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

hi sher,

um told me i could be active in a week, so i believed her but at the same time trusted my own gut and just took it easy.

i did do some core work but that also hurt me. the nerves along the left psoas muscle are still irritated. some days better than others, depends on what i do and if i wear a belt or not (belt=pain).

i am seeing a very respected pain doc (and then some) in nyc who will be using some kind of pulse-ultrasound type thing that is supposedly breakthrough. i wonder if it is the same?

when you see um again you can mention my case and how you sought out her after all these great posts on this site. this thread saved me from going the wrong route.

dr um should remember me.

my left hip is messed up a bit, torn labrum and probably fai. but i am not going to get surgery for the fai. i am going about healing the tightened and damaged muscles around the hip and groin.

i did do core strengthening exercises about 1 to 2 months post-op. it hurt. maybe made me stronger but each session yeilded pain. when i stopped, things started to improve. i would recommend slow, easy yoga such as iyengar, to get the structure back (the only thing i can guarantee is that your muscles are out of balance) to your body, but only when the nerves have calmed down. this can take a while. i was too excited to get back into my active sports, and i almost went too far a few times. now i am not in a rush to do the same things, i am glad to be walking again!

johnny

Run Daddy,

Sorry about the slow answer, as you've always been quick to answer everyone's questions on this thread.

You asked why I was so reluctant to have surgery. Three reasons:

1. I may not be much better off. From the posts on this thread over many years, most people seem to have had a much slower ecovery than you did. However, as I've posted before, that may be because those without problems don't have a need to visit this thread anymore. Right now, my recovery without surgery seems to be progressing at about the same pace as many who have had it. I just went off the anti inflammatory meds three days ago. I'm adding mileage VERY slowly, but yesterday I went back to my old very hilly trail for the first time in six moinths. Did just 4 1/2, but only feel minor irritation today. I'll try another four or so on a one hill route today. Still no way to know, however if one bad movement could tear what's left of my frayed connection.

2. A big issue for me is that I feel a bit guilty using so many medical resources covered by insurance to indulge my hobbies. Between my work as a contractor and my soccer and running passions I've been seeing ER docs, PT's, chiros, surgeons etc. quite a bit the last few years. I've decided that I'll have surgery if I need it to work, or to maintain normal recreational activities (for me that includes runs up to six miles) but not to play soccer or allow longer runs.

3. Finally, work-wise it would be hard for me to go backwards to beginning recovery again after surgery. Right now I can lift fairly heavy items (very carefully) and with a small crew (I have just three employees right now) that's important.

Bottom line-If I improve at all in the next three weeks I will cancel my return visit to Meyers and wait and see how I do for a few more months.

Jeff

By the way, thanks for all your great posts and info

Hi everyone,

This is a miracle of a site for those suffering from lingering, chronic groin pain.

I too have had chronic groin pain for nearly 2 years; with a visit to just about every type of medical doctor, naturpath, prolotherapist, chircopractor, physical rehab specialist, & acupuncturist, I can speak from experience, this is a tough injury that will eventually become better recognized in all medical fields.

And that's the problem; an injury like this is specific, but the diagnosis wasn't. That's what happened to almost all of us on this thread; we seek help and concede to the lack of knowledge on this sports groin/rectus abdominis tear, this nagging pain that sidelines weekend warrior to professional athlete, women and out of shape chaps too.

An abundance of good advice can be found within this thread. I can offer insight, anatomy & physiology and recommendations for diagnosing this stingingly debilitating affliction.

Just go so Dr. Meyers in Philadelphia. It's the fastest, but NOT cheapest route to go. If you think you may have something wrong, it persists and your quality of life is compromised even slightly, get a pelvis MRI, talk to Meyers and assess the injury.

I think, as does Dr. Meyers, that a sports groin, a live tissue tear CAN heal. It can. New tissue is regenerated. And you'll feel better. You have to make sacrifices, and for a long time. But you can heal this injury. Just give it 3-5 years or more.

Why? Because you're just not getting enough blood to the area to spur healing. It's almost as simple as that. Meyers has papers - you may not understand them but the key is, you probably have a tear that needs to be reattached. A surgery like this happens all the time. Wrists, knees and lower abs.

See if you can heal it yourself for about 6 months. That means, you can't play your sport. You can't run, you can't do sit ups...but you can do very gentle core strengthening to stabilize the area. But it's a long time to try to heal. So you have options.

So, go to Meyers, get assessed. Go with your gut, but know that you're, right now, unattached and your frustration in figuring out what to do is high. Emotions reign. This is writing on the way to feel this way.

I had suffered for way too long...I sought every type of treatment and they only thing that helped other than my recent surgery was prolotherapy - injections of nothing more than simple sugar into the problem area in the hopes of firing cells to heal. It helped me with my pain, but wasn't enough to completely solve this aching groin (which was both sides).

I saw Meyers, I mulled it over, fret over it too, and finally made the decision.

7 weeks out and I'm slowly returning to normal. Slowly.

Please know that studies say ligaments don't fully return to 100% until at least 12 months passed since surgery. By 6 months you are 75%, but that's not enough to really play your sport or run too frequently.

So, Meyers says 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks for some then rehab. These are your timeframes. Some people heal quickly, others heal slowly. There's just no reason to suggest a time limit for recovery; it varies athlete to athlete.

I could go on and on so, please, let me know how I too can help you understand your best choices for healing this injury.

shoeless joe

Hey Joe, that was a great post too.

Just like you I waited for over 2 years trying to heal, not playing sports etc. but nothing worked. Not being able to run, play soccer or even bike was driving me crazy. I was ready to try anything.

7 weeks after surgery I feel much better but I can't say if I will be able to play soccer again. Is that too much to hope?

Also, what is the verdict on stretching? People seem to be all over the place with this.

Jeff, I agree with you. I think people that recover just don't feel the need to come back and post. Hopefully we will post some positive stuff in the future.

Good luck!

Jeff,

That's a very reasonable way to think about it. I think shoeless joe had a great post on this injury that just about says it all. Some folks can recover without surgery if they are really patient. But it may take a long while.

As far as your point #2, I don't think you should feel guilty for one minute about using health care to remain active. Your healthy, active lifestyle over the years has probably saved your employer plenty of money in your not having missed much work. Also, your healthy lifestyle has also prevented you from developing outrageously expensive chronic diseases. The people who should feel guilty are people who are lazy, fat slobs. They're the ones who develop type II diabetes and other obesity-related chronic diseases at relatively young ages. They spend the rest of their years on expensive medications. They miss far more work because of health issues. And they will require many more expensive surgeries and treatments than the amateur athlete ever will.

Meyers cost my insurance company about $30K. That is peanuts compared to what the average obese man my age has probably cost the same insurer. Not to mention that I have the prospect of being a far less expensive client in the next 20-30 years than any obese person my age.

great post, joe

relating to that- with my own story-

in my case, i beleive i started the sh injury back in 1999. i had been doing lots of mtn biking, kayaking and other activities. i had the pains in the groin/testicle/pubic bone and went to a doc, then ur. all was ok, i was assured. so i went on doing stuff like usual, after a week or 2 of rest.

2 years later, the same thing, only a bit worse. same results from docs, same protocol of rest for a few weeks.

then 3 more years later, the final straw. pain was immediate and bad, and got untolerable over the proceding 4 months. eventually had surgery.

so, my own thoughts on this, right or wrong, is that i "healed" my initial 2 tearings by continuing my sports. my passion was paddling kayaks in whitewater, a sport that is a huge core workout in itself. i had very strong abs and back muscles.

then one day, i overextended at the hips, over flexed, and overstrained. then it went from there.

i was by no means a pro athlete but i did do my sport about 4-6 days per week and traveled to do it both for fun and to compete. i think that i continued to strengthen the area by doing sports, thus maybe "stabilized" the sh injury. but then one day, it was too much and it tore to a point where there was absolutely no way i could do core excercises enough to actually help out in the long run.

i did see a competant pt for 10 months pre-op, and did all the exercises and whatnot. it got me to the point to where i could walk again, do some light swimming here and there, and even light hiking. but i still could not bend over, lift, or twist, let alone get past the constant pain, even thought it seemed to jump around a lot, and some days i was able to "deal with it." but the bottom line was, in my case, that this injury was past the point of being able to heal itself. i went 18 months of doing my best to heal it, with many approaches, to no avail.

at that point surgery was the only option because my quality of life had turned to shit.

the sports hernia has numerous setups, as meyers says. for example, my left hip has a labral tear and a bit of impingement. it probably occured in conjunction with the sh tears, and maybe even contributed to it if it happened before. lots of speculations. but, just as joe says, it takes everyone different times to heal. look at donovan mcnabb. then look at grant hill, who supposedly retired due to post-op problems. now he is playing. dominic hasek- spent the mid and late 90's in pain with an undiagnosed sh, then retired due to it. he eventually found the right approach (surgery) and now he is playing again, years later (and doing well).

so, from what i can tell, the injury can be tended to with conservative care, and may even "go away." but keep in mind that if the tear does "go away," the result will be scar tissue in the area of the tear. that scar tissue will not be as elastic as the tissue around it, therefore there is still the possibility that another tear can happen there since the "weakness" has not gone away. you can even tear the scar off of it's neighboring tissues (that is supposedly what happened to yours truly), resulting in sh symptoms again. and so on.

i guess my point, correct or not, is that conservative treatment can get you by for only so long, if you continue to do motions that put great stress on the muscles around the pelvis and abdomen. if the pains have gone on for too long, and you have tried pt, etc, then surgery is probably the only way renew your functioning and rid yourself of the pains. but it is essential that your pt has a good understanding of the injury or you may go down the wrong road and try to strengthen the muscles before they are past the accute, inflamed stage. a mistake like trying to overwork injured tissues can easily cause more microtrauma.

at least that has been my experiences.

johnny

Good post. I pinged Dr. M's office to see if there was anyone in the US that could diagnose SH before scheduling visit to germany, they recommended visiting a doc in West Orange. here's the details

Center for Orthopaedics

Mr. Edward Decter, M.D.

1500 Pleasant Valley Way, Suite 101

USA-WEST ORANGE, N.J. 07052

Tel.: 001-973-669 5600 -> Ext. 139 Nancy

Was curious if anyone had seen Dr. Decter and any thoughts to share. My wife has broad symptoms and its hard to know if its truly SH. She seems to think the root cause was in the abdomen 6-7 years ago while she was doing some ab exercises -- but now her chief complaint seems to be in the lower back/SI joint area -- along with soreness on the lateral side all the way down to the right foot.

Thanks

i just wanted to say to anyone reading this thred: if you want the best surgeon for a sports hernia, the best of the best and you are willing to travel, GO SEE DR MUSCHAWECK. It can't get any better than her and trust me i have been to a few surgeons i even had the surgery scheduled with one in the states. Thank you to johnny who recommended her she is amazing. I couldn't believe that i started walking 1 day after the surgery it was like a miracle. I came to germany on a wheelchair, i wasn't able to walk. One day after surgery i started walking a little. Now 2 weeks after surgery i am walking nicely. SHE DOES MAGIC this women.

johnny, i just visited dr muller, he is the doctor for the german soccer team. He explained to me that the first thing that needs to be done for people who had this ap for a long time is to calm the nerves of the spine. He does it with a special method of homeopathic injections in the back. Only after the nerves have calmed down this is when you start balancing the muscles. Tommorow i start the treatment. He explained that people who have ap for a long time, walk differently so all the balance of the body shifts and thats when nerve irritations begin. Later on i will post the exersice routine he will give me. Johnny if you have a week off work i think it would be a good idea for you to come here and see this doctor.

Sher,

Thanks but how do i confirm my wife has SH? that is my problem, she has a lot of symptoms ranging from lower back to her lateral side - foot, itb etc. After reading this forum, i believe she has SH/AP but would help if i can get a diagnosis. Anycase, i'll see contacting this NJ doctor that Dr.M recommended. How did you confirm you have SH prior to visiting germany?

Thanks for your help. Speedy Recovery!

I suffered a lot i went to 1000 doctors in Canada who didn't know what was wrong with me and decided to put me in a chronic pain department in a hospital. Only 3 months ago i was diagnosed(after 19 months of pain). I was diagnosed by the head of the sports department in the cleveland clinic but nobody there wanted to do surgery so i went to see Dr.Meyers who diagnosed me right away and offered surgery. Let me know if you need more information about anything i am still here in Germany and ready to help others.

that doctor in nj is the one that dr muschaweck is "teaching." i too have met him.

he can help diagnose but keep in mind that he is a rookie with the minimally invasive technique that dr muschaweck has developed.

it is a top-notch facility.

but if i had the diagnosis there, i would still go to munich for the surgery, and visit the beer gardens while i am there...if i had to do it again, which i am glad i don't.

hi sher,

glad you are getting better. just don't be like me and listen to any doc that doesn't understand your situation EXACTLY. otherwise you might be instructed to do things before your body is ready, then the recoup gets pushed back more.

i might be interested in seeing that doc but i am just about broke after the past 2.5 years of this crap.

i have been having great luck with the structural integration work, as far as reducing strain and pains anc correcting my muscle imbalances. lots of the nerve irritation has been releived via the manipulations. feel free to email me if you want to go this route and i can suggest a practitioner pretty much for any state, with some guidance of a friend of mine.

i also am about to get a treatment of a type of pulse ultrasound, which is supposedly phenominal for the same pain issues with memory of injury. this doc is very respected in the field of phys med, nerves, pain, and then some. so far so good.

btw, for any of you baseball fans- take a gander at the recent news about roger clemens of the ny yankees. that in a nutshell is what happened to me, only different sports/etc; in regards to "healing" a sports hernia.

Wow, GREAT POST!He also makes a good point that surgery might fix you, but not necessarily leave you completely pain free.

Dear Soccor Player,

I've had a SH for two years now and would like to schedule a consult and surgery appointment with Dr. Cattey. I'm living in Tennessee so I would like to have a phone consult with Cattey before flying up there. My only problem is that I've spoken with his secretary numerous times but have yet to have Cattey call me back. This has been going on over two months, so I was wondering if you had a similar experience? If not, how did you make your son's arrangement's for the surgery? Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks, Chris

RD,

Last week (ending Tuesday) was the first rehab week (4th week after surgery). I must say I've come a long way and was able to do the first week's stuff pretty easily.

I've started week 2 which as you know is a lot more engaging and I'm getting the general soreness that I expected and that's fine, but I'm also getting the relatively acute pain on my left side that I felt before getting the surgery. It's not the same as it was before (no spreading to other areas and it feels more like a sore muscle than whatever it felt like before) but it's definitely there.

Did you have a specific pain you could identify in a certain place before you had the surgery and if so did you feel it at any time during your recovery (ie maybe it's scar tissue or something else to be 'worked out')?

Thanks a lot for your last timely answer.

WILL

I too have very specific left side pain very similar to what I experienced pre-surgery. Now 7 weeks since surgery, the left side is much slower to recover than the right which feels great.

From what I've read here, this could be typical, especially if the injury had been present a while (year or more) before surgery was performed.

If anyone reading has a specific story along these lines and eventually healed pain-free could you email me at joebshoe at hotmail dot com?

I read a story back on page 14 of this thread from someone who noted it took them 6 months before they were pain-free and able to play sports/run again. I know everyone is different, some heal much quicker than others, but hearing from those of you that took much longer than standard timeframes to heal would be of great support.

Thank you and good luck to the poster above. I feel your pain.

Joe

How is this condition even diagnosed properly?

Are there only a select # of Doctor's that are qualified to identify this properly?

humidxc wrote:

How is this condition even diagnosed properly?

Are there only a select # of Doctor's that are qualified to identify this properly?

I needed to go to Walter Reed to get the Army Doc to refer me to Meyers. I saw the surgeon who does most of the hernia repairs at Walter Reed. He told me he had just been at a conference where the 'Sports Hernia' diagnosis had been hotly debated. Many doctors still think the sports hernia is a myth. The doc I saw seemed agnostic on the issue. All he told me was that he would not do surgery for my problem. He knew of Meyers and his work and told me if I wanted to see Meyers and have surgery he would have no problem referring me.