Anyone ever had a "Sports Hernia" aka: "Sportsman's hernia", "Gilmore's groin", or &quot

Has anyone tried prolotherapy? I have been reading about it and my doctor recommended giving it a try.

Osaru,

I haven't had surgery. But I started developing symptoms on the right side after the left side (original condition) got inflamed during therapy. I started to get really bad adductor tightness on the right side and some fleeting pains in my groin and abs on that side. It has subsided, but I think I have the condition on both sides now.

Yes, I've tried prolotherapy and the most evident benefit was a reduction in pain in my adductors and testicles...however, it wasn't enough to reattach a torn muscle from the pubic bone, in my case. Everyone is different and I'd always advise to explore anything but surgery until it's absolutely necessary. It's fairly painful during the procedure and a couple of hours afterward, for obvious reasons, as they insert a long needle into the affected area and release vitamins/lydicane while poking/proding...but after a week or two I noticed a decrease in pain. I'm glad to see folks on here keeping an open mind.

joe

hey joe,

how many prolo treatments did you get and how many shots per treatment?

im considering it for the adductor attachment pain as well as hammy attachment.

thanks

j

Thanks Joe... My stress response to pain isn't real good so I'm not sure if I will try it or not. But I still might.

How close attention do you pay to your diet? I've read up on that a lot too and I know it's a factor, but I'm just wondering if anyone else is really watching their diet closely.

I'm off to get an MRI in 30 minutes... yee ha

I believe I had 3-4 treatments over the course of a couple of months. One every two-three weeks. The number of actual shots is in question...it's really hard to tell when you're on the table, and I don't think I asked, but surely it was at least 10-20, as the procedure lasted for a good 15 minutes.

Good luck, man. I am happy to report that I can actually take a light pilates class and not feel sore afterwards. And I hit some tennis balls the other night with no pain. It comes and goes though, so I'm definitely in humble servitude to my recovery...It's been exactly a year since I saw Meyers and really the longest stretch of pain-free activity I can remember in about 2.5 years. There is hope.

Den,

Diet, I would say, in this instance is probably very low on the list of factors contributing to a muscle tear or imbalance. I'd rank your musculoskeletal orientation and repetitive movements (and genetics) as the primary causes of groin pain.

Saying that, I am an ardent believer that diet can change almost everything in one's body...if you eat better, you feel better, you think more positively...and surely this would help anyone in a state of chronic injury. Inflammation can be aided by diet choices certainly, including herbs, tinctures, etc but for an injury like this I'd say whether you eat cheese every day or vegan fare, diet probably isn't going to help much in repairing a tear.

Yeah, I guess I'm speaking more in terms of controlling inflammation. I eat mostly vegetarian fare with occasional fish. I think I could eat chocolate chip cookies and it probably wouldn't matter. But I was just wondering since I got a lot of inflammation on a day when I was eating some fried foods that I don't normally eat. At the same time, I also increased the intensity of my physical therapy and stretching that day. It's anybody's guess as to what caused it, but I was getting a lot better without surgery. And in a matter of hours, it all went down the tubes. Most likely, I just tried to push too hard and tweaked it again. It was sad... this injury is not extremely painful in every day activity, but very emotionally frustrating due to the limitations and ups and downs. Such is life I guess... I'm glad you're showing improvement.

den

i doubt it was your food. the stretching prolly did it.

in controlling inflammation, though...diet can in fact play a big role. i was vegetarian till about 1 year into my misdiagnosed sports hernia. the meat really helped out to regain strength. the bottom line is that your body will need the extra proteins and fats to repair the tissues. many vegetarians don't benefit from the veg diet. i am healing faster now that i eat animal products at least once a day. and that is after being a vegetarian (with some dairy and, like you, occasional fish) for 17 yfears.

Were any of you able to ride a stationary bike pre-surgery? I was able to without any problems until the recent inflammation. I'm going to try it again... I was just wondering what your experience was and limitations with physical therapy prior to surgery.

not a chance. it hurt sitting down often. if i were on a bike, hamstring attachment pain, perineum pain, inguinal pain, abdominal pain...

walking downhill was a challange from month 2-7 with the injury, some days i oculd do it, but many i could not.

I got back on the stationary bike today without any pain... I started to get some radiated inguinal tension afterwards when I began my stretching. I did get some mild inflammation again, but I've been using ultrasound and ice afterwards. I'll have to wait and see. The last time I really irritated it during therapy, the worst inflammation didn't show up until morning and it was difficult to walk or sit for several days. I get around pretty easy right now as long as I don't turn the wrong way or make a forced movement of any kind. Sounds like some guys had it worse than me so I'm going to stick with therapy until I can't ride the stationary bike anymore. I meet with my orthopedist Monday to go over my MRI. Based on this thread, I doubt it will show anything. But I have to rule out some other things I guess...

Hey den,

It's just this kind of scenario that most of us have been through ... it's ok without xx movement, or if I don't do push myself this way...the fact of the matter is there's something that's not right and you shouldn't have to compromise your body to avoid pain.

I suffered endlessly for almost two years. The best thing I did was see Dr. Meyers...what most radiologists and diagnosticians don't see on MRI's, he does, considering his tenure in this area.

I can't remember if you said you visited with him, but I would really highly recommend it.

It's great that your are trying to help yourself avoid surgery. I tried acupuncture, prolotherapy, PT, rolfing, complete rest, NSAID's, chiropractic...and nothing except surgery helped me regain strength and mitigate pain. Granted I have had my ups and downs, but all things considered, I am much stronger, agile and in tune with my body than I was while I was suffering. In my book that a surgical success.

So again, by all means, take every step possible to avoid surgery, but do yourself a favor and see Meyers for an expert opinion...he's done roughly 5,500 of these surgeries.

Good luck!

Thanks Joe... I think I'm heading in that direction and perhaps I will after I review it with my orthopedist. I just want to talk to a doctor who really understands this. My orthopedist is pretty good and is one of the few that have grasped the injury since he diagnosed it. But he is not an expert by any means. Thanks for the comments.

Sub 6,

I also live about 2-3 hrs from Philly (Westchester, NY).

I went down four times:

Once for the MRI

Once for the followup consultation

Once for the surgery

Once afterwards

I could have condensed the first two but it wasn't hard for me to go down and as other posters have said Meyers is really, really busy.

You can get the MRI anywhere but they recommended I get it at Thomas Jefferson Hospital near them as I supposed they knew how to do "Meyers MRIs" better than others. In the state I was when started down the road with them I didn't cut any corners.

My insurance is Cigna Open Access. They paid every penny but not without a bit of a fight.

Let me know if you need any more info.

Will,

How much was the operation roughly? I think I'm developing a bilateral condition... just wondering what it is going to cost me if I have the surgery for one side. I have decent insurance but I'm not sure they will pay for it or not. There seems to be some dispute of whether this injury is legitimate in the medical circles... thanks

Hi everybody,

I posted a bit months ago, but once I decided to have surgery, I kind of put it out of my mind. Work and a big trip I had planned meant that I postponed the surgery until now, so in ten days I go to Meyers for the big cut. If anyone is trying to decide whether or not to try rest, I have eliminated most of the activities that irritated my condition for months now, and there really is no improvement. I quit running, but I usually can bike without too much pain afterwards. Sometimes, though, even when taking it easy, I'll get a couple of pretty painful days. I know that last winter I really had trouble when there was snow on the ground. Walking through more than a couple of inches seemed to irritate things, and wearing heavy boots definitely did. Bottom line for me is-I can't count on being able to do anything for any length of time, so surgery is definitely called for.

BTW-I would have had this a year ago, but the MRI I brought to Meyers didn't show any definitive tears. When I went back 5 months ago and had an MRI there, He found tears on both sides. (Just as well since I see that several people have had one side fixed only to have the other give out later.) So-have the MRI there if you can.

Question for those who have had surgery with Meyers. Run Daddy, who seems to have healed faster than most, said he could have left the hospital instead of staying ovenight. I have about a four hour drive home. I was thinking of leaving the hospital but staying the night near Philly in a hotel (We will have a room anyway, since my wife is coming to drive me home) Bad idea? Joe? Willg?

Jeff

bumpus

How many of you experienced either a hip impingement or some type of labral tears? I got an MRI last week and it showed negative for any type of groin/sports hernia problem. But the MRI shows some evidence of hip impingement or labral tear. My doctor thinks this might be causing the problem, but I think it is the other way around in that the sports hernia is causing the hip problem - which has gotten worse as the groin problem has progressed into my hip and abdomen. I will be oontacting Dr. Meyers office soon. I am worried because I seem to know more about this injury than my doctors do here. Any thoughts or advice appreciated... I'm going to see a hip specialist and I don't want to have another surgery without addressing the root cause first.

Hi Jeff,

They'll need to keep you after the surgery overnight so they can monitor you...but then you have to leave by 10am...I am unsure if they'll let you leave early. You might ask Marcia what protocol is. For the ride home, I'd make sure you have plenty of meds...I took a 6 hour flight home the next day and it was probably the most painful experience I've ever had (a lot to do with the lack of space on planes). Make sure you've got lots of pillows with you so you can ride in more comfort.

joe