The chronic groin

With the English Premier League in full swing and the A-League around the corner, what better time to talk about football and that groin pain you just can’t shake!

The groin is a complex area made up of a number of different structures. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, nerves and blood vessels in the area may be responsible for groin pain, however, other structures such as the hip and sacro-iliac joint (SIJ) can refer pain into the groin.

The muscles that make up the main part of the groin are the adductors: the adductor longus; adductor brevis; and adductor magnus.

The repetitive stress on the pubic bone from constant overload, mainly caused by the adductor longus, causes boney oedema which can lead to chronic pain.

This condition is called ‘chronic adductor-related groin pain’, more commonly referred to as ‘osteitis pubis’.

Common symptoms include:

• Ache that increases with activity
• Pain on activation of the adductors
• Pain on lunge
• Pain on palpation of the pubic bone

Come in and see a physio at Ergoworks to assess your groin pain, determine what the source of your pain is and provide you with the most appropriate evidence-based management.