Pulled groin muscle. It hurts. What helps?

[RileysMom]

Hi all,

So I’ve managed to end up with a nagging pain at the top of my right leg, in the middle, where it meets my groin. It’s only one leg (I must be riding lopsided, but that’s another topic altogether), and it’s fairly localized (I can point to the exact spot that hurts). Time off from riding helps, but more than 2 days off doesn’t happen and it’s not bad enough that I can’t ride, but isn’t going away. I think I need to switch which side I mount up on, because throwing my right leg over is probably making it worse–I have tight muscles to begin with, with terrible flexibility. Any ideas for how to make this better? Stretches, maybe?

[Justice]

It might not be a pulled groin muscle, but that your pelvis is out of whack. This happens to me whenever I jump big, and all summer I had thermal care packs taped to the inside of my legs on Mondays, until I went snd saw a chiropractor. It was miraculous. Fingers crossed it’s that rather than a muscle pull!

[GucciJumper]

I had a “pulled groin muscle” and instead I ended up with a torn hip labral. My pain is right next to my hip bone. Mine definitely refused to get better. The only thing that eliminated the pain was not doing anything which should have healed the muscle but when it wasn’t getting better we had to look further.

[equisusan]

Is this a self diagnosed groin pull or did you actually go to a doctor and get an ultrasound?? I ask because you can do an injury to the tendon near your pubic bone that has a high incidence of becoming chronic and lasting for many years if you don’t rest it until completely healed.

[Soaponarope]

Did you go to an actual doctor, preferably orthopedist? If not please go. It’s a big hassle but there is a lot of stuff in that area that you don’t want to mess with. You might need an x ray and or physical therapy, but you should get a proper diagnosis.

[luvmyottb]

Go to your doctor now. I thought I had a groin pull. Doc did not x-ray me at the time. Went back to doctor after hobbling around for 2 months. Finally saw it was a 2 stress fractures in my pelvis. Yikes! Nothing to play around with. Good luck!

[Mac123]

[QUOTE=GucciJumper;8421371]
I had a “pulled groin muscle” and instead I ended up with a torn hip labral. My pain is right next to my hip bone. Mine definitely refused to get better. The only thing that eliminated the pain was not doing anything which should have healed the muscle but when it wasn’t getting better we had to look further.[/QUOTE]

Ditto. I thought I had a chronic groin pull for years until I really did it in at a clinic. Turned out it wasn’t a groin pull at all but a labral tear. I did a lot of damage by not getting it fixed for so many years.

If it doesn’t resolve in a short while, I’d get it checked out. Like others have said, there’s a lot of things in that area that can refer pain to the groin. A simple pulled muscle should resolve quickly on its own.

[bigdreamer]

Find someone who does PEMF therapy! It’ll help ease pain immediately. Depending what you did will determine how many treatments it’ll take to go away completely.

[butiwantedapony]

I tore… Something, back in April. I’ve been to 5 different Drs and no one will ultrasound to see what exactly is wrong (they just prescribe PT for an injury that they aren’t even sure about what it is??). I suspect a full labral tear based on the ripping sensation and length of time it has taken to heal. All drs have diagnosed “groin strain”. Yeah, no- I felt it rip apart and pop. I didn’t ride for 3 months, then rode a bit but I am also pregnant so ended up stopping a couple months later.

The pain is STILL there although much better.

I think you need to stop riding for a while at the very least and find a dr who will do an ultrasound. If you keep rising as-is it will never heal and could do further damage.

[KingoftheRoad]

Welcome to my last year! I had a slight “sore” sensation last September that I attributed to leftover muscle soreness from a show, and I had a show season to finish, so I pushed through it. By November, I was trying to tape my leg/groin muscle up so I wouldn’t cry when jumping.

I tried to rest it through the winter, but could never get it to heal. Finally my trainer grounded me in January, when I couldn’t engage my core muscles to keep my big jumper put together without wincing in pain. I did everything - about 20 sessions of PT using active release techniques, a PRP injection that didn’t hold, even a steroid injection just to try and kill the pain. An ultrasound and MRI did confirm that I had a tear in my adductor muscle. I stopped riding for 6 weeks while doing all of this, but the pain returned when I started riding again.

We were at the point of having to consider adductor release surgery, where they actually separate your groin muscle from your pelvis, when, as a last ditch effort, my sports medicine doctor suggested that we try some Lidocaine patches to allow me to push through some of the minor pain to get the surrounding muscles stronger. At that point, we had been able to confirm that the tear was trying to heal, and that I wasn’t doing any further damage.

So for the next three months or so, I would cut a piece of Lidocaine patch about the size of two postage stamps, slap it right on the area that hurt, tape it down, and then go ride. Miraculously, it worked. By July, I rode without it for the first time, and by September I wasn’t using them at all any more.

Moral of the story? This is the most frustrating injury I’ve ever dealt with - something that started so small that I thought I was just stiff and achy turned into almost a year away from riding competitively. Whatever you do, stop right now and get to a SPORTS MEDICINE doc so you can get properly diagnosed. I agree with getting an ultrasound right away so you know exactly what is happening. Otherwise, you end up losing a lot of time just resting it to see if it gets better, only to figure out that you need more aggressive treatment.

Feel free to PM me if you need more info - Mac123 was great in comiserating with me this year and preventing me from despair!

[Firebug]

OP: I would make a Dr. appointment. I wish I had when I pulled something in that area about a 1 1/2 years ago. I came off a horse and kind of got my leg caught in the stirrup. I tired pushing through it because I got the impression that my trainer thought I was being a wimp. However, every time a horse would run out or spook I’d re-pull whatever I originally pulled.

I never made a doctors appointment because well I hate doctors, I grew up not going to doctors unless it was an ER type emergancy, I have horrible insurance, and I’ve never gotten much help from doctors in the past. I go in and their response is something like “that’s weird I don’t know what to tell you” So I had 0% confidence in the doctors in the area.

Also everyone told me that groins just take a looong time to heal. These were people who had groin pulls in the past and a doctor friend. So I never made a doctor appointment because I thought I just needed to rest it…

I did finial go to the clinic this fall and they said it was hip flexor tendinitis and prescribed PT which is what I’m doing now. However, the clinic didn’t do a ultrasound and I’m wondering if I’m wasting my time with this PT. I’ve been to 5 sessions now.

I agree with KingoftheRoad that “This is the most frustrating injury I’ve ever dealt with”

[ElementFarm]

I am so sorry you’re going through this.
I had a tear that I suffered with for a year. I had to mount from a very high surface (like table height - so I could just step over to the saddle) or from the wrong side. I couldn’t do any no-stirrup work, and just riding and jumping was very uncomfortable. I refused to rest it more than a few days, so it never got better. Eventually I took 6 months off from any kind of riding or physical exertion that stressed it, and it healed. But it sucked.
A few years later I strained the other side, but not as bad. I did the right stuff that time (ultrasound, xrays, MRI, and physical therapy) and it healed much better and MUCH faster.

[DoubleDown]

My chiropractor fixed me up with mine. It took a few visits, and I had to be careful with how I walked and moved, but it worked!

[NCtoCO]

Welcome to the last year of my life!

I am just easing back into the tack after a year off. I started feeling a dull, almost burning ache in my upper thigh/groin after riding. I’d also feel a deep, painless pop if I sneezed or coughed while seated.

My primary care doctor recommended a break from riding. A few months later, same symptoms, so I reluctantly tried a chiropractor. That was the worst mistake I’ve ever made. He made a huge “adjustment” to my hip joint (even though the pain was nowhere near my hip) and when it popped, it hurt so badly that I screamed and jumped off the table. I couldn’t walk or drive for two days after that … and I’ve passed 7 kidney stones, so I have decent pain tolerance in general. I never went back, though I got an MRI a few weeks later to make sure that there was no damage.

I went to an orthopedic/sports medicine clinic next, who got me into great physical therapy for my core and groin. I finally saw good improvement from that.

Riding isn’t bothering me anymore, but I do still feel a twinge from time to time. To mount my fat, almost 17hh horse, I climb up the fence to make sure I’m almost at the height of my stirrup, just to avoid straining those muscles/ligaments.

Apparently injuries to that region are very slow to heal.

I’d recommend staying out of the saddle until you get to a doctor. And don’t give up until you find one that can diagnose and help you! I hope you feel better soon.

[RileysMom]

Thanks for the replies! Of course, what I was hoping to hear was: no big deal, these things magically heal on their own. Sigh. So now I need to decide how aggressive I want to be about getting this evaluated and/or treated. The adult in me knows this is a good idea. And it does feel like something small in there is popping when I post (mostly when I’m standing up), which probably means it’s a ligament or something other than a muscle.

[equisusan]

[QUOTE=RileysMom;8425288]
Thanks for the replies! Of course, what I was hoping to hear was: no big deal, these things magically heal on their own. Sigh. So now I need to decide how aggressive I want to be about getting this evaluated and/or treated. The adult in me knows this is a good idea. And it does feel like something small in there is popping when I post (mostly when I’m standing up), which probably means it’s a ligament or something other than a muscle.[/QUOTE]

Yea please get it checked. Some injuries in this area can become chronic and last for years and years… not worth it. Trust me I just had to badger one of my friend’s about this and she reluctantly stopped riding. The prescription is 4 wks off anything that hurts it (which is really just riding) and then try to sit in the saddle and see if it still hurts… that will be this weekend. If it still hurts then it’s off for another 2 wks and rinse and repeat until no more pain.

[purplnurpl]

Voltaren gel.

And get the human form. Don’t use Surpass. The human drug has an ETOH base instead of being creamy like surpass. It’s absorbed better through our systems.

[bamboopole]

If I am concerned about the status about my body I usually don’t post on the Chronicle Forums or Facebook. I contact my PCP, by email, as we have that capacity. Or I’ll contact her office for an appointment. Nursing school taught me a medical professional is a useful tool.

[GucciJumper]

[QUOTE=equisusan;8426253]
Yea please get it checked. Some injuries in this area can become chronic and last for years and years… not worth it. Trust me I just had to badger one of my friend’s about this and she reluctantly stopped riding. The prescription is 4 wks off anything that hurts it (which is really just riding) and then try to sit in the saddle and see if it still hurts… that will be this weekend. If it still hurts then it’s off for another 2 wks and rinse and repeat until no more pain.[/QUOTE]
Popping is a sign of a hip labral tear. Please get this checked out. Labral tears rarely get better on their own without surgery. It sucks but it’s better to get it fixed so you can enjoy life.

[Countrywood]

I had a groin pull last year…diagnosed with x ray after hoping it would go away…I did not ride about 2-3 months, I went to a good chiro who did laser TENS therapy, prescribed some gentle excerise, what healed me the most was when I got a stationary indoor bike and did short cycling sets,which healed it after a month. I don’t know why that worked but it did.

Good luck, they do heal but takes time. Very common to only have it on one side