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

Hamilton eager to resume baseball activity
June 11, 2009





ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton is already running on a treadmill and expects to resume baseball activities in about 10 days after surgery to repair his abdominal muscle.

"It's good to know it's been corrected. It's probably more stable now than it was before," Hamilton said in the clubhouse Thursday night after the Rangers' 1-0 victory over Toronto. "I can go forward and not worry about it lingering on for the rest of the season."

Hamilton, second in the All-Star voting among American League outfielders, said he would like to play in the July 14 game at St. Louis if selected.

Hamilton got hurt colliding with an outfield wall while making a catch May 17 against the Los Angeles Angels. That was less than a week after he came off the disabled list because of a strained rib cage muscle sustained after crashing into another wall.

"It's a different hurt now," he said. "I feel better injury-wise. ... It's good to know what I have to do to get back. I have a plan of action."

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Albert wrote:

Surf-

You said this:

I'm guessing you're catching things earlier than I did, thank goodness. I'm guessing you have a real good opportunity to heal naturally if you can keep relatively active and healthy without incurring serious soreness, and do that over a year's time, you'll be mended better (by nature) than if you had surgery

I have to respectfully disagree that you can heal better than if you were mended by surgery. You have no idea what type of tear he has. If it is complete then the body CAN NOT heal it. Also on some tears scar tissue is laid down haphazardly and is rigid, thus setting the body up for tightness and another tear in the future.
That is what i had. In fact I know i had this once before in college and it ended my football career, yet i allowed them to open my back....which did nothing to change symtpoms...after 1 year of pool walking it resolved...yet it was always tight....And then it went 18 years later it completely detached, but meyers said it was scarred.

Back in 1984 they did not know of AP, so there is nothing that could be done.

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Notice the effective date on this United Healthcare/Oxford report on athletic pubalgia surgery. April 1, 2009.

https://www.oxhp.com/secure/policy/surgical_treatment_athletic_pubalgia_409.html

Den,

Yes, I think you're giving me good advice. I'm being sure to remain active every day. I take short walks about 5-10 times per day even on off days, also some stretching, along with just daily living.

But another thought on the subject of stiffness is this: Muscles and tendons can both repair themselves, but tendons require more calendar time and also more "quiet" time for the intricate repair work to be done.

Sometimes when I read this large LetsRun thread I see people with long term sports hernia problems who are so addicted to exercise they don't know how to let their body have time to fix what is fundamentally a repetetive stress injury.

Repetetive stress injuries like tennis elbow or plantar fasciitis are cured not be exercise, but by abstaining from exercise or drastically reducing exercise.

I'm still puzzled by all that.

How many people come down with sports hernia each year? Maybe 5,000 per year in the USA? For each person, it is a major event in their life, a huge medical challenge.

Yet here at this LetsRun thread, we have about 10 active members. Why aren't there more people coming to this thread?

Out of the 5,000 person annual crop of sports hernia sufferers in the USA, why did 10 of us end up here in this thread? What is our common trait?

Are we the 10 most hypochondriacal? Or the 10 most sensitive to pain? Or maybe the 10 most skilled at internet search? Or maybe the 10 most outspoken of the 5,000 person crop?

I just don't know. Does anybody have any clues why the 10 of us ended up here when there are a few thousand new cases of sports hernia every year in the USA?

"United Healthcare Oxford study April 1, 2009 6/13/2009 6:05AM - in reply to Den Reply | Return to Index | Report Post
Notice the effective date on this United Healthcare/Oxford report on athletic pubalgia surgery. April 1, 2009.

https://www.oxhp.com/secure/policy/surgical_treatment_athletic_pubalgia_409.html"

Of course that is their finding... they don't want to pay for it like most insurance companies. If they could find a way to prove that childbirth was an unnecessary procedure, they would post that on the Internet too...

LOL

Surf wrote:

"Sometimes when I read this large LetsRun thread I see people with long term sports hernia problems who are so addicted to exercise they don't know how to let their body have time to fix what is fundamentally a repetetive stress injury.

Repetetive stress injuries like tennis elbow or plantar fasciitis are cured not be exercise, but by abstaining from exercise or drastically reducing exercise.

I'm still puzzled by all that."


Surf,

I agree with you, but only in part -- because most of us overdo it; that's why we are where we are in many cases. I rested for months before I began physical therapy, meaning no sports activity other than stretching/walking... the symptoms subsided somewhat. But because of everyday activities of life, it will get irritated again at some point. My best result pre-surgery was physcial therapy (core exercises with structured stretching) every day at least one hour, sometimes 2 X per day for three straight weeks. Where I think I went wrong is that I increased the intensity of it way too soon or perhaps it was inevitable. I was doing more than the PT designed. That is the best advice I can give you. But once you have had the initial "period of rest," I don't believe that intermittent rest will heal it. Perhaps if you could get back to the level that I was pre-surgery, you would be content. I wasn't happy with it because I want to ride my bike again and possibly play soccer. Fortunately for me, I didn't have all of the terrible acute ab pain that a lot of others had. So I do attribute that to the rest and subsequent physical therapy.

Also, there are a lot of other conditions that can mimic sports hernias or are similar in symptoms... inguinal hernia, osteitis pubis, labral hip tears, Femoroacetabular Impingement, etc. So without a diagnosis, you may never know what it is. I still think I may have a labral tear in my hip despite doubts from specialists. But I'm waiting to see how my recovery progresses. Post-surgery, the tension in my hip has subsided significantly so I'm trusting that whatever the doctor did in suturing the conjoined tendon has made a difference in some way. I'm 22 days out and I feel pretty good, but I do have some inflammation. That is my only setback post surgery. I'm walking several miles a day right now in conjunction with core work and hamstring strengthening. If I can get the inflammation to resolve itself, I think I will be ok.

Why don't you see more people posting here? Most likely because they don't know what is wrong or haven't stumbled across this website yet. If doctors can't figure out what is wrong, how are they going to know where to look? A lot of us we're just lucky that we came across this site or blogs; or anything with some information.

First of all you DO NOT come down with sports hernia....It is not a virus.

I think that many people do not know what they have so how or why would they know about this thread. I sure as hell didn't.

Also there are 18 different different types of AP as noted by Meyers.

Look at one of his clinicals and see the increase in the amount of patients being seen by him. Just a few years ago it was like 7 a week and now he sees i think 25 and operates on 16. (or close to those numbers)

I could give a shit what the insurance companies say. This is a real injury and it is FInally getting the attention it deserves.

As to an estimate how many people in the US have it is a guess. I know when i talk to people they have never heard of it...even docs.

I am on here specifically to give personal experiences with rehab so people who do decide to have surgery are not afraid....even those like me who have alot of damage and waited a long time.

The past 2 days have been great. i am foregoing any type of running until i drop a total of 50 pounds (i have lost 20 since surgery)....I am walking 7 miles per day (3.5 a.m. and 3.5 p.m.) It is tightening my core like crazy. I am practicing using my TVA muscles and it is working. I am sore as a mother when i go to bed, but i wake up fresh.....

I also do all the stretches and do the pool 4x per week.

For the life of me if someone has a torn tendon i do not see why you would not have it reattached surgically. It is a 25 minute procedure if you get the adductor release (according to Meyers) and look at Josh Hamilton who is jogging 4 days later. WOW. He did not have the release of the adductors and just had the tear, but why would you put yourself through hell to rehab and NOT DO the things in life you love. To me that is foolish. Even if it cost 15k out of pocket it would be worth it because the quality of life with this sucks....You withdraw from people....you get angry....you are only half-living.

I am all for rehabbing strains, but when a tear is involved and the operation is that small.....Cut me please....NOW!!!

No matter what anyone says here Mr. Surf will come up with snippets and articles by insurance companies.....doctors....failed patients.....mayo clinic...but will for some reason not listen to the excellent results of Dr. Meyers and Dr. Um...

You are already seeing the successful surgery guys disappear from posting.....life is worth living...not being on here talking about something you are not willing to get

#1 diagnosed
#2 fixed

So what is the point? I have 2.5 weeks left here and hopefully i can provide insight to those going to meyers....

talking about failures.....denied insurances......failed rehabs........upset patients who have 3 surgeries in 21 months......posters who rehabbed when only 1 in 5 were diagnosed....

What boggles my mind the most is that this guy has no idea if he even has it. HE has zero intention of finding out.
How the hell do you treat something that you do not know what it is? Please answer that...I am dying to know.

Symptoms mean squat. I was in the med. field and so many things have similar symtpoms. In fact a labral tear produces almost identical symptoms as the AP...how come you are not addressing your hips.

Please surf.....stop with the nonsense until you get a diagnosis.

Yes sir, Dr. Albert, sir!

LOL

No... I think forums and message boards are usually most productive and powerful when everyone involved feels very free to express their own perspective.

Every mind is different. When someone begins, not disagreeing with others, but rather telling others not to express their particular viewpoints, then the scientific nature of the conversation is stifled and diminished.

So, Albert, good friend, you probably should get used to people in forums and message boards that have perspectives radically different from your own, and expressing them when they wish.

The emotional roller coaster of stress of sports hernia is getting to all of us, I think.

Den,
Where does your inflammation occur now?

Surf-

I have NO PROBLEM with opinions that differ from mine at all. Quite the contrary. I think that is how people learn and come to conclusions of their own.

But answer the questions:

1) what is your diagnosis?
2) How do you know it is AP?
3) How do you know it is not a labral tear whose symptoms mimic AP?
4) Without a proper diagnosis how can you tell people what to do or how to do it, when in fact what you have may or may not be AP?
5) Why do you only post anti-surgical posts and attach links that show failure?



Answer those and i will know where you are coming from.

As far as the emotional roller coaster called AP....my ride is almost over. In fact my life improves daily thanks to a PROPER DIAGNOSIS and a GREAT SURGEON named Dr. William Meyers.

When I am gone from here unfortunately you will still be scaring people who are considering surgery as if it is not hard enough. Myself and JC were talking about this. How at 4 weeks to go before surgery the doubts creep in because we had been to so many docs and so on. I told him it was natural but MEyers does NOT just operate on anyone and it is not a crapshoot. If you look at your Oxford health links at 3.5 years almost 90% of his patients are playing at the same or exceeding levels of performance. This was an older study so imagine how good it is now.

Anyways, I am glad I did not see your posts pre-surgery because they would have scared me more than i was. I do not want others to feel they are doomed like you would want.

Take a step out of your tiny little world and acknowledge that surgery is the gold standard for treating this.

You continue to pollute the forum with nonsensical therapies like every 3rd day surfing....

Come on dude.....that is on the verge of being retarded. Why not just get a witch doctor? Get with the rest of us and get a diagnosis....what are you running from? You are 58.....time to be a man and face the music

Den-

Inflammation could be from any number of things. It also could last up to 6 months. I would not worry too much. It is also a gauge when we push our bodies too much.

I seem to get it when i overdo it. I got mine when i tried to run sprints....Funny, because even if i were not hurt i have no biz running sprints...too out of shape.

BE kind to your body and it will be kind to you.

I also had the same fear of my hips post surgery. I have 2 labral tears but i have zero pain there now. It is almost like my whole compartment is tightening.

My glutes work now.....before i could not clench them. I can use my TVA muscles.....

With this injury it is day by day....

The inflammation I have now I guess would best be described on the lower left part of my pelvis at the pubic bone and almost slightly down toward my adductor. There is also some mild inflammation directly blow the incision. It's not painful, but just feels a little puffy. I'm probably going to have some ART work done next week and see a specialist for my psoas.

Den-

ART is good, but the puffiness will be reabsorbed into your body. I was told it could take up to 3 months.

A good trick you can do to get your own psoas is to go to a pet store and get the softball size tennis ball toy (about $2.50) and put it where your psoas is and roll on it.

A great web-site for self-massage is www.jusltro.com and her name is julie donnelly. She is amazing and instructs how and in what order to self-treat. I go to a NEuro Muscular Therapist 2x per month but I like to self-treat and she is wonderful.

I think i found her when i posted a question on med-help and she answered it.

Den,

A guy named dave expressed an idea that seems to be holding true as I observe my sports hernia, and may be crucial. Dave said,

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These workouts only tended to cause pain after my muscles were fatigued.

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Den,
If you're only at 22 days, it seems to me you're doing fine. You just need some patience.

I strained my shoulders a couple times over the years, 2 different kinds of injuries. But each time it took a full 6 months for the soreness to finally leave, and without any drugs.

Six months for a shoulder strain. You're not even at one month yet.

But I will say one thing about my shoulder injuries -- I'll bet if I worked the injured shoulder every day, instead of letting it rest for six months, they would never have recovered properly.

Thought you guys would be interested....Tendons and expecially Ligaments have a very limited blood supply.....This is why Ligaments and tendons have a hard time healing 100% correctly on there own.....Muscles have a large blood supply...the reason why muscle pulls, strains and tears will heal much quicker and correctly

When you read the part where they mention prostaglandins, this is where there finding taking Anti InFlams for 10 days right after an injury blocks this chemical process that is needed during the inflammation process.........so for many years the gold standard was take anti inflams after an injury...which I did many many times...come to find out that could be a big part of incomplete healing of a injuried tendon or ligament.....I now tend ot wiat till 3 days go by...and then if still inflamed or in pain from a normal pull or strain I will start the anti inflam then....Interesting stuff



THE INFLAMMATION PROCESS


Understanding inflammation is key to gaining an insight into how prolotherapy works. The first phase is called acute inflammation and is about one hundred hours long. This step begins at the time of the injury, when the ligament and the adjacent cells are broken open and their contents spill at the wound site. The ligamentous and cellular debris and a number of chemicals in the fluid or plasma around the broken-open cells attract an influx of white blood cells called leukocytes. Their job is to clean out the bacteria and prevent infection at the injury site. Many of the chemicals released during this phase will be broken down into messengers or chemical signals that tell cells to become active or inactive during this phase of inflammation. Some of these chemicals are called prostaglandins, which can cause pain at the injury site.

The leukocytes also secrete hormones which attract an important cell called the "macrophage". The arrival of the macrophages at the injury site signals the beginning of the next phase in the healing process, the granulation phase. As the macrophages arrive at the injury site, they begin to "clean up" the area through a combination of digesting the broken-down cell parts and secreting enzymes, which break down many of the damaged ligament molecules. The macrophages also release a number of hormones which will bring more cells to the injury site.

The macrophages also release chemicals (growth factors) which stimulate the growth of new blood vessels, intercellular matrix, and the cells that will make new ligaments. These specialized cells which make ligaments are called fibroblasts. The fibroblasts will be responsible for the actual repairing of the sprained ligament. The combination of all of these cells and the new blood vessels being formed causes the thickness and fullness that can be felt at the injury site. The granulation phase will be present for ten days to two weeks.

Fibroblasts will find the site where the ligamentous structures attach to the bone: the fibro-osseous junction. The fibroblasts will be stimulated, or "turned on", to make new ligaments by chemicals and hormones that have been released by the incoming macrophage. When the fibroblasts are "turned on", they rapidly make massive amounts of the basic building blocks of ligaments: collagen.

The third phase of healing is called "wound contraction". During this phase, the new collagen deposited at the injury site will be organized into a new ligament. The fibroblasts make single long molecules which, when outside of the cell, will begin to entwine around each other, forming what we call a collagen fiber, which is a "triple helix" of these molecules. The individual molecules are held together by strong chemical bonds, As the collagen fibers wind around each other, they begin to contract and the molecules become shorter and tighter. Water is squeezed out (like squeezing a sponge), which also causes shrinkage. As the millions of collagen fibers lose water and shrink, the ends of the ligament will be slowly pulled together and the laxity will decrease. We can see this in the healing of a skin wound as the edges of the wound pull tightly together near the end of the healing process.

During the third phase of the healing process, all of the cells originally present to "clean up" the wound are recalled by the body. All that is left at the injury site are the fibroblasts which have been "turned on"and are secreting the collagen and other substances which will be used to increase the integrity of the injury site. The third phase of inflammation lasts for a number of weeks, and the "new ligament" tissue will not reach its maximum strength for several months.

Surf you may have underlying diet, metabolisium, hormone, Vitamin or nutrient difficienies if it took 6 months to heal just a strained shoulder...all the more for you to see a Doc and even get some blood work.......Lots of things can get in the way of of the healing process....Low Testosterone and/or IGF-1 Levels, Low Vitamin D levels, High Cortisol levels. High or Low Thyroid levels and so much more....Keep paddling the shit is getting deep LOL

Surf-

I will stay with therapy that is tried and true from professionals. I do not need advice from laymen who are experimenting.

I am getting my FSM test by a Gray Cook therapist on Monday. He is highly spoken about when you read up on Mike Boyle. He believes this is the best assessment there is.

After that i will use whatever excercises he determines that will strengthen my weak areas.

I also will be starting on CORE X whenever it arrives. This is the system designed by Mchenzie who is the head trainer and appears in the papers written by Meyers. This is the system that was attributed to saving Grant Hills basketball career after his AP surgery.

I suggest everyone else also use trained professionals and not gimmicks that work for one person. That is not science my friends....that is guesswork and it could do more harm than good.

Also I knew Surf would not answer my questions...


How bout it buddy? LEts hear some answers before you muddy the waters anymore