Groin pain for four months

[Xeract]

Hi all

About four months ago I pulled my right groin while batting in the cricket nets. I felt sudden pain while stepping forward, but it wasn't too severe so I carried on for a while. Later that day it was very sore so I assumed it was a normal groin strain and tried to forget about it. The pain seemed to have spread into the left groin, but not as badly.

Usually a strain like this would frustrate me, but I'm two years into treatment for knee pain (both knees) so I can't really do any sport anyway. For that reason I ignored it, thinking it would go away with rest.

The strain was there for about two months, then I eventually asked my knee physio about it and he did a few quick tests and gave me two exercises (eccentric leg drops was one, the other was a glute exercise I think). I did those for a few weeks and the problem seemed to settle.

About a month ago I was kicking a football around - nothing strenuous as I can't run at the moment - and felt the pain gradually come back. Since then it's been quite bad, and not sure what to do next.

The knee treatment is costing quite a bit so I don't have the money to get it looked at professionally at the moment, although I'm trying to get an appointment with a physio on the NHS.

Any suggestions about what it could be? Are there any tests I could do to try and make a sel
f diagnosis? Any help would be appreciated!

I'm a 22 year old male, used to be active but not so much since the knee injury. I'm starting a course of injections for the knees next month, so really want to get the groin pain sorted so I'm ready to return to football.

Thanks!

Edit: Forgot to say that the pain is sometimes a dull ache, but most of the time a sharp pain when I lift either leg out sideways or push the legs together.

[Heidi]

Hi
So is the pain in both sides of the groin? And where is it located - i.e. really high near the pubic bone (between the legs) or lower down the groin muscles?
Is there a point you can touch that's painful?
I would carry on with the exercises the physio gave you before if these seemed to help.
Had you stopped doing them once the pain had cleared up last time? If so you should probably continue for longer and also progress them to more challenging groin strengthening exercises.

[Xeract]

Hi Heidi, thanks for getting back to me, much appreciated.

The pain is on both sides of the groin - although I only felt the initial acute injury in the right side. It's generally been worse on the right side, but still noticeable on the left.

The pain feels right up near the pubic bone between the legs. It also feels quite deep, and it's hard to pinpoint. It's tender to press around that region but it doesn't feel exactly like the pain I get.

I've read a bit about illipsoas syndrome that can cause this type of pain, do you think that's a potential cause?

I stopped doing the exercises when the pain seemed to go away, and about a month later I re injured it again the first time I did any sort of activity, so it could be that I didn't do them for long enough. I've started doing the exercises again twice a day - haven't noticed much benefit yet but still early days. The first time I did the exercises I felt a difference within a few days, so I should know quite soon if it's making a difference.

[Xeract]

I'm also thinking it could be a sports hernia as the symptoms seem similar. Looks like I'm going to have to go back to the sports physo, need him to give me a definite answer this time.