Groin strain physical therapy in Carmel, Indiana

In most groin strains the adductor longus, the inner thigh muscle that pulls the leg toward the midline, is overstretched or partially torn near where it joins the pubic bone. It usually happens when the leg is forced outward while the muscle is contracting, such as a long stride to reach a ball or a skating push-off.

Soccer, ice hockey, football and court sports produce the most groin strains. Around Carmel that means youth and adult soccer at Grand Park in Westfield, hockey and figure skating at local rinks, and pickleball, where wide lateral lunges to reach a dink are a frequent trigger for players new to the game. A prior groin strain and weaker adductors relative to the hip abductors are both linked with higher risk.

Longer-standing groin pain that builds with exertion and involves the lower abdomen may be a different problem, described on the sports hernia physical therapy page.

Rehab progresses from pain-free squeezes to long-lever, high-load adductor exercises, then to speed and direction changes. Early work uses isometric squeezes of a ball or pillow between the knees, at intensities that stay comfortable, along with walking and light cycling.

As squeeze pain drops, the therapist adds side-lying adductor lifts, cable adductions, lateral lunges and sumo squats with dumbbells. The Copenhagen plank, a side plank with the top leg supported on a bench, is a widely used adductor exercise that is usually introduced in short-lever form first, with the knee on the bench, then progressed to the ankle.

The final stage uses the turf corridor outside the suites for shuffles, crossover steps, skating strides and cutting, followed by sport-specific kicking or shooting. Core and hip abductor strength are trained throughout, because the groin works as part of a chain.

1. Ball squeezes held for time without pain
2. Side-lying and cable adductor work
3. Lateral lunges and wide-stance squats
4. Short-lever, then long-lever Copenhagen planks
5. Shuffles, crossovers and cutting at increasing speed
6. Kicking, skating or court footwork

Stop the sport that caused it, keep walking within comfort, and start gentle squeezes of a pillow between your knees if they do not hurt. Avoid wide stretches and side lunges for the first several days. Getting in and out of a car with both knees together, rather than stepping one leg out wide, also spares the inner thigh while it is sore.

Ice can help with pain early on. If you are limping, cannot squeeze the knees together without sharp pain, or the strain is not improving after a week, the two-minute assessment for hip and groin pain passes your details to the matching team, who propose a therapist who works with athletes. If you play soccer, the physical therapy for soccer players page covers the wider picture.

Resist the urge to test the groin with a hard kick or a sprint to see whether it is better. Those tests rarely tell you much and can re-tear a healing muscle. Instead, check how a pillow squeeze feels each morning: if it is getting easier and less painful day by day, healing is on track and the strengthening can gradually build.

• Skip pickup games and skating until the squeeze is comfortable
• Keep stride length short when walking
• Use pain-free cycling to stay conditioned
• Write down which movements trigger the pain