Long-Standing Groin Pain - What Can Be Done?

Groin pain is a common injury in sports involving fast changes of direction and kicking. High levels of groin injuries would be seen in GAA players and rugby players. Often groin pain can come on gradually. You may notice some stiffness or tightness in the groin, especially after training. This may progress to stiffness during activity with a loss of speed with sprinting and a loss of distance and accuracy with kicking. Ideally this is the time to come see your chartered physiotherapist. Strategies can be put in place to prevent progression of this condition. Many people will continue to play and train with these symptoms and often the condition will worsen until pain is severe enough to prevent training and playing.Usually when groin pain is persistent there are many factors involved. The adductor (groin) muscles can be tender on palpation and trigger points can be presents. Poor control of the gluteal (buttock) muscles is often seen with poor technique of squat and single leg balance. In many cases there can be involvement of the lower back with stiffness in these joints.Many treatments can be helpful for long-standing groin pain. Exercise is the most important component of the physiotherapy approach. A comprehensive exercise and rehabilitation programme has been shown to be effective for allowing return to sport free from groin pain. This may include exercises for the gluts, adductor muscles and abdominals as appropriate.A functional movement assessment can identify any ‘movement flaws’ and corrective exercises can be prescribed. David Richards has extensive experience in assessing functional movement.Myofascial trigger points are often present in the adductor muscles. Trigger point dry needling can be a very effective treatment for relieving pain from myofascial trigger points. Our clinic director Aileen MaGuire is skilled in the use of dry needling for many conditions.This can be a frustrating condition to deal with and require a lot of patience! Our chartered physiotherapists, in our Dublin 4 clinic, are well equipped to manage this condition and get you back on the field as soon as possible. Contact us at Ballsbridge Physiotherapy for more details.