Forums >Health and Nutrition>MF Groin Strain/Pull/Injury/Lameness
So, getting exceptionally frustrating at this point. Started to feel agitated back in November, and then really did it in trying to get through a session of repeat 300s. It wouldn't hurt to bad during the repeat except right there first few steps so I thought maybe it can be run through....WRONG. By about the 6th/7th one decided this was a bad idea and went to walk home. By the time I was getting toward home it was very uncomfortable to walk, as well as to drive later on (esp bringing foot in to brake).
Since then it's kinda remained status quo. It's to the point where I don't really feel it doing most day-to-day activities, but I can feel it slightly doing certain motions as well as if I were to plant my left leg and take my right foot and try to pull my left foot further left (aka stronger adduction). Taking a big step (2-3 stairs at once) I can also feel it. It's never so bad these things hurt but they don't feel "right". I can usually run a few steps without discomfort but running a a couple hundred meters would be enough to make it flare up.
It's also worth noting that I've probably stalled the healing progress some as I was forced to run on it once for some light military PT stuff, and tried to run on it once or twice earlier in the injury until it became obvious that absolutely won't work.
Any thoughts on this injury? Normal healing length of time? Rehab/stretching stuff?
EDIT: Riding the stationary bike doesn't seem to be a problem, as I've been able to ride 30-40 miles a day without too much issue.
They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that. "If I am still standing at the end of the race, hit me with a Board and knock me down, because that means I didn't run hard enough" If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. "Don't fear moving slowly forward...fear standing still."
Walk-Jogger
I just posted this in the racing forum, but it probably should have been posted here instead, so I'm copying it over:
I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on the internet, but I have had two groin pulls, left and right side, in the past 6 or so years. First one from stumbling over a car tire in the black of the night that had been carelessly left on a public sidewalk. Second time was after I raced a particularly hilly half marathon with big headwinds going uphill, and then stupidly did a few hard speed workouts the following few days. In both cases I tried to keep running on them, and doing things to make it get worse for a few weeks or months before deciding to take it easy. The first one got so bad after I played ultimate Frisbee on it and stumbled on the turf that I could barely walk off the field. I gave up running for 6 months and went back to my first love, cycling. That didn't seem to bother it. Four months later a dog ambushed me on the bike, flipping me over the handlebars and body-slamming me onto the asphalt, breaking two ribs and one vertebrae in my lower back, putting me off my feet and totally out of commission for any sort of exercise for 6 weeks. Six weeks later my doctor said I could run "for short distances", so I hopped on the track and started off with 200m intervals. The groin strain was gone (after about 6 months of zero running) and it was only 6 weeks of mostly short track intervals before I had my 5k time back down to close to my PR range.
Anyway, before this story gets too much longer, what worked for me for the second groin pull to stay in shape was doing some cycling, which was pain-free, and only running when it didn't hurt, which was about every third day. And then most importantly, I was able to walk or run pain-free on a treadmill that was set to at least 12% slope, preferably more. The rec center where I work out has two incline treadmills that go up to 30% slope. I started working out on these walking at 2.5 mph and 21% incline, and worked my way up to the max 30%. At 2.5 MPH, 30%, that is roughly the equivalent to running on flat ground at a 7:30 pace. I started doing a few uphill sprints on the machine as well, and found that this regimen did NOT bother my groin pull, and did keep my fitness level up and in fact increased it.
And one more thing, I used a heating pad on the sore groin area for 30 minutes at bedtime to increase bloodflow to the area, and this really seemed to speed up the healing significantly.
In both cases my groin sprains took about 6 months to heal and go away completely. In retrospect, I feel that part of the contributing cause of my second groin sprain and a number of other problems with my feet and ankles was my greatly increased weekly running mileage while running in neutral, non-supportive shoes. I now wear orthotics in my daily work shoes and Sole brand inserts in all my running shoes except when I'm racing, and this has cured my foot and ankle problems, and I believe the additional arch support helps protects the muscles and tendons that connect the knee up to the groin from over-stretching.
That's my 2 cents worth on the matter of groin strains
Retired & Loving It
Not dead. Yet.
I pulled a bunch of muscles a few years ago when I was fat and inactive, and I tried to play in a flag football league. I pulled my calf a few times, and the groin I think on both sides! The groin was the worst. I know the feeling you are talking about...I described it as feeling like jello. Couldn't put much weight on it, but it didn't really hurt unless I put direct pressure on it. I had a big bruise that fell down to my ankle after a few days. My injury was pretty acute though. It happened suddenly and with the calf there was actually an audible pop that everyone on the field heard! As soon as it happened (all times) I was simply unable to put any weight on the muscles.
I remember doing light stretches in the beginning that started to feel better as time went on. Once I could do the stretches pain free I started to experiment with putting weight on it. I also remember wrapping it up with compression bandages and that made it more bearable. The bandages gave it the support it didn't have on it's own. My only advice is to give it a lot of respect. I think it took a month or so for mine to heal, but I might have re-injured it by starting up again before it felt 100%.
You've had the injury longer, and it doesn't sound like it was as acute. You probably need to give it a few weeks to a month with no activity at all to give it time to heal properly. But what do I know, I'm just some random guy. You might also want to go to the doctor if it's not getting better.
How can we know our limits if we don't test them?
spam
In both cases my groin sprains took about 6 months to heal and go away completely.
T_T
I hope it doesn't take this long. 3+ more months if stationary biking sounds very unexciting.
Refurbished Hip
I hear you. I managed to screw up my groin back in June and I am STILL dealing with it today. Stupidly I tried to run through it for a while. Ended up taking 5 weeks off this summer, thought I was okay, and went back to running sometime in August. Well, it eventually came back. Paced a friend during a 100 miler for 12+ hours in September, ran a 50K in October, and a half marathon on November 4th. November 4th is the last time I ran.
Went to the doctor in December and had an MRI done -- came back totally clear. He diagnosed me with tendonitis. Started PT about a month ago. She has me doing exercises to strengthen my glutes. I still have that feeling that something isn't right in my groin even after resting for 3 months. Could I run? Sure, I could run through it, but I know that would be stupid. Cycling doesn't hurt, but I am also going crazy sitting on the trainer in my living room.
Running is dumb.
Sounds kind of like what I have right now - is the pain just above the groin and extends down into the inner thighs - mostly with side to side leg motion (like kicking a soccer ball or using your foot to try to slide something across the floor)?
I got my injury playing soccer and unfortunately played through it for a few games. It has been about 3 months now and I can run normally for the most part - some stiffness and discomfort after 6-7 miles. I have not tried intervals yet.
I have found that it feels best when i do some core work (NOT crunches, but planks, side planks and using the abdominal twist machine at the gym). Also, try the runner's lunge and butterfly stretches to loosen up that area.
Best of luck
Jeff
The good news is that it seems to have improved some in the past few days. It seems I can go through general daily activities with noticing it on certain motions. Hopefully that is a step in the right direction, and that I can start some stretching/rehab.
Thanks for the suggestions jeff, as far as the core/stretching stuff goes as it's now just a matter of figuring out exactly what I want/need to do to rehab this thing to finish it off and prevent it's return.