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Groin Injury Pain

Groin injury, also called groin strain, occurs when one of the hip abductor muscles becomes torn, ruptured or stretched. There are five hip abductor muscles, three of which connect the hip and pelvis and two others that connect the pelvis and knee. The most common groin muscle injury is to the adductor longus muscle that connects the lower pelvis to the inner thigh bone.

  1. Grades of Injury

    • Groin injuries are divided into grades depending on the severity of the injury. Grade I injuries are minor tears involving 10 percent of muscle fibers being injured. Grade II is a moderate tear and can range from 10 to 90 percent of fibers being torn. Grade III is the most severe, with full or partial ruptures of muscle fibers.

    Symptoms

    • Grade I injury pain will include tight groin muscles, discomfort in the upper thigh that may not be felt until exercise has ended and groin muscle tenderness to the touch. Grade II will include sharp pains to the groin or upper thigh muscles, minor swelling or bruising, pain on stretching the muscle, difficulty walking and painful running. Grade III will include severe pain when exercising, an inability to squeeze legs together, large amount of swelling and bruising of the groin muscle within 24 hours of injury and what feels like a gap or lump in the injured muscle.

    Causes

    • Causes of groin injury include overuse and a sudden turn or change in direction when running. These types of injuries are most common with sports such as football, tennis and basketball.

    Treatment

    • Treatment of a groin injury includes applying ice to the injured muscle for 15 to 20 minutes every three or four hours for several days; this will reduce inflammation. Over-the-counter medications such as aspirin and Advil may be taken for pain relief. The muscle can be taped with a supportive bandage to help with healing. Rehabilitation with stretching exercises and massage techniques will help speed healing. Surgery may be necessary in a Grade III tear in order to reattach the muscle.

    Recovery

    • A mild groin injury may take a few weeks for pain to leave and for injury to heal. A severe groin injury will take six weeks or longer to heal. Activities that cause pain to the injured muscle will need to be stopped until pain is no longer felt. Recovery will take longer if you continue to do activities that cause groin pain.

      You may return to normal activities when you regain full range of motion to the injured leg and have no muscle weakness or pain when walking or running.

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