groin injury .... damn it

[IHateMyJob2004]

Yesterday I pulled my groin for the first time playing basketball.

There are 3 grades. 1 is not bad. I can walk but it is painful, so I figure I have a bad grade 2 or grade 3 injury from reading about it.

Disclaimer: If it is not any better tommorrow, I am seeing my doctor. I am pretty sure that my insurance requires that I see my PCP to get a referal to a specialist.

I am curious though. How long does recovery take for this kind of injury? How long till I will be mostly pain free and how long till I can do sports again?

 

[kevman]

sounds painful, what exactly happens when you get this injury ? Is It different from a hernia?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

sounds painful, what exactly happens when you get this injury ? Is It different from a hernia?

Never had a nerhia so I couldn't tell you.

This injury can be minor. You could get it and still play basketball. You'd have a sore inner thigh. Right now though, it is so sore that I can barely walk.

It's a muscle tear. The muscle fibers tear. Typically time will fix it. Worse case scenario is surgery to repair but that is often rare and will cause permanant damage if it is that bad where it will never (rarely?) get back to 100%.

Reading up on this, bad injuries can take 4-6 weeks to recover. I don't know what recover is defined as though. Pain free or back to 100%? From my calf injury (a tear), it was maybe 6 weeks till I was 90% pain free. maybe 12 weeks to pain free. And 6 months till it felt like new.

 

[kevman]

Never had a nerhia so I couldn't tell you.

This injury can be minor. You could get it and still play basketball. You'd have a sore inner thigh. Right now though, it is so sore that I can barely walk.

It's a muscle tear. The muscle fibers tear. Typically time will fix it. Worse case scenario is surgery to repair but that is often rare and will cause permanant damage if it is that bad where it will never (rarely?) get back to 100%.

Reading up on this, bad injuries can take 4-6 weeks to recover. I don't know what recover is defined as though. Pain free or back to 100%? From my calf injury (a tear), it was maybe 6 weeks till I was 90% pain free. maybe 12 weeks to pain free. And 6 months till it felt like new.

How'd you end up tweaking it? Landing funny? cutting ? I've been playing ball once a week (halfcourt driveway style) but I've found that at this age things that used to never hurt now do.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Ya ...

Age 35.
Half court game of 3 on 3.
I stretch 80-90% of the time before basketball. This time i did not even though I did think about it.

What happened:
I was going to the basket for a rebound and threw my leg out to stop momentum. It went out a little far so I quickly tried to bring it back in (bringing feet closer together). So, my muscle fought the momentum of my leg in space as I was trying to get my foot into a better position. And my leg muscle lost to momentum.

Read up on "groin pull". It will provide more information.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Unless you have significant bruising/hematoma, it is very likely a grade I muscle strain. A grade I muscle strain is painful, but means the muscle and fascia are entirely intact. If you tore it, you'd probably have gone to the hospital. A grade II strain is a small tear where the fascia (connective tissue around the muscle) is still intact. That's very painful and results in significant weakness in the affect muscle group. A grade III strain is a large tear where the muscle and fascia are both torn. You essentially have to have pronounced bruising due to bleeding, no strength from that muscle, and balled up ends of the muscle at either end. Don't get me wrong, a grade I strain can be very painful, but structurally it's ok. Typically grade I injuries will start to feel better in 3-5 days, as that's as long as it takes for the inflammation to die down and cell proliferation to rev up. I'd say wait up to 5 days before going to the doctor. Take it easy, but keep moving. Don't stretch it. Don't ice it (unless the pain is too bad). It should start to recover if it was just a freak accident.

Also, keep in mind that research shows that stretching prior to power or ballistic sports (i.e. weightlifting, volleyball, basketball, sprinting, etc) actually increases risk of injury. This is because you weaken the connective tissue temporarily. Definitely wait to stretch afterward.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

SC,

Thanks for the post. Deifnitely no bruisng. I'm mostly surprised how bad it hurts. Sneezing can even cause pain due to some sort of involuntary muscle contraction.

Happened Wedensday night. Thursday sucks. Today (Friday), things seem to be getting better. Maybe 20% recovered versus Thursday.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Friday night ..... I 'd say 40% recovered. I sat around alot during hte day so maybe my body had time to fix issues.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Friday night ..... I 'd say 40% recovered. I sat around alot during hte day so maybe my body had time to fix issues.

Sounds about right. The inflammatory process is the most painful part. Once it starts to feel about 75%, slowly ease your way back into your routine over 2-3 weeks. If it's not a bad strain, that should work just fine. Glad to hear you're feeling better!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Saturday mid-day. It's tender but probably 70% recovery from pain. I might even finish doing some tile work that is now 3-4 days delayed.

SC,
So I should hold off on basketball for 2 more weeks? Injury occurred on July 11.

I was going to start lifting weights (upper body only) again on Monday. I know my core will be hit a little but I figure i could just hand pick exercises that should be nice to my core. Even if it is an abbreviated workout, I still want to do it.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Been a week now.

I think I reinjured my leg on Sunday. I over stretched the injured muscle.

Today is day 7 since the injury. Using the muscle doesn't result in shooting pain like it used to but it is still very tender. So, it is getting better. I even cut my grass with a walk behind mower.

No basketball for me tonight though. Maybe next week.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I think the muscle is finally healing after 8 days. Sitll some tenderness and pain. There was some stiffness when I woke up every day that is starting to go away. Still taking it easy.

But I am hoping that I can go for my first run in a month on Saturday. Even if it is just 1 or 2 miles, I am really itching to do so.

 

[Rock Climber]

hmmm, I had a similar injury when I ran cross country in high school. I forgot exactly how they classified it but I rested and didn't do anything to agitate the area (aka running or lifting) for a whole week Sunday-Sunday and then by the next Monday I was fine.

 

[Miramonti]

Ya ...

Age 35.
Half court game of 3 on 3.
I stretch 80-90% of the time before basketball. This time i did not even though I did think about it.

What happened:
I was going to the basket for a rebound and threw my leg out to stop momentum. It went out a little far so I quickly tried to bring it back in (bringing feet closer together). So, my muscle fought the momentum of my leg in space as I was trying to get my foot into a better position. And my leg muscle lost to momentum.

Read up on "groin pull". It will provide more information.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Got me figured out. I am Dennis Rodman!

Well, imagine that pic but me being 2 feet lower to the ground and legs at 50 degrees relative to each-other instead of 150 degrees.

People don't respect that guy enough., He was an elite athlete by any definition and probably could have killed Jordan in any drill not involving a basketball. Shame what alcohol has done to his brain though.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

hmmm, I had a similar injury when I ran cross country in high school. I forgot exactly how they classified it but I rested and didn't do anything to agitate the area (aka running or lifting) for a whole week Sunday-Sunday and then by the next Monday I was fine.

To be perfectly honest, for optimal long term outcomes, complete rest is not a great idea. Guided exercise, maintaining range of motion, etc can improve long term health of the muscle itself and improve tensile strength. That's the goal.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

3 1/2 weeks since I injured it.

Every week it is getting better but i am still not at 100%.

I tried basketball 3 days ago. I could do it so long as I did not try to sprint or do anything crazy like layups.

Riding a bicycle is n problem. I can do so at a good pace and therei s no pain. I can't run yet though.

So, is my progress normal?



And a new question:
Also, over the past week or so the muscle that was injured makes popping noises when I use it without thinking. Usually when I wake up in the morning and roll out of bed. The noise is akin to the sound of knuckles cracking just louder. There is slight discomfort that occurs when this happens but the discomfort goes away in a few minutes. It's not even pain. Just discomfort.

 

[Whisper]

I pulled my groin once during tryouts for my high school baseball team. Was playing second, and when I went to plant my foot on the bag, I learned that apparently the base wasn't actually anchored to anything--it slid about three or four feet away, and my foot went with it. Doing the splits accidentally is never enjoyable. Made the rest of tryouts particularly difficult; heck, I had a hard time just walking from one class to the next and getting into/out of my seat for the next week.

Best of luck with the recovery. I remember mine took about two or three weeks to finally feel normal again, although I was an idiot and kept up with tryouts, which no doubt didn't help the swelling to recede.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

3 1/2 weeks since I injured it.

Every week it is getting better but i am still not at 100%.

I tried basketball 3 days ago. I could do it so long as I did not try to sprint or do anything crazy like layups.

Riding a bicycle is n problem. I can do so at a good pace and therei s no pain. I can't run yet though.

So, is my progress normal?



And a new question:
Also, over the past week or so the muscle that was injured makes popping noises when I use it without thinking. Usually when I wake up in the morning and roll out of bed. The noise is akin to the sound of knuckles cracking just louder. There is slight discomfort that occurs when this happens but the discomfort goes away in a few minutes. It's not even pain. Just discomfort.

Without therapy, your progress is fairly normal. How old are you? Age can play a role in the healing rate as well.

Does the popping come from high up - close to your pubic bone? If so, that's not your muscles, that's your pubic symphysis which is a joint. It typically pops when the two sides of the pelvis are slightly misaligned.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

UPDATE:
Wow, now at 7 weeks.

Pain is still there but it is getting better every week.

Yesterday I ran 2 miles for the first time since the injury.
Today I even did lower body weights. had to be careful. Started light just to see how things would go. Squatted 135 and stopped at that weight because the muscle feels tender. Deadlifted 170. Didn't go higher there for the same reason.

SC,
The popping usually happens when I wake up in the morning once. It has since stopped though. it did seem to come from the area you are talking about. I was being very careful rolling out of bed so there were probably some pronounced muscle imbalances that could have been the actual cause of popping noises you mentioned (pubic symphysis).

 

[MarkHunt]

Don’t ask me how I did it but 4 years ago I pulled my groin while jumping from a tractor. I know it sound funny but it wasn’t funny at all at that moment. 2 weeks I was lying in bed not able to walk. I guess when you are 60 years old it takes time for your body to recover.

 

[ibex333]

How the hell do you get such an injury? I played basketball like a madman starting from 10 all the way up to around 18. Never got any injuries short of sore muscles and a cracked pinky. This crazy fool jumped to get the rebound and landed with all his weight on my poor finger...

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

jbex,

Bad luck and aging. As you age, your muscles/tendons stretch less. Due to this, quick motions can put additional stresses on parts of your body that used to be handled naturally through elasticity. Keep the muscle strength and loose the eleasticity and bad things can happen. I started falling apart at 30. Now at 36, I have seen a torn calf muscle (OUCH!) and groin pull within the past 2 years.

Getting old cucks. I highly recomend stratching. Doing so should help as you get very old (60, 70, 80).