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

rem,

You've really been through the wringer. Are you able to get around, drive, and walk? What are your symptoms at this point?

rem,

It seems to me that if Dr. Muschaweck said 10 weeks would be ambitious, and you're at only 12 weeks now, then you're probably on track, and perhaps worrying too much. With all you've been through, it must be hard to just keep your sanity.

I walked the day after the mesh repair. Strolled around Starnberg, walked through the airport with no problems. I was jogging on a treadmill 4 weeks out, now I'm freeride mtb'ing, lifting, doing CoreX. The only things I avoid are adductor intensive actions - hockey, soccer, and strangely enough, golf. No direct ab work either.

I'm still in pain in my lower ab and the groin is tweaked, but after 8 years of pain, I think my body tunes it out.

One interesting note is that there was so much scar tissue after the repair before Dr. UM;s that she had to remove it surgically. She gave a big NO to massage to relieve this for an SH repair.

Moderation in all things

It's pretty clear that all of us sports hernia sufferers share at least one personality trait -- each of us is addicted to exercise.

Another perspective might be that we're all compulsive. Not compulsive gamblers, or compulsive shoppers, but compulsive exercisers or compulsive sports competitors.

If a doctor tells one of us to get some exercise every single day, he might be thinking of a couch potato who likes to lay around all day and who would never heal properly without going outside and moving about some.

But from the posts here at LetsRun, we see that our compulsive mentality is vastly different from an ordinary person who might follow such doctor's orders by walking around the block each morning, a grand, adventurous trip for the average person, cup of coffee in hand.

Instead, we SH compulsives interpret the doctor's suggestion differently, insanely. We think it means we should walk a mile in the morning, then mix in some squats and and hour on stationary bike. That's for the first day. Then we decide to further punish our wound by bumping things up a notch for the second day, when most normal people would actually skip their exercise to let their body become acclimated to it.

A moderate technique - "Rehab by Sample Movements"

I'm thinking that for Sports Hernia, maybe we should be thinking more along the lines of giving the body samples of normal movement each day, so that it can heal the body according to the directions of force it will receive later.

In other words, instead of a soccer player doing his 10th day of rehab by kicking the daylights out of a soccer ball one hundred times, it may make more sense to instead kick a soccer ball very, very gently 2 times every day.

That tells the body, "re-build the fascia matrix so that it can withstand tugging in direction x."

Maybe some light running real soon, but only for 30 yards each day for a few weeks. This makes more sense than thinking we're helping ourselves by running a mile, or 2, or 3 miles in early rehab, beating the heck out of our pelvic tissues while they're under repair. How does such abuse help?

Maybe even a very, very light cutting motion, agility motion, just a few steps each day, in very soft grass, even in the first few days, just to let the body know, as it's laying down its fascia matrix, what directions of force to expect later in life?

I'm going to try this approach in about a week or two from now. I'll try to post the results.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Just some conjecture. Am I missing something here?

rem,

It seems to me you're doing very well for 12 weeks. Even excellently considering having to remove mesh.

By the way did Dr. UM remove part of your nerve?

Yup, nerve removal on both sides. One was actually a nerve that had been excised, possibly incorrectly, then branched into several "sprouts" that essentially made things worst.

When the mesh was removed, it resembled a piece of uncooked bacon. We have absolutely no idea how it got into that state.

rem,

That's amazing and interesting about the nerve sprouting.

It seems to me you're on your way to a good outcome.

Garrett in Denver,

Mike in Denver here. Hope it's not the altitude that's causing our problems! I'd like to talk with you in person about some of our issues. I, like you work(ed) out every day and this inactivity is driving me nuts.

I will definitely let you know when Dr. UM gets back to me. I don't know if you contacted her first or I did.

I agree this is a great forum. As you probably know, I've been looked at by two GP's who were pretty thorough, but I need a professionals opinion.

Let me know how we could get in contact. I'd really like to talk with someone who is going through the processes like I have been.

We could meet at a Starbucks or something. I live in the eastern part of Centennial, by the new Southlands mall.

Mike in Denver

Surf,

I think you make a good point here. As I've mentioned numerous times before... when I was doing my physical therapy, I was really making positive strides last spring... virtually pain-free...just a lot of tightness and some mild inflammation. It was only when I doubled the intensity of it that it all came crashing down. I can only speculate, but I believe I was getting better. And if I had managed it more gradually, slowly, and patiently, I might have had a chance. But I really don't know. According to Dr. Hoadley, I didn't have a tear -- which makes me wonder. But that's what you need to find out... if you have a tear, you are probably wasting your time. If not, you may be able to rehab it properly.

sports hernia alert...

is "like a sports hernia..." sounds like it is a sports hernia to me...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4225437

THE SECOND I HEARD ABOUT HIM ON ESPN I SAID ...SPORTS HERNIA!!!!!!!!!! GUARANTEED

JC, I thought the same thing when I saw that scroll across ESPN last night! Sounds like a SH to me!

Mike in Denver, you can e-mail

me...garrettdelmas@gmail.com

. I have also went to do GP's and a surgeon with NO luck at all. They made me very frustrated.

I just wonder how many people give up being active completely because of SH???? I bet there are tons of people that go to dr.s and stop when they are told what I have been told.

Surf....Man....thanks for posting every bit of info you have found on SHs. I am amazed, you have truly saved me so much time. I am on your side....I would love to cure this with PT rather than surgery. I am going to Dr. M to get a diagnosis. If 6 weeks of rest haven't helped me that much I really think I must have a tear that PT won't help. We shall see.

One question for you guys...... Does sitting in a chair for very long cause you pain?? When I'm in the sitting position for longer than 15 minutes it starts to feel like a nerve is being pinched...the pain moves towards my knee. When I stand it goes back to the constant dull ache.

Thanks...

garrett in denver,

Sitting. This is a classic symptom of the bulge compressing the nerve in the groin canal. Sitting for long periods at the computer and driving on long rides are two things that bother me the most with the nerve pain. I now have set up my office at home so I can stand at the computer a good part of the day. A good walk and stretching seem to bring me relief, but you are right. The dull ache is always there. Hopefully mine will be behind me in about 2 weeks.

Mike in Va

Garrett....sitting for me starts really bothering my left sit bone/ass bone whatever you want to call it...same side as the tears.....will get somewhat relieved with standing.....

You know, I remember as a kid growing up, following the NBA, that two of my favorite players retired due to what some reports called a "pulled groin" or "strained abdominal muscle". Those two players were Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. I honestly think that they probably suffered a sports hernia and the doctors in the early 70's didn't know how to diagnose or repair them. They both retired after playing for 14 years at the age of 36. This is relatively early considering that many of todays top basketball players play well into their late 30's and some into their 40's.

Who knows how many other players retired early due to this injury?

i had surgery for my SH back in feb (on the 6th) and my hip pops ALL the time now and its reaalllyy weird...

Garrett,

I had pain in my adductor after sitting for long periods of time...

SH in SC,

I don't think most of us we'll ever be 100% again. Even if we are physically, there is still a mental aspect to it. But the good news is that you are doing a lot of stuff you couldn't do with the injury.

Who did your surgery? Keep us posted... I'm interested in your progress with the mesh repair.

den

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Den -

My surgeon was Dr. Baird in the Charleston, SC area. Very well respected. As I said in an earlier post, he repaired a friend of mine's SH several years earlier, and he was a professional soccer player. Worked well for him and I hope it is working well for me. He suggested, and I accepted, a bilateral repair even though mine was on the right side. Said he ended up fixing the other side of a high percentage of his patients down the road anyway. I thought about going to Hoadley, but after the recommendation of my friend, I decided to stay local. His recovery was flawless. Mine is very good, though I still get sore and "tight."

My "experimentation" with regular days off - walking only - seems to work and eases inflammation. (see article at cbass.com/sitting.htm). Felt great today after doing just that the day before. Today - back at tennis and tomorrow - back to the gym.

I am exactly 4 weeks now and am rescheduled to see Dr. Meyers on June 16th. He wants to check my progress and see how I am doing. I talked to Marcia and told her that I seemed to have slowed a little and I think it is due to the fact that my body is not in shape so i have 2 battles to fight. Getting in shape and rehabbing. I personally think i am doing okay but i think i was doing too much land excercises and i make the most strides in the pool.

Also my scar is leaking a little clear fluid. She says that is nothing but to go to my local doc to get checked out.

I am now on Indocin for inflammation which should help me workout more. I am doing more and more core things and stretching and not nearly as much cardio other than a 2 mile walk in the morning.

My adductors get sore but my rectus seems great other tha n the incision tight ness. never hurts to get up or twist or anything.

I am working diligently on correcting my excessive pelvic tilt. It seems my tight hip flexors keep attempting to take over.

Albert wrote:

...I am working diligently on correcting my excessive pelvic tilt. It seems my tight hip flexors keep attempting to take over.

Albert,

Your reports on your status continue to help the whole community. Many thanks.

Your pelvic tilt

On pelvic tilt, please consider this fact. For myself, I found by fairly clear experimentation a couple of months ago, that exercises to correct pelvic tilt are clearly very harmful to sports hernia. I won't belabor you on this point again. I'm only saying this as a friend.

It's my growing belief that many sufferers of sports hernia (but not all) actually got sports hernia from consciously trying to alter their pelvic tilt during sports. I think it was a factor with me in my original injury. I've also encountered another sports hernia sufferer, a sprinter, who says that he remembers distinctly that he, too, had been consciously altering his pelvic tilt during sprinting exercises in the time leading up to his coming down with sports hernia.

Wishing you a speedy recovery.