Most Common Groin Pain

Groin pain can be annoying, especially if you are a runner! Being a soccer player (and I think a really good one!), I tend to see fellow soccer players in my clinic complaining of groin pain all the time. The purpose of this blog post is for you to understand that not all groin pains are the same; it could be as serious as an infction, or as "simple" as a pulled muscle or starin.

Some Red Flags (more serious diseases) for the hip and groin can be:

• Arthritis
• Inguinal Hernia
• Impingement Syndrome
• Infection
• Avascular Necrosis

and on and on!

  

I will leave it up to your doctor to diagnose your condition, since diagnosing your condition over the internet may be a difficult task for me!

One of the most common types of hip and groin pain I see in my clinic is called a Psoas Syndrome. Psoas the primary hip flexor muscle, starts from your lower spine and attaches to your leg. (Image 1) 

                                                       

Symptoms:

•  Low back, groin and hip pain.
• Occasional radiation (shooting pain) towards the inner thigh.
• Increased difficulty in walking, specially going up a hill or upstairs.

The spasm of Psoas muscle when over worked, too weak, or due to repetitive injuries will cause Psoas syndrome. When this muscle is in spasm, its tendon will “snap” over the hip bone, sometimes causing an audible popping noise, called Snapping Hip Syndrome. (Image 2)

                                                         

The most common methods of treatments are stretching, physiotherapy modalities such as Ultrasound, TENS (electrical impulses), and some exercises. Some really good stretches are posted on my Facebook page, if you like to see.

Some patients complain that these methods are not working for them, or if it has, it is very short lived. The reason for this can be due to the anatomical location of the Psoas muscle. Psoas muscle is a very deep muscle. In some cases, stretching will not affect the muscle itself, and it will only stretch the fascias around it. Therefore a more direct method of treatment such as Active Release Technique is required.

Try their website and find a practitioner near you.   www.activerelease.com

    

Again, there are many conditions that resemble the condition I mentioned above but are more serious. Please do not self-diagnose yourself and talk to your doctor.  

 

Dr. Ali Masoumi

www.facebook.com/drmasoumi