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

My insurance picked up the bill like normal i'm pretty sure (well, as an athlete my university was supposed to do that, but that's another issue)

Meyers claims a success rate of about 95%.

Like I said in my previous post, I am 9 weeks post op and only one tumbling pass shy of being in pre-surgery shape, with additional renewed abdominal strength that I had previously lacked due to my injury. Fingers crossed the minor pains/ irritations I'm still experiencing are all scar tissue related (they don't detract from my core strength at all)....

thanks for the response!

I had another question for you. I've read on here that dr. Meyers can diagnose sports hernias pretty well. Does anyone know how accurate those diagnosis are?

and secondly, how does Dr. Meyers diagnosis it? MRI? does he just ask what types of symptoms you have?

In any case I am going to try to set up an appointment with him. I just want to make sure am prepared.

thanks in advance!

He does both- I had an MRI that showed a torn rectus at my symphysis attachment on the left, but he also asked about symptoms and decided to fix both sides as well. I think the rate for people that come in and are actually recommended surgery is around 50%, for some reason that's the number that pops in my head.

Call their office if you want- 215-762-1078, Marcia is I think his primary assistant and when speaking with her, she seems to know as much about the injury as he does! So she is a great liaison to talk to

thanks bud...appreciate it. How are things improving for you?

I am scheduled an appointment with Meyers on January 22nd to do my MRI and diognosis.

The entire recovery process has been an extremely up and down ride, but... I started my rehab on week 4, increased at week 5, returned to gymnastics on week 6. After several freak-outs/ questioning my recovery, I managed to gain about 80% of my skills back by the start of week 8, and now into week 9 I am only a skill or two shy away of being at my pre-surgery level. I still have aggravation in the area but continue to work through it as I have much more ab strength than I did before I was injured.

wow..doesin't seem like fun...at least you've gotten a lot of it over with.

I just can't wait to get back to activity and I have a long way to go. Keep us updated on your condition.

Out of curiosity. Does anyone know who did the surgery for Donavan Mcnabb and Tom Brady?

Meyers performed the surgery on Meyers and his fellow teammate LJ Smith. In fact, because Smith wasn't getting better by week 4 (which is really not much time to heal up), Meyers went back in a "removed or cleared" scar tissue that was causing the pain. That's really interesting...could you imagine going under the knife twice in the same spot, in one month?

I know you are going to Meyers and he is one of the best, but you do need to ask him a lot of questions. Make him explain the risks of chronic nerve injury or damage as a result of the injury or surgery. Make him tell you everything that you could possibly experience. In working with him myself, I found that he wasn't as expressive as I wished...some people just want to be fixed, others like me, want an anatomy lesson and ideas on how to prevent something like this from happening again. Unfortunately it's not as cut and dry as going under the knife, getting fixed and going on with life for many of us. Surgery is a big deal and that first two weeks after mine I questioned why I did it. That feeling subsided, but know that you'll be pretty emotional besides being sore.

Many people are fixed easily, so I wish that for you!

seems like you had a tough recovery. How long did it take you to get 100% back to activity?

I also saw on your ealier post, that you had problems with your back. Was that before the groin surgery or after? I sprained my back four months ago (it hasn't fully healed) and then got my first symptoms of sports hernia about 2 months ago. At that point I decided my body has had enough. My groin never really hurt that much but hasn't healed at all since. Taking time off has been extremely hard and I realize that I have a long road ahead.

i agree with joe. even if meyers diagnoses you don't jump into it quickly like i did. i expected to be doing my activities right away, in at most 2 months. not the case at all. still have problems although getting better slowly. i must say that currently i am at nowhere near the physical health that i was before my accident, however.

i *think* that my surgeon missed a tear of my obliques, as a few practitioners have suggested. "slapshot gut" is the term, different from a sh but i can see how they can happen at the same time. i never had an mri before my surgeries because mvp insurance in new york would not approve of an mri, so i went by tthe diagnosis of dr um with her fingertip, and the fact that everything else was ruled out after literally 130+ doc/practitioner visits.

man...the more I find out about this thing the more I realize how much it sucks. I was hoping that surgery would be the quick fix to get me back to activity but it doesin't seem to be the case. The pain I have in the groin is not bad. How long does it take after surgery to do things like lifting weights and biking?

you might get back quicker than we imply here, but it is not like a knee meniscus scrape or anything like that, there is a bunch of soft tissue cut there. but i also think that depends on the extent of damage, current shape, and who does the surgery.

well...i hit my first roadblock. Warning to anyone with United Health Care, Signa or Oxford. Those insurance companies do not cover the cost for AP surgery. They deem the surgery experimental (whatever that means). I will try to go other routes here. I was thinking to try and get external coverage. Anyone have any ideas here?

SportsAddict,

I have Cigna (New York Open Access Plus) and, although it was a battle, they did in fact cover the whole thing (although I think even Marcia at Meyers office was a bit surprised). They used the code for Pelvic Floor Repair (I forget the number but Marcia knows it and uses it all the time I guess). Feel free to let me know if you need more information.

Interestingly, I got back into this thread by saying how I was a-ok seven months post op. I sprinted later that day (just on the elliptical but first time doing exactly that motion on that machine in a month or so) and the next day I was in enough pain that I had to take anti-inflammatories to sleep. Having said that, it didn't continue and I had a pretty hard workout this morning with no issues afterwards. I will hope, think, pray, etc. that this was just a friendly reminder of what I went through and nothing more.

I am a senior in high school and this past June I injured my groin and was told that it was just a strain and to keep playing soccer. So the entire summer I played with a semi professional team and played through the injury which kept getting worse until finally I couldn't play anymore. That's when I was diagnosed with a sports hernia. Six weeks ago I had surgery in Milwaukee with doctor Catty. But I still haven't been able to jog since then and I just have been walking and yesterday I started doing some physical therapy type of stuff with bands around my legs. It still bothers me on the inside part of my groin almost towards the buttocks. Also it sometimes still hurts when i cough, laugh, or sneeze. Is this normal still to have after having surgery six weeks ago. And what are some good exercises to do to help get back to jogging. Also when I straighten my legs from a bending position I seem to have a popping noise come from the pelvic area. Is this normal for people to have when suffering from this injury. I know that i have a lot of scar tissue but it doesn't seem like that's the problem

I had surgery with Dr. Cattey in June of 2006. After 4 weeks, I could hardly shuffle 10 minute miles and felt worse than I did before the surgery. I didn't turn the corner for good until Oct/Nov of '06. Today, it's 100% healed.

To the senior in high school - it's very common to be in pain six weeks or much longer after surgery. I was in pain for a good 3-4 months post-surgery before I had some relief.

I would highly recommend finding a good physical therapist who can walk you through very basic maneuvers so you're not straining yourself.

When the body is imbalanced or has gone through trauma (most sports), it needs literally start from scratch to correct the underlying issue. Building flexibility and strength over time is really the only way to do it. If you try to hard to get back to your sport without therapy, you're risking injury, again.

I would be surprised if your doctor didn't give you a protocol sheet to follow for recovery. But usually, it doesn't matter...most surgeons think you can get back to your sport in 4 weeks and you're done. Find a physical therapist who can take you from square one and just be very, very patient with the whole process. You might even benefit from some rolfing to unlock your body, which I'm sure has gone through a lot during sports.

joe

hi there;

I have been suffering from sports hernia for about 3 months now and so far none of my doctors have diagnosed me (I have seen quite a few, including a sports specialist).

Since I live in Canada (and the wait times for surgeries are incredibly long) I was wondering if you guys think its ok for me to start working out?

I am thinking of just doing some stationary bike and some weight lifting? I havnt worked out for 3 months and I am starting to get very depressed about it, and I was thinking maybe I can do something light until I eventually get to see a doctor who can help me,

do you guys think its ok? or is it gonna make my eventual recovery harder?

thank you

John

I am in the your position as well. It's been about three months since i've had my pain the groin.

I am not a doctor but from my personal experience I can do the stationary bike and I can lift weights on my upper body. My injury could be different from yours. I have pain when i run, jog or do any ab exercises. If you do the stationary bike don't do sprints on them, that might aggravate.

Make sure you slowly work in...good luck!