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

oh and in case ur curious why numbers of SH is going up in drastic numbers, I have a few sure fire theories,

bottled water everyone drinks so much now, u dont get essential minerals in bottle like u do in tap, I'm talking a few years of this behavior where 85% + intake from bottle, we need those critical minerals

Over excersise, athletes who go to hard for to long, I'm talking 6 days a week for years

Newcastle has like 4 guys with SH. And like 5 others just hurt. Saying Something? Over worked...

And possibly low calcium intake, the higher amped athletes have been cuuting out dairy. Cause really it just slows you down, makes u bloaded and slow. If u work out 6 days a week u dont have time to be slow and bloaded

Hope u dont think I'm crazy. Not to say u are surf...

just plain wierd dude

Don't take drugs!

you know its funny too, a lot of guys with SH seem to describe same symptoms as epididymitis, which they say you can get from infection but also strenuous excersise and direct blows to the groin. But what happens when u get hit in the groin? U curl up in a ball and clench all those muscles so hard. And ive heard guys say they got SH from getting hit in the groin.

Also I read epididymitis is the number one medical discharge from the army. Because they cant treat it and it can become to aggrivating. Hmmm sound familiar? SH.... They say they just cant find anything else wrong with these guys.. Sound familiar?? SH.....

arek,

I'm sure there are a number of things contributing to SH, but as I go through rehab following surgery this is my take...

I have a lot of muscle imbalances, tight hip flexors/locked psoas, weak glutes, hamstrings etc. Now this is partly because of inactivity, but most of this existed pre-injury. Additionally, athletes in general, professional or recreational, have a lot of past soft tissue injuries which have never been properly dealt with. If you don't fix soft tissue problems, inflammation, scar tissue etc., it can cause problems.

For me personally, leading up to the injury, I had a pulled groin, hip flexor strain, cracked ribs, and a sprained ankle. If you couple those problems with the other muscle deficiencies, there is an easy explanation. Add the fact that we push our bodies to the limit, the answer is there. I also travel a lot in a car for my job and sit at a desk... all not good for posture.

So why do pro athletes get it too? They are forced to heal injuries quicker than they probably should because they can't miss a season... it only makes sense that they would have the same problems we do despite having super human bodies. If most of us really look into all the things affecting our bodies leading up to the problem, there is probably an answer in there somewhere.

Whether SH is some new epidemic is purely speculative because athletes of yesteryear would probably just retire with some general groin problem. But society as a whole is probably more demanding and competitive than ever before in history. So even though we have better technology, doctors, and trainers, SH could be happening in greater numbers just because of overworking our bodies at later ages as we have less flexibility. And maybe it's just a perfect storm of twisting at the wrong moment. Either way, it's all speculative. I just know that I have a lot of weaknesses in certain muscle groups as well as prior injuries and that's all I can attest to personally. I play soccer... it can be intense and violent on your body.

Thanks, Albert -- now that I googled Core-X I now see that it is a product you must buy. I may just do that once I've gone through the post-op protocol Meyers recommends. Sorry to hear you hurt your knee -- hope you're 100% well again soon.

hello everyone, I have a very frustrating case of SH and I cant quite wrap my head around it because it differs from a lot of the descriptions that people have given on this forum, I have seen a lot of doctors and no help yet, if someone could give me a bit of advice i would really appreciate it;my problem started 2 years ago, i was running a lot (as a side note, I had my hip clicking even back then, hence my theory of a labral tear). One day in the gym i was doing decline situps and i felt like i tore something in my lower ab, i couldn't get out of bed without pain and it was always there, it was very much like a regular hernia. Later the symptoms went strange, my gait changed and i started having strange pains in my achillies tendon and my hamstrings (meanwhile i was going to a million doctors who couldnt help me). Last year i made a mistake of doing a serious yoga workout, it made things much worse and now i have hip joint pain too. Since then I did an MRI which showed nothing, i did XRAYS which did show some hip joint impingement (but more on hip side that doesn't hurt ! :|) , I also did a bone scan which showed some bone damage:

minimal prominence of bony uptake in the medial aspect of the right superior pubis ramus which may suggest enthesopathy.

Right now i am seeing a famous hip surgeon in Canada (Dr Baule) who keeps sending me for tests and cant quite figure it out, he will probably end up doing a arthroscopic labral repair on me, but i think my problem is more than that, i had the groin issue before this happened. I would actually go and see Dr UM but the thins is that my groin symptoms are different from most of yours, i don't really have a pain, I have more of a weakness in my adductor and the pain is not an acute sharp pain, rather its a sensation of having an adductor that is not quite under control.

I would appreciate any help, i am seriously thinking of coming to Denver to see Dr UM.

thank you (I would love to get Johnny's perspective, he has always talked about the correlation between labral tears and SH)

Haach

haach,

You said you initially felt like you tore something in your lower ab. Same for me - 7 months ago. The pain was sharp initially, but now I describe my pain as weakness - it is not an acute sharp pain. I'm going to see Dr. UM on the 4th.

I am scheduled for AP surgery w/ Meyers next week. I have 2 questions:

1) Aetna won't cover the costs - did anyone appeal w/ their insurance and win?

2) I would like a much more thorough rehab protocol than the one pager that Meyers gave me. Anyone have more details on recovery PT?

Thanks!!!

Tiff,

I have a protocol from the St. Louis Blues hockey team that I could email you. It can be translated by a PT, but some of it is basic. It is more detailed than what you get will get from most SH surgeons. But the most important part of it, in my opinion, is Active Release Technique. This therapy releases tight muscles and reduces inflammation/scar tissue. You can read about A.R.T. on the net. As I go through rehab, I think isometric exercises are the most helpful in strengthening weak areas.

I am the woman that Albert met in Meyers' waiting room a couple weeks ago. He is right that I was (and still am) terrified about this surgery. Thansk Albert for encouraging people to share their positive stories as well as the negative. Either way - I appreciate all of the advice and knowledge I have gained form eveyone on this site.

Meyers said that my abs tore so far that he will have to do 2 insicions - one above the pubic bone and the other just below my ribs. Also I will need an adductor release and b/c my pubic bone is inflamed he will shoot it w/ cortizone. He also found labral tears in both my hips - but is not going to do anything about those now. I am only 34 years old and cannot believe how broken I am! Anyone that thinks that dance is not a blood sport is very mistaken.

I am scheduled for surgery in a week and I just read an article today by Michael boyle that says you should at all cost avoid surgery b/c you can fix this thru rehab! I was shocked! That is the first I have heard form a porfessional in the field that there was anyway to fix this other than surgery. Has anyone on this forum had luck thru rehab alone??

B/c I am a fulltime dance professor and choreographer, I cannot work as long as I am recovering. And since I am going to be out $15,000 for this surgery - I am obvioulsy freaking out about the prospect of not being able to make any money as long as I am healing. I am inspired and hopeful by Albert's recovery time - but from everyone else's response to that - it seems like he is the exception. Any info that you could pass along about recovery methods would be so appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to help = tiff

Tiff,

I think there is a short window for recovery/rehab without surgery. If you notice it quick enough and stop your activity, I think some people have a shot. And I think that is what Mike Boyle is saying. It's the fact that a lot of people continue to run, dance, etc. knowing something is not quite right. But for a lot of people here, I think the problem progressed too far already. I did have some success with rehab, but it eventually resulted in inflammation and some pretty bad pain in my abs. That later went away after some rest and tried rehab on and off again with mild success. My symptoms, in general, were milder than a lot of others and I couldn't get over the hump in physical therapy.

But I will say, through ART, that I have learned a lot more about my body and what is going on now. The recovery is still slow, and I'm trying to be patient. I am barely 5 weeks post-op. But I am doing much better than before surgery.

Hello Tiff-

I do not think I am the exception at all. I think most folks are healed and not on here. Had it not been for 1 poster who I felt was not being fair and balanced i too would have not stayed on.

Also, you have many things going for you that I did not.

#1 - Injury is relatively new. (no time to unravel compartment)

#2 - Your core is in tip top shape (I am a middle aged broken down athlete)

#3 - Your younger

*I would not worry about the incisions. He is very precise and within time they will not even be seen. The cortisone is injected while you are asleep, but that is fairly standard.

Only you know your body, but I think once there are tears that no amount of rehab is going to get it back.

Also the adductor release is not really bad at all. It does get tight and sore sometimes, but keep pushing through the scar tissue and it will be fine. When I pushed through I would re-inflame and i would get the leg pressure (my worst syndrome...it was compartment syndrome)...However, that is 99% gone. If it were not for tearing my MCL I would be further ahead, but now I am rehabbing 2/3 injuries....

However, I am dropping weight like a fiend and started back doing circuit weight training today.....real real light....But I can not walk as much....I was doing 7 miles per day.

I want to be hitting the heavy bag in another 4-5 weeks, but there is alot of torquing...We'll see....

I may not be a good gauge because I was bedridden and in rougher shape than most so anything seems better.

But this i can say......The last 3-4 weeks the worst pain i have had is my heel pain from the plantar fasciatis...

Tiffany.....If I were in as good a shape as you pre-surgery....I would have done even better.

E-mail me and I will get you some better rehab things...

This should amke us all feel better

Hamilton starts rehab in Double-A

June 29, 2009

CBSSports.com wire reports

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton has started his comeback from abdominal surgery.

Hamilton went 1 for 4 with a walk while leading off as the designated hitter for Double-A Frisco on Monday night. He had an RBI single and stole a base in the seventh inning and appeared to be running with no problems, even sliding into second base.

The Rangers said Hamilton, who has missed all of June, will work out with them Tuesday before their game against the Los Angeles Angels. Hamilton will then join Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday in Iowa and play multiple games there, including in the outfield.

Hamilton had surgery June 9. He got hurt when he crashed into an outfield wall making a catch

Tiff,

Go back and read Mike in Va. posts. His post-op progress has been amazing. He and Albert have been great about keeping us up to date about their rehab.

I believe much of the problem regarding our SH injuries is impatience. Many of us, including me, are competitive and don't know when to let our bodies rest. I think the best advice I have been given is to wait until a specialist has seen me before I start any PT. And regarding rehab to fix the tears, I just don't believe it. Because all it takes is one wrong move and you can easily reinjure the same area and you only build up scar tissue which will inevitably tear again.

It's good that you met Albert because he has been through a lot and you can learn so much from him. He is a great guy. And you are going to one of the best surgeons for SH's in the world. A lot of posters here have seen numerous doctors before finding a doctor who could do a proper diagnosis. I've been to two doctors who couldn't tell me what the problem was. So, I've had to wait another month for an appointment, but I believe it is worth it to finally see a specialist who can properly identify what is wrong with me.

Good luck to you Tiff. Many of us are behind you and look forward to your recovery.

Mike in Denver

Just wanted to send a quick note to you guys seeing Dr. UM on the 4th. Good luck and I look forward to hearing about your findings in your meeting with her.

I continue to feel better every day. I have had a nagging cough the last 3 days, so I haven't worked out. I'm sure glad I didn't have it the first week after surgery!

All of my bruising in the groin and other male areas from the surgery is completely gone and all that is left is some tingling nerve pain from the incision. This is nothing compared to my SH pain before surgery, and should last up to 6 weeks after the surgery. All in all I feel fantastic and it feels so good to be able to lace up my shoes and go for a run pain free again. I start Volleyball next week!

Tiff,

I too have AETNA and they were a total nightmare whether I had surgery here in the US or in Germany. They weren't going to give me a dime. All they will do is send you a link to their official stance that SH or AP is an injury that doesn't require surgery to repair and then hang up on you. I even had a patient advocate company fight for me pre and post surgery with no success. I will not be renewing my policy with them after this year. Good luck to you. I can guarantee you will feel so much better after the surgery it will be worth it. Be positive and work hard after the procedure is over and you will be back to dancing pain free again. It will make you stronger in the end. I know I am.

Mike in Va.

Mike,

Thanks for the update. I am very anxious to meet Dr. UM on Saturday. 9:30 am. I'll let everyone here know how the diagnosis goes.

I actually feel better, although if I try to take a large step up or get up off the ground it hurts bad. But the nagging continuous pain that I have had is not as persistent. I can still tell there is something wrong, but if I had to live a sedentary life, I probable could do it.

I've gained about 12 lbs since I came down with this so I can't wait until I get this problem fixed so I can start working out again.

Mike in Denver

Mike in VA,

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll be sure to report back.

Mike in Denver,

I'm in the same boat in the weight gain dept. I gained about 20, but since I just started running regular (rest didn't seem to do much in the last few months) I'm at +15 lbs since injury. Unfortunately I needed to lose 15 at that time, so I've got my work cut out for me. I feel gross and ready for a clear diagnosis and some direction so I can move forward one way or another.

Regarding insurance has anyone heard of any particular companies that have covered this surgery? I only remember reading one in this thread (haven't read all pages yet) and I think that was military related. I'm w/ Cigna at the moment and about to swtich to Blue Cross Blue Shield.