Sports hernias are common in athletic men, but can also be experienced by women. As a tear and weakening in the abdominal wall, it is very important to be seen by a pelvic pain specialist as soon as possible if you’re experiencing symptoms.
A sports hernia or athletic pubalgia is a condition of chronic exercise-related supra-inguinal groin pain which can present with a bulge in the inguinal wall whenever the abdominal muscles contract forcefully. In a sports hernia, there is no defect in the abdominal wall, however, the injury occurs in the form of tears and weakening in the deep layers of the abdominal wall.
Sports hernias often cause pelvic pain as a major core muscle is involved, and pain is usually worse with twisting, turning, lifting, coughing, or sneezing, and pain lasts for weeks or months. When the adductor muscles are tight post-injury, that can be enough to trigger the symptoms below.
People who are athletic may experience sports hernias more often than the average person, as the hernia itself is the result of the repetitive microtrauma of constant twisting and turning. Pain may be evoked with a resisted abdominal ‘crunch’ and tenderness elicited most commonly over the lower abdomen.
Repetitive movements in the hips that are forceful
Unsafe exercises in the abdominal and hip region
Weakness in the abdominal muscles
While a majority of patients presenting with sports hernias are athletic males, there are certain sports and other activities that can also increase the risk of experiencing a sports hernia.
Running
Skiing
Hurdling
Hockey
Soccer
Baseball
Tennis
Diagnosing a sports hernia requires an in-depth examination of both the nerves and muscles within the pelvis, learning of your medical history, and getting a full picture of your symptoms and lifestyle.
Here’s what you can expect when you are a patient at Pelvic Rehabilitation Medicine:
Step One – First, our providers will ask questions about your medical history and listen to your symptoms to get a full picture of what is going on with you.
Step Two – Next, an external exam of your hips, abdomen, and posterior sacrum.
Step Three – Next, your pelvic nerves are evaluated externally with a soft cotton tip.
Step Four – Next, with your consent, gel is placed on a gloved finger and an internal exam is performed to allow us to evaluate the nerves and muscles within the pelvis. There is no speculum required as we are evaluating the pelvic floor muscles and nerves not the organs.
Step Five – Sometimes patients will need Imaging to help us understand if there is an associated cause of the pelvic nerve and muscle pain and dysfunction found on exam.
Step Six – Oftentimes, treatment can be started the same day as there is no down time. Our patients have been suffering with pelvic pain symptoms for 6+ months. We like to get them on the road to feeling better as soon as we can as the longer the symptoms are present the harder it is for us to resolve them.
Once a proper diagnosis has been given, we offer a proprietary office-based procedure to treat the symptoms of a sports hernia. This treatment consists of a series of pelvic nerve and muscle treatments to directly target the spastic pelvic floor muscles, inflammation in the pelvis, and nerve pain. Depending on the severity of your sports hernia, other modalities may be needed in addition to our treatment.
Experiencing a sports hernia can be extremely painful and difficult, but our team of pelvic pain specialists will listen to you, validate your experiences and symptoms, and partner with you on your rehabilitation journey.
When a hernia goes untreated or is more severe, other painful symptoms can develop.
We strongly encourage you to meet with one of our pelvic pain specialists to examine your groin pain to determine if it is a hernia. Especially if you are suffering from multiple pelvic symptoms such as painful bowel movements, erectile dysfunction, or any other symptoms.
Many patients opt for surgery, however, with the PRM Protocol, patients can experience increased pelvic function and decreased pain without surgery.
After the PRM Protocol, 88% of patients stated they missed 0 days of work due to their pelvic pain in the last 3 months.
After the PRM Protocol, 75% of patients stated their pelvic pain symptoms affected them 0 Hours per week while at work.
After the PRM Protocol, 96% of patients did not need to go to the ER for their pelvic pain in the past 3 months.
75% of our patients note a statistically significant improvement in pain and function.
You’ll meet with one of our pelvic pain specialists, who focuses solely on pelvic pain. We’ll start by reviewing your full health history, including a discussion of your symptoms. This will help us to understand what you’ve been experiencing, so we can work to identify the source of your pain.
Next, we’ll conduct a full pelvic exam. Externally, we will look at your hips, abdomen, and posterior sacrum. Internally, we will evaluate the nerves and the muscles within the pelvic area. This full exam is necessary, as it will help our pelvic pain specialists understand the connection between your symptoms, and your nerve and muscle pain and dysfunction. There is no speculum, so the exam is gentle and more comfortable than that of, for example, gynecological exams you may have experienced in the past.
We will discuss our findings with you and come up with a comprehensive treatment plan TOGETHER. We want you to know that your pain is validated and that we are here to work with you on getting you back to the life you deserve.