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

Hello, I posted last week regards having pain again 6 months after the surgery.

I had the surgery with Dr Muschaweck in Germany last November, have been pain free for 6 months and then suddenly have pain in my abdomen again.

I have been to see her today (she is in London at the moment) She examined me and said the groins were fine, what I have is weakness in my rectus abdominis muscles causing pain, this has stemmed from by body protecting itself after the surgery and some muscles working harder to compensate for others.

She did the test on my groin that she did before the SH and there was no pain. She has told me to get PT and strengthen these muscles together with taking painkillers this should alleviate the pain.

I'll let you know this works but the one thing I will say is Dr Muschaweck is excellent and I genuinely believe she cares about her patient's recovery.

Thanks, Mark

Thanks, Mark. I did read your post earlier (as I've read everyone's!) and I appreciate the update...

You're one of the few who hasn't been "miraculously cured" by Muschaweck, so it's good to see she's continued to work with you...

Keep us posted...

Hi All,

I’m a 27year old male from New Zealand and after reading all 75pages of this issue I felt obligated to keep you posted on my progress as I am about to embark on this shared journey.

Up until May I was playing both soccer and futsal (5-a-side) up to 4 days a week. I have had a pain start in what felt like a groin strain which then moved to an area below the abs and above the penis. I was able to play on the injury for about three weeks with no major discomfort and then it really started to hurt as I moved into a sprint or tried to kick a stationary ball. I have seen a doctor who checked for a Hernia...turn your head cough etc etc. When I mentioned Sports Hernia or Gilmore’s Groin he kind of just ignored me...

A rundown of the pain I am experiencing is mainly on my left-side with slight pain by comparison on the right. No back problems. No problems in hip area. Hurts when I cough or sneeze, I can jog/run at about 75% but not sprint. I can feel it in a stretch when I stand straight and lean back or if I crouch down on one leg and pretend to tie up shoe laces on the other. I can feel it if I lie flat on my back and try to lift my upper torso using my abdominal muscles. At most times during the course of the day, walking/sitting at a desk, I can feel a minor discomfort in the area.

I have been prescribed Diclofenac (inflammatory pain relief); these coupled with two weeks of rest had made the pain almost disappear...almost but not quite. If I sat down and squeezed my legs together I could feel the pain, however numb it still was lingering.

In the last two days I stopped taking the tablets so I could evaluate the pain (if any) properly...and what do you know...It is slightly better but basically as bad as it was before I went on Diclofenac. This Friday I’m off for a second opinion at a specialist sports doc who deals with Olympic athletes and the like. The run down is I will probably be put through a series of tests and scans...

Until then wish me luck and I hope my posts will help.

i'm one of the fellows who had surgery in germany almost 2 years ago and still have some issues on one side.

i was a hockey player and apparenlty hockey players can get another tearing up higher in addition to the regular transverse tearing.

but,

i also have a labral tear.

my main symptoms are inability to squeeze legs together or i get pain in my adductor attachment down to sit bone on one side. sort of in the perineum. hard to say exactly but it bothers the hell out of me.

straight leg lifts are a bitch too. soreness right after.

but- dr m said i didn't need any rehab program postop. i think that is where she is wrong. i tried anyhow, but was in too much pain post-op. so i did what i could with rest in between. she is a great doctor and does truly care for her patients. she has seen me 3 times since surgery,groin is all intact. said muscle imbalances are the culprit. but i cannot seem to rebalance them due to the pains.

i am thinking, like janet said, the hip can exacerbate the problems. that is why i am getting it looked at in a few weeks.

MarkR - Where in london did you see Dr Um ? I live in London and feel it would be very good to see her for an evaulation and if she is in town all the better!

thanks

Hi, I am afraid she is only in London until today, but if you call her office they may be able to tell you when she is next here, good luck !!

ok thanks for the heads up - out of interest what was she doing here?

She mentioned something to do with going to the opening at Wimbledon, I guess she's probably helped a few tennis players in the past.

thank you Janet for your reply, I have read the medical journal by Meyer that was posted on the forum recently: http://tinyurl.com/55cb5zand it also did mention that in a significant percentage pf people with sh there is labral tear of the hip and what you said confirms that;now I want to ask all the people who think Dr Muschawek is the best person to go to for people with sh: dont you think the fact that she doesn't address the hip problem to be a problem?thanksJohn

Janet wrote:

Hi John;

I found this data in one of Meyer's articles.

Dr. Meyers does not fix hips and he referred me to a couple of hip surgeons that he works closely with.

I saw Dr. Muschawek for a consult and it was her opinion that the hip would settle down after the SH surgery.

I and Dr. Meyers do not believe that.

There is different hip problems and you need to see a hip surgeon to get a proper diagnosis to get the proper surgery or treatment.

Hope that helps!

MarkR, could you describe specifically what PT/strengthening exercises Dr. Muschaweck recommended for you when you saw her in London?

My brother just had both sides done by Dr. Muschaweck. He is one week out, so he has a ways to go. He is sore but walking better this week. I don't think his timetable for recovery is going to match Dr. Muschweck's, who said he would be playing soccer again in a matter of weeks.

Hi she didn't give me any specific exercises, told me to go and see a physio.

Just for your info, I had my operation on both sides done at the end of November, for the first 4 weeks all I could do was walk up and down the lounge but in early January when the nerve damage has subsided I had no pain at all, I then spent January getting some fitness back on a running machine and then started playing football again in February. I'm 34, so hopefully that may give your brother a realistic timetable.

My mistake was maybe thinking everything was fine and that I could just carry on at my pre-injury level, ie football 3 times a week and weights twice a week. Your brother should seek physio when he can, to strengthen that area.

Hope this helps, please keep us posted of his progress

hey has anyone who has had sh surgery been a tennis player?? im looking for some exercises that have been given to you guys for strengthening and what not....im 5 weeks out.....

Competitive tennis player/pro here.......

Diagnosed close to a year ago with a 2nd degree tear of the rectous abdomonous........ have continued to play with it daily.........

Just in the last few days have noticed increased pain/weakness in the front left hip area.....

When lying down flat I can lift my right leg easily, but can not lift the left at all

Is the increased problems in the hip a seperate issue or an aggravation of the original diagnosis???

I have the exact conditions at Flipdilli...exact. Its for sure Gilmores groin. I self-diagnosed through internet articles. (like the rest of you most likely) I strained my left adductor in soccer so bad that it messed with my whole groin and abdomen area. After 7 weeks the symptoms never disappeared so I became concerned. Thats when I began to research. Anyway, I've spend 5 months now working through Group Health in Seattle trying to get fully diagnosed. It took 3 visits and 4 months just to get someone who knew what gilmores groin is. Luckily, I found an article on Gilmores groin by a physician in Seattle who I contacted and she connected me with an expert in the area and can do the surgery. Now its a matter of getting Group Health Cooperative to give me an "outside" referral. I'm really hoping surgery will help me, as I'm dying not playing soccer. I'm 39 and hoping to play soccer into my 50's...we'll see now? My experience so far is that this conditon just won't go away and that surgery is nearly essential. The one good thing about gilmores is that if you don't over do excerise you can still be kind of active...I still climbed a 6000ft mt. last week, yet I can't kick or sprint. Strang condition indeed. Best of luck to you all!

I am about 7 weeks post-op and i still have not resumed any activity other than walking. For me the pain at the incision site is not there, however, whenever I walk and try to do my exercises I get a sharp, sharp pain in my abs a little under my belly button. The spot is a little swollen and a little bumpy (but not scartissue bumpy). It feels as it did when I tore my ab in the first place. Has anyone else post-op had pain like this above the incision site?? PLEASE help

Some of you have seen Dr. Muschaweck mentioned on page 15 of Dr. Meyers' paper:

http://tinyurl.com/55cb5z

I asked Dr. Muschaweck for her reaction to what Dr. Meyers says about denervation and further injury "because the primary injury was never fixed."

Her reply went like this: She has operated on over 3000 athletes with a sportsman groin...has never known the primary injury NOT to have been fixed. She does ultrasound

of the whole groin area and says she can see the size or the type of injury. She said that the risk of recurrence is less than 1%. She emphasizes the need to continue regular activities very soon and not to be worry about getting a new injury.

I'm sure Meyers and Muschaweck have quite a rivalry going. I think they both have a ton of integrity...their techniques and some of their ideas obviously differ.

More details on my post. I said that I found a doctor in the Seattle area who has done this surgery. Has anyone heard of Joe Chablis of Northwest Hospital in Seattle? I'm beginning the "outside referal" process with my HMO (Group Health) who said they can't fix me. I just want to see if anyone on this message board has used him? (or should I try to get my HMO to refer me to Myers or U.M.?)

I'm about twelve weeks out - bilateral SH repair with some ugly issues from a previous hernia repair that were taken care of as well. I hit PT at exactly 2 weeks post-op and I'm riding my bike now, tackling 2 hour PT sessions, lifting (carefully) weights 2-3 times a week and I feel great. Not 100%, but much better than pre-op.

Hi, does anyone have any advice or tried other methods other than PT to get rid of the pain. I have heard of neural therapy, has anyone had this and has it worked.

Also does anyone have any good ways to reduce scar tissue, I've been told to do deep tissue massage but has anyone tried any other methods or have any advice on diet etc as I believe this can help

This is a great forum, I've learnt more on here than any doctor in England has ever told me.

Thanks, Mark