Acute adductor (groin) injuries are one of the most common injuries in field sports. In our clinic at Winston Hills Physiotherapy Centre we often see these injuries after a weekend game of soccer.
It is important to confirm your injury and rule out any other issues. Determining how long your rehab will take depends on the grade of injury of your adductors. Lower grade groin injuries usually take 2-3 weeks to rehabilitate, while higher grade injuries may take as long as 3 months.
When it comes to rehab resistance based exercises, and preventative exercises, are known to be very effective in the management of this condition. The importance lays in the stages of rehabilitation and when to progress from one stage of rehab specific exercises to the next. During the rehab process non-groin exercises are also important for overall physical conditioning and prevention of further injury or compensation, such as lower limb stretching, glute activation, and core strengthening.
What can you do to rehab?
RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation
Gentle stretching of the groin - ensure this is not done at too great an intensity as some groin injuries have a higher potential compared to injuries in other areas of becoming a chronic injury
Isometric groin strengthening - you can activate your groin muscles by squeezing your ankles into a ball, a rolled up towel or a cushion
Active groin strengthening for example, with therabands
Sport specific drills - like side running, changing directions, gentle kicking
Training
Once a full pain-free training session is completed, athletes will generally be advised they are free to return to sport.