the 3rd week, I have not been back. I have started mild training as she explained to start by swimming/ jogging/ stretching.
(I can feel my other muscles beginning to weaken - hamstring/ quads - due to been out of training) Am I in need of giving my leg a full stretching out with a run, it feels over rested, like it wants to be stretched and put through its paces.

The help I am in need of is -
Is this pain normal for the training period?
Should I be feeling sensitive in the area still after walking a distance?
Do you think this physio has done my leg damage? there was no pain before after only a few days? now three weeks.
Shall i try 20minutes on the pitch this saturday?

I will be hugely grateful for any help and I will keep you up to date with how this resolves.

Kind Regards

Ryan

[Trambusto]

I have been dealing with a similar injury for over a month now... but only because it has taken me this long to figure out what it is. In the meantime, I have not stopped training or racing, and just last weekend I did an olympic distance triathlon.

At first I thought it might be a quad strain... but then I realized, the pain isn't in FRONT of the quad. So then when I read your post and heard abou the doc pressing in with both thumbs and sending you over the top, I knew for sure that it was an adductor strain..... which I was leaning towards... either that or a stress fracture -- which it still might be -- though I hope to God it isn't.

Anyway... you mention the desire to keep training, but I am probably where I am because I have NOT stopped activity. Of course, I'm stubborn too, because I already missed much of the season due to an ITB injury from last year that came back swingin' in April.

So don't make my mistakes... just take it easy for a bit.

[chad]

Howdy, the injuries you describe sound painful and sort of close to mine. I played sports all the time growing up because baseball and football were my greatest loves. I played through a few minor injuries during high school. Those were right groin injuries during football, baseball, and wrestling. I injured my lower back trying to block a guy while we played our rival school during my senior year. I played RB and you do give out and absorb punishment on most plays. It was easier to play through minor pain when you are young. I injured my R groin during baseball and only received PT for that particular injury. During one cold practice day in early March I felt a strong pull of my left groin area. It felt different than the right side and it even started to affect the inner area of my left hamstring. It healed enough and I continued to play. It's now been 12 years since then and I've had an MRI on my back that revealed tears of the outer annulus at L 4-5 and L 5-1 disks. I can deal with that but today I have hip pain on both sides and the pain does not allow me to perform intense workouts or even semi-intense like I used to do.(jogging 2x per week around 4 miles, lifting 3x per week etc...) I've had 3 right shoulder operations with the most recent one being a posterior/inferior capsular shift which also showed grade 3 stage of chondrosis.(Bad cartilage defect) I'm avoiding doing more surgeries because it plainly isn't fun. I'm continuing to try and remain positive and I take it in stride but I'm human and want to feel better. The shoulder is healing pretty good but I'll talk more about the hip pain. The treatment I'[ve received has been 2 carefully guided cortizone-steroid injections placed in my inner left leg where my L hip joint is. These procedures were not bad when performed but ached more later. I received little improvement from them. Before receiving the inj ections this past spring of 2006 I had a normal MRI of my L hip in 2004 that revealed a linear high signal around the anterir labrum and the radiologist suspected it may be an anterior labral tear. Well in august of 2006 I had an MR-arthrogram performed to learn more. The results stated I had a partial tear of the L iliopsoas muscle and the surgeon gave me exercises to do with a theraband to strengthen the muscles around it. He said to bike gradually.( I explained that my hip throbs after any impact sport but that cycling more than 10 miles hurts too.) Since my 1st shoulder surgery in 2001 I've gained some unnecessary weight while losing alot of muscle. My normal healthy weight during exercise and rec. sports was 165 lbs- 175lbs. Today I'm at 195lbs. The surgeon wasn't concerned with my weight but wants me to strengthen both hips so I can exercise more. My right hip clicks and pops quite frequently just moving my leg. I was a kicker besides running alot during football. The popping is sometimes fairly loud as the pain I feel is right over the hip and was thought to be an inflamed bursa by my shoulder PT. The pain in the L hip is anterior but is also felt on the outside of the leg. I'm relieved to hear that the left one isn't a labral tear because my orth dr. showed me but I often wonder if there could have been something they didn't see because of my pain the last 12 years. The pain has only intensified in the last 5 years so I'm confused. I like hearing that I won't need surgery to correct it but how good will it feel after the PT exercises? Will I be able to run 10K races again? My shoulder PT believes the popping on the right side may be due to an inflamed bursa sac. The right one has frustrated me the longest even though I've always been very diligent in stretching before all sporting events and stretching longer than other teammates. I was teased for stretching so much but my body seemed like it took longer to get stretched out. The hips appeared stable with MRI diagnosis. I just want the pain to subside and get back to a healthy exercising habit lifestyle. I do generally walk 4-5 miles per day as a mailman but my hips often ache after just a short 2 miles. Getting in and out of my mail truck 200 plus times per day is quite repetitive and makes them ache. I wonder if the clicking on both sides may represent a little joint laxity. I would appreciate any insight or professional advice to help me out. Thanks, Chester

[Ryan1982]

Hiya, thanks for the replys,

Quick update, after giving into my urges to play football I havent trained at all, I am now walking without any pain and alot of freedom in the leg, I have decided to give training one more week off till I start swimming because I know in my heart it is still in there wiating to hurt. My walks and short runs to the train station have been pain free for about 1 week and a few days, I am optimistic I will be playing again in maximum of 4 weeks, so I suppose its getting close to crunch (or snap) time.
I still believe this damage was created by the physio, who I emailed suggesting in a light manner, she said it is always a risk (with a non severe injury it was a risk? did u give me a choice?) As a result of the failing muscle, my knee has been in some pain with been pulled about with stress on the thigh, my hamstring has felt at snapping point sometimes and groin in a slow dull healing process. BUT! lets hope we are almost at the end of that tunnel with the weeks of rest I've have given it with just 20minute walks each day.

I will update as I start training again.