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

Mark,

I am also a soccer player, but an old one (now 56). I last played in January. I had the same thought as you when I read the whole thread-virtually no full recoveries without surgery. Like you though, I think I had a milder version of this four years ago. I had pain while playing soccer, but when running the main symptom was that I always felt like I had to urinate. I took three monmths off soccer, but continued to run and do PT, and then I was fine for three years until I was paricularly juiced up one day and executed a perfect bicycle kick for the first time in many years. (Didn't score, but it went just over the goal) No pain at first, just a bit of a wierd sensation in my lower absomen, but that is definitely what sent me down this miserable road. We'll see what Meyers says when I see him next week (for the second time)

Jeff

Thanks for that info Jeff, I will let you know how my surgery goes, hopefully this will get rid of it for good. Good luck with your appointment

Went to Germany,

What was the surgery like, how long did it take etc. Any information would be great as I am booked in for November and would like to know what to expect. Do they give you a list of exercises etc to do after surgery or is it down to you ?

Thanks, Mark

Hi,

I have a sports hernia and live in Knoxville, TN. I was wondering about your experience with Dr. Novick. Did he use the mesh procedure or did he follow Dr. Meyers procedure? Did he seem experienced with treating this problem? Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Chris Nicholas

Hi,

I also had some other random questions? Has anyone with United Healthcare insurance been able to convince them to cover the SH surgery? Does anyone know of any Dr.'s that code the mesh repair for SH as a hernia insteand of athletic pubalgia? Lastly, does anyone know who performed Tom Brady's SH operation a few years back? If so, was the doctor located in the New England area? Thanks again.

Mark

Thay will take great care of you and lead you through it no problem. I wouldn't recommend going anywhere else. They don't give you any exercises but they do give you a general outline of what you are allowed to do after surgery. I was back in the gym 1 week after surgery. I'm still going to physion and will be for a while

A sports hernia is a catch-all diagnois. Let me ask around to see if anyone good is in your area. I'll get back to you

Just recently stumbled across this thread and have viewed several pages. Interesting for sure. I am a competitive tennis player and teaching pro in Destin, FL. Like a fool, I play 7 days a week and never give my body time to heal- I have been battling several injuries over the past couple of years- currently I have jumpers knee, turf toe, occasional problems with my wrist, and yes, what appears to be a sports hernia. I started having pain on my RIGHT side- went to the Dr. and he confirmed a small hernia and referred me to a surgeon. The few days before leading up to see the surgeon I had almost no pain. He did the same test as the primary physician and stated he didn't really feel anything and to get back with him if it got worse- no surgery needed. Well, it is several weeks later and the affected area is now more noticeable on the LEFT side- with pain going down to my upper leg and I'm getting pain in my lower left side of my back. A couple of nights this week I woke up in quite a bit of pain and any movement at all was quite painful in the groin area.

Questions:

1. Does anyone else have lower back pain that you think might be associated with the hernia?

2. Do you all find the pain is worse some days more than others?

3. Do the hernias move/spread to the other side or could that be a seperate injury?

Hi destinytennis,

I too was a fool for tennis, playing 4x a week after work and weekends for hours upon hours.

My wife emphasized the importance of cross-training, but my tennis game just felt too good to give up, even for a day or two. I understand the addiction.

Well, 2 years later and I had the surgery to correct the problem and I'm back to hitting again. What a torturous road it has been.

May I graciously suggest that you stop playing tennis for at least a week? Your body NEEDS recovery time in between workouts, so this is nothing more than giving yourself a much deserved break.

As for the pain in your groin - if doc #1 said there's a hernia there would have been a palpable bulge. The fact that doc #2 said there was no hernia leads me to believe you may have another issue going on, especially because you now have pain on the other side.

That's exactly what happened to me. The surgeon was ready to admit me, yet I had no bulge. MRI, CT Scan, X-ray...all negative. Pain came and went, some days so terrible even walking hurt.

I read this thread religiously looking for people who could relate to my pain. Sure enough, just about everyone here has posted because they have similar diagnoses from docs who don't know that there are issues affecting the groin other than hernias.

As soon as I read that you have pain in your upper leg I thought you may have a tear, aka athletic pubalgia. Search for this term and read about it...mostly occurs as the result of twisting/running from a static position (repetitively).

If you can even somewhat self diagnose your self and you think you may have it, then your road may have surgery written on it. I wish I didn't wait, but at the same time, these two years opened my eyes to the importance of strengthening the core muscles, & training beyond tennis so that you get in shape to play, rather allowing the sport to serve as your only means of fitness.

So, to answer your questions more directly...yes, back pain is associated with this injury (and it's likely not a hernia, it's a tear). So much of this is the imbalance of muscles and the disposition of your spine.

Pain can be nominal to downright dreadful depending on the day and yes, many of us (like me) had pain on one side for a few months, followed by the same pain on the other side.

You twist and turn and sprint and contort your body in ways that make you quite susceptible to athletic pubalgia...do some more research on it while taking a break. I'm afraid you may just have to start from scratch to retrain your muscles, as they are very stressed and too used to tennis only.

There's much more to write, email me at joebshoe at hotmail.com if you'd like more info. The best thing you can do is get diagnosed as early as possible.

Good luck.

Joe

hey destinytennis,

joe is right on with everything he says.

there are activites/motions we chronically do, whether it be tennis, soccer, raking leaves, hauling cement, whatever it may be...and if you don't either give rest periods and/or cross train in any other kind of way, you can develop problems that lead up to the sports hernia.

in my case, apparenly a good example of a bad injury and tough recovere, i had all the symptoms you, joe, and others describe. i had it occasionally to rarely for a few years before a big blowout where it was incredibly painful to do anything at all. then it spread to the other side.

leading up to it- chronic twisting/situps/extension, as whitewater kayaker. nothing else, really, for crosstraining aside from very occasional hiking and maybe some frisbee or pond hockey. i had two knee surgeries and ended up with a painful knee before the groin on the same side became sports heriated. then came the si joint/low back and hip.

i very recently was treated by a very highly respected manual therapist who diagnosed and released an entrapped ilioinguinal and femoral nerves, right below the sh injury. he felt that that began before the sports hernia itself, and also felt it contributed to my knee pain. i imagine that i started the tearing/imbalance years ago, and it started to scar over, causing tension imbalances throughout the groin. that would be an example of a setup for the injury.

so it is a complex injury in its etiology, and docs can't really detect it well without lots of solid prior experience. the longer you go with the problem(s) the harder it can take to unwind, but i think that is not only due to the imbalances themselves but also the quality of the rehab and the necessary guidance through the rehab.

the injury should not only be understood by the diagnostician but also the person who helps to rebuild.

Thanks so much for this info Joe and Johnny- VERY insightful indeed. I will be reading up on athletic pubalgia right away. I liken my "addiction" to tennis to that often described "high" that runners talk about. I see this is a runners forum so I'm sure many on here can relate. For me, nothing else but tennis gives me that so yes that is all that I do as far as fitness is concerned. I play at a fairly high level 4.5-5.0 so the demands on the body are much higher than your average club player. I also play on clay which is easier on the joints, BUT the sliding that you do often puts your body in unusual and awkward positions. Again, this is great info. I am noticing already today that I am more sore than I was yesterday.

Hi, Johnny I posted on your Sports hernia blog site this request too, if you can send me the information that the doctor found out about the sports hernia that the other doctors don't know about. I would appreciate it so I can print this out to show to my physical therapist who doesn't believe I have this condition because nothing has been found yet. Thanks for your time. Matt

Hi, Johnny I posted on your Sports hernia blog site this request too, if you can send me the information that the doctor found out about the sports hernia that the other doctors don't know about. I would appreciate it so I can print this out to show to my physical therapist who doesn't believe I have this condition because nothing has been found yet. Thanks for your time. Matt

hey

there are some articles out there written by dr william c meyers on the sports hernia. you'd have to google for it, i don't know where it really is located.

google dr ulrike muschaweck and you will find many articles on her and the injury.

your pt is like many and cannot necessarily diagnose the sh. he/she cannot really treat it either.

i was diagnosed and treated by dr muschaweck in munich germany.

email

info@hernien.de

and ask for any information/articles in english on the sports hernia so you can show your pt/docs...that would be the best since i am only repeating what um said and i am not a doctor...

Here is a good article explaining the condition.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/sports/story/0,4136,144822,00.html

Has anyone have more information about the rehab program that this article refers to?

Athletic Hernia Repair Technique Coupled with Innovative Rehabilitation Prog. Speeds Return to Play

http://www.sportsmed.org/tabs/newsroom/AOSSMPressReleaseDetails.aspx?DID=421

Apparently the principal investigator is Dr. Michael Brunt from the University of Washington in St. Louis, missouri. I don't recall reading about him doing athletic hernia surgery on this forum.. someone to reach out to im guessing.

My wife had bilateral surgery 10 weeks ago with Dr. UM in munich and still experiencing some soreness/pain near the incision area. Hoping its not too complicated

thanks

Hey Johnny,

I recently had some flares up after going pain free for a while following neural therapy.

I think you have been down this road.

Are you feeling any better after the release of trapped nerves?

Is it possible that certain activities could entrap these nerves? I ask because if I was pain free then suddenly feeling pain, I wonder what changed?

Do you have a link to your manual therapist? I'm seeing my chiro on Monday and want to give her some specific direction. This is the type of work she does, but I'm trying to help her understand what's happening.

And, what's your exercise regimen been like lately? Pain? Have you done pilates since the surgery?

Thanks!

Joe

hey joe

sorry to hear you're in pain again.

i do feel a bunch better after getting the manual work. i saw an advanced rolfer who is one of the top3 visceral manipulation specialists on the planet. go figure he also resides in munich. he release the ilioinguinal nerves and the femoral nerves.

he also did other maniuplations.

i still plan on getting more nt down the road.

i did pilates 6 months after surgery and it made me way worse, totally screwed up my hamstring attachment.

right now i have a fever and am totally sick so no activity other than shaking with the chills. but a few days ago i began swimming again and it felt great.

that is what i recommend, swimming and hiking. very easy to control how hard you do it.

a bunch of times i've been told, while going thru this crappy healing process, that i overdid it with activities, ven when they felt like nothing.

whatever you do, keep in mind that stretching may not be good, it can irritate the tissues more, but that also depends on the situation...

if you want email me and i can point you towards a manual therapist in your area

j

Johnny,

The visceral manipulation technique sounds interesting.

I actually found a few people where I live that perform that modality. I may give them a try.

I've seen a few rolfers in town here and did just jump on the rolfing institute's page and found some others.

All signs are pointing to swimming indeed. I had played tennis once and felt great. The next time I played (after feeling a little twinge after an intimate encounter with my wife) it flared up.

Of course I had been working on the core and hit the gym 2-3x week, so I was feeling good. Interesting recovery. Too bad I emailed Meyers and told him I thought the surgery was a success...not really, yet. I spoke to soon.

Not sure I have your email address, I'd have to go look back through these pages.

Joe