Groin Strain: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

What Is a Groin Strain?

A groin strain or a groin pull is discomfort in your pubic area. It is related to your muscle injury. Such muscle injury often causes pain, uneasiness, and difficulty in movement.

Our groin area is made up of muscles such as the lower abdominal muscles, the iliopsoas muscles, and the adductor muscles. Among these muscles, your iliopsoas muscles are made up of two muscles, the iliacus and the psoas major. On the other hand, six muscles, namely the adductor longus, magnus, brevis, the gracilis, obturator externus, and pectineus, make up your adductor muscles. On a microscopic level, all of these muscles are made up of tiny muscle fibers.

During a groin strain or groin pull, these fibers are often injured due to overuse, stretching, or accidental injury. As a result of injury, a tear happens in your muscle fibers, which causes all that discomfort.

Who Is at Risk of Developing a Groin Strain?

These injuries are most common among athletes. Also, kids or adolescents suffer from this type of injury. Needless to say, even adults or older individuals suffer from this due to overuse or sudden leg movement. Apart from daily activities, adventure sports like bungee jumping, mountaineering, and zip-lining can cause groin muscle strain.

What Causes a Groin Strain?

The chances of groin strain or a groin pull are very high among athletes. You will especially see injuries among players who play soccer, hockey, ice hockey, rugby, basketball, and volleyball. Even athletes who participate in sports that include running, jumping, or gymnastics can suffer from such injuries. The following factors:

1. Excessive stretching of the groin muscles.

2. Excessive force on your muscles causes sudden and abrupt movement of the leg or muscles.

3. Overextension of the muscle.

4. Excessive loading force on the muscle, which is not conditioned properly.

What Are the Types and Grades of Groin Strains?

A groin strain or groin pull is classified based on which muscle is injured and the nature of your symptoms. Based on the muscles, it can be:

1. An adductor muscle groin injury is the most common type. It is most commonly seen among football players.

2. An abdominal strain is related to a stretch or tear in the muscles in your abdomen. It is very common among men who lift heavy weights. This causes a bulge in your abdomen as your internal organs try to come out through the weakened muscles. This is called an inguinal hernia.

3. In this type of injury, the iliopsoas muscles are involved. Sportspeople who participate in running, jumping, or sports like rugby often sustain this type of injury.

In addition, groin pulls can occur due to injury to the hip bones. In some cases, the soft joint that connects the hip bones is damaged, which can also cause your groin to strain.

Based on your groin strain symptoms, it can be classified into;

1. Grade 1 or Mild: In this type, you do not find any difficulty or discomfort. There can be mild pain and a bruised spot. You can find a small area of depression in the muscle area.

2. Grade 2 or Moderate: In this scenario, you can find mild difficulty with swelling in the area with a bruised spot. If you try to continue your leg movement, you can find sharp stabbing pain.

3. Grade 3 or Severe: This is the most serious type of injury, where your muscle is completely damaged or torn. It causes severe pain and discomfort with difficulty in movement. Sometimes this type of injury can damage your bones, too.

How Is a Groin Strain Diagnosed?

A doctor diagnoses your groin pull through proper examination. When the site is touched, you will feel pain. If you flex your leg or try to move your leg against force, you will feel pain. Also, if you cough, you can feel pain.

The doctor may advise you to take an anteroposterior view or a frog-leg view X-ray for initial diagnosis. For a confirmatory diagnosis, an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or ultrasound is useful, as it can detect the exact nature of the muscle injury.

How to Treat a Groin Strain Effectively?

Groin strain treatment includes proper care and adequate rest. For primary care, you can use the RICE method to treat it.

1. Rest is the most effective method for a groin pull. Adequate rest will provide the necessary healing time for your injured muscle.

2. Ice application or cold compression will provide relief from pain and swelling. It is useful to apply cold compression twice or three times a day.

3. Compression at the affected site will further reduce blood flow. It also lowers inflammation, pain, and swelling. The doctor will ask you to put a compression bandage on the affected area.

4. The best position for a groin strain is to elevate your legs. You should place it above the level of your heart, which will further reduce the blood flow in the affected area.

Additionally, the doctor will advise you to take painkillers like Aspirin, Ibuprofen, or Naproxen. Corticosteroid injections can also reduce pain and discomfort. However, in severe cases (grade 3), surgery might be required.

Groin strain exercises will help you recover faster. These exercises are groin strain stretches, which provide muscle mobility and flexibility. As a result, you gain your normal mobility faster.

How Long Does It Take to Recover From a Groin Strain?

Mild to moderate cases of groin pull are not severe, and in such cases, the groin strain recovery time is four to eight weeks. If you need surgery, it will take up to twelve weeks to heal.

Can You Prevent a Groin Strain?

Yes, you can prevent groin strain through some simple steps. Before your games, you should do stretching exercises. Also, you can walk for three to five minutes to warm up your muscles.

To avoid injury, avoid lifting excess weight or use the proper technique. Additionally, regular exercise, diet, and proper shoes can prevent muscle damage.

Conclusion

Sportspersons have a higher chance of groin strain or pull. However, even kids or adults can suffer such injuries while performing sports activities. Muscle injury is the causative factor for such injuries. In severe cases, there can be a bone fracture, too. However, proper rest and active care can heal it in a short period.