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

Mike in Denver I kind of understand you being gun shy on going back to play soccer...but If you really enjoy it why not just cut back on games and ke it easy while playing and enjoy it............For me I was averaging 200 games of League and Tournamnet Softball....some weekends playing 7-10 games a weekend....I Plan on just playing in a few leagues ( instead of the 5-7 I used to play in) and maybe ...maybe an occasional one day Tournament....so Im looking to cut back my play to about 60-100 games...And I will not go all out 150% diving for balls and crashing into the fence etc.....WIth this injury I have learned how to enjoy the game I love more and still play hard to a point without risking my body for further punishment.....Anyways sounds like your doing great

Im scheduled for 7/15...One of my biggest decisions will be whether to play Fall ball or just wait till next spring....all will depend on how I feel...Most likely Ill just spend my time getting strong and wait thru the long winter till the spring

Thanks Mike.

You mention that you had your ab's re-attached. What happened there exactly? I know many of the posts sound redundant, probably because we are too lazy to go back and read all 113 pages.

But my two main issues are this: My left groin is painful almost 24/7 and my abs ache unless I lean forward slightly. The pain some of you have mentioned that goes down the back of your legs has now started up with me. I feel that I have almost no control at all as far as my groin muscles go. Like I have to force to keep my knees together or else they would just fall apart from each other and cause a lot of pain.

I know you probably forgot, but I was curious if your groin felt tight or normal.

Thanks Mike you're rehab and success is very encouraging.

Mike in Denver

JC,

Albert speaks highly of you. And that means a lot to me.

My game is basketball, and I have been competitive all my life. I was playing 4 times a week until my injury. I hope to at least be able to play that much but at a higher level than I was before. Only because the injury slowly crept up on me until I was unable to even lightly jog. Before that, I had no pain or limitations in motion or range.

I don't know how you are able to play ball still. The pain is way too much for me to handle right now, let alone try to play or even exercise. I am counting the days until I can see DR. UM.

Are you scheduled for a surgery on 7/15? My consultation is 7/4 and I can't wait. My only fear is that she will find more damage than is normal. It's hard not to feel that way when you are in as much pain as I am.

Thanks for the input JC.

Mike in Denver

Dr. UM operated on my sports hernia (right side) 2 years ago. This thread really helped me during that confusing and frustrating time; it is how I found Dr. UM in the first place. So, I try and check back from time to time and contribute to this now epic thread.

Going to Munich was a big risk as I was paying out of pocket. And just a whacky idea -- people were always like, "You're going to Germany... for surgery??"

I was back on the field 7 weeks post-op, no pain or complications (although you have to be patient - the first few weeks were rocky). I'm so glad I listened to my gut (lower, right gut, if you will) and went to see Dr. UM. She fixed me up and had me back on the field 100%.

If you are convinced you have sports hernia, and want the best in the business (qualified by the hundreds of pro athletes she has operated on successfully), and want to get
back on the field asap, my advice is get on the first flight to Munich.

Best of luck to you all.

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me at yleeper --at-- gmail.

Dr. UM operated on my sports hernia (right side) 2 years ago. This thread really helped me during that confusing and frustrating time; it is how I found Dr. UM in the first place. So, I try and check back from time to time and contribute to this now epic thread.

Going to Munich was a big risk as I was paying out of pocket. And just a whacky idea -- people were always like, "You're going to Germany... for surgery??"

I was back on the field 7 weeks post-op, no pain or complications (although you have to be patient - the first few weeks were rocky). I'm so glad I listened to my gut (lower, right gut, if you will) and went to see Dr. UM. She fixed me up and had me back on the field 100%.

If you are convinced you have sports hernia, and want the best in the business (qualified by the hundreds of pro athletes she has operated on successfully), and want to get
back on the field asap, my advice is get on the first flight to Munich.

Best of luck to you all.

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me at yleeper --at-- gmail.

I'll repost from page 111. I seriously suggest reading as much of this board as possible before meeting with Dr. UM and have all your questions written down. If you end up having to travel over 5,000 miles for surgery, you will need to be confident you are doing the right thing. It's not a minor decision.


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I'll break this email down so people can share it with others by bullet points.

1. If you are having pain in your groin, leg, testicles and lower abdomen and you have seen doctors here in the US with no real findings as to what is causing your pain, then you need to see a specialist to see if you have a tear in your abdominal wall that may be causing your pain. I recommend seeing Dr. Muschaweck for an Ultrasound.

2. The Ultrasound test Dr. Muschaweck does will be able to detect a tear in your abdominal wall and an approximate size of this tear. If you have a tear in your abdominal wall, it will need to be surgically repaired. I'll detail why.

3. If you have a tear in your abdominal wall off the bone, then it is NOT going to heal itself thru rehab. Here is why. The lower abdominal wall is used in almost every movement we all make during the day from getting in and out of bed, lifting small objects, exercising, getting in an out of the car...you name it, it is being used. When you have a tear in this location, this is the action that is causing your pain. When the lower abdomen is flexed, the bowel behind the abdominal wall is going to be pushing thru this tear almost constantly. If it is a small movement, the bulge of the bowel pushing through will be small. If you make a big movement really flexing your muscles, the a very large amount of your bowels will be pushing through this hole in your abdomen. There is no way anything is going to heal and reattach to the bone if you constantly have your bowels pushing thru it 100's of times a day.

A picture of my tear from the surgery is here. It was 3cm x 3cm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rasmikey/3629312074/

4. How do I know this is happening? While in Munich on June 9th doing my pre-op exam, I was meeting with Dr. Bergen (who was fabulous). She once again did the same test on me that Dr. Muschaweck did in New Jersey. She did the finger test looking for an inguinial hernia, OUCH!!! Then she did the ultrasound. During the Ultrasound, it is clearly evident that the bowels are pushing thru this hole in my abdominal wall. When I did a very strong flex with my lower abdomen and legs at the same time, a HUGE amount of my bowel was going thru this hole, then receded back when relaxing. When I did a very minor flex of just my abdomen while simulating getting out of bed, a smaller amount of the bowel was going thru the hole. It did not matter if the flex was strong or small, the hole was always being penetrated by my bowels. There is no way something is going to heal on its own with this going on daily. The exact opposite is going to happen! The tear is going to continue to widen as more and more of your bowels push thru the hole and then recede.

In my case the tear was 3 cm x 3 cm, a rather large tear that started small and got bigger over time. It was NEVER going to heal without a surgical repair.

5. Why the pain? The pain is caused because when the bowel pushes through the hole, it is compressing itself up against your groin canal and the major nerves that reside there. The nerves of course do not like this. Over time the nerves begin to get damaged and frayed. This sends signals of pain to our brain. The more this happens, the more the nerve gets damaged and the more pain we feel. The main nerve has branches that come off of it and go into our leg, groin, testicles and abdomen. These branch nerves are the first to get damaged. Once they are damaged, you will start to get a constant burning pain 24x7. There is no turning back at this point. Removing the branch nerve is the only solution to relieve the pain. If this compression against the nerve canal continues for a very long period of time, the main nerve will start to be damaged. At this point you can start to get pain in all of the above areas, as well as the hips and lower back. Thank God I got this issue resolved before getting to this point.

In my case the branch nerve that went into my leg, groin, testicles and abdomen was removed. The nerve pain is completely GONE now.

6. What are the risks of not getting the tear fixed. If you do not believe in surgery and think this issue can be resolved by rehab then these are the risks you run going forward. This only applies to people who have had an exam and been officially diagnosed with having a tear of the lower abdomen off the bone. Risk # 1 is that the tear will continue to get bigger and cause more bowel compression against the nerve over time resulting in more nerve damage. Risk # 2 is that over time the tear will get so big that one day you will flex strong and push so much of your bowels thru the hole that it will not recede. At this point, you have a major issue. The bowel is now a true hernia protruding into your groin canal and up against the nerve 24x7 until it is fixed. Mesh will be required at this point. I can't imagine the pain that would cause. Risk # 3 is what has happened to Albert, JC and others. The abdomen attaching to the pelvic bone is a major balancing point for our bodies. Once this balance is thrown off, you will start to put stress on other areas of your body, causing additional injury. Dr. Meyers is more of a specialist when it comes to this area so listen to those guys once you have past the point of just having a tear in your abdomen.

I hope that is some good information for you guys. Whether or not my tear got larger during my rehab will never really be known. The rehab did help me feel better and absolutely made my recovery and management of the pain after the surgery much better, so do it...but don't over do it if you know what I mean. Listen to your body, and then listen to your doctor when you go see them. I did not start any rehab until after I met with Dr. Muschaweck in early April. Discuss this with her.

Dr. Muschaweck's team in Germany is absolutely amazing. I could not have been treated any better. They are real pros. It is surgery, so get yourself mentally prepared if you decide to go that route. I would absolutely do it again. There is pain the first 48-72 hours, so you have to gut through it and get out of bed and walk like Dr. Muschaweck says. Take someone with you if you can and I recommend staying for 3-4 days after so you can address any issues if they arise and let the swelling go down before flying home.

Good luck to everyone on this board and I'll check back, but my days of posting are coming to an end. Mentally I am done and letting this thing go. I am going back to my core rehab and will slowly work back up to jogging and playing sports over the next 4-6 weeks. No need to get back any sooner than that. Slow and easy is how I will take it. I have come to far to go back now and no one pays me to play.

I wish all you guys on the board the best of luck. Go see a specialist and follow their advice and you will get better, it just takes some time and mental toughness to get there.

Mike in Va

Saw a local surgeon yesterday. He essentially said he would treat it like an inguinial hernia, reinforcing the area of my injury with mesh, but also severing the inguinial nerve. That's how he understood sports hernias to be treated. He wasn't recommending surgery, only that if I got to a point where I felt I needed it, then that's what he would do and it would fix the problem. Said I could do whatever activities I wanted, but should obviously avoid things that cause pain and that I couldn't do anything to change how he would approach the problem or the level of work he would have to do. I could eventually heal, or I could increase the size of the tear, but his procedure would not be affected.

He gave me a local anesthetic to deaden the inguinial nerve so I could see if my pain when accelerating or twisting went away (he thought it might). I tried, but it didn't. I still felt the ache/ weakness in my lower pubic area just as normal. The anesthetic didn't seem to reach down there though - it was more in my hip and upper thigh that felt deadened to the touch.

He also said the tightness in my leg is a reaction to the pain and would go away with severing the inguinial nerve.

I still have my appt with Dr. UM on the fourth - I can't wait.

After 6 months of bilateral repair I am still in pain, not the same pain I was in before the operation but probably worse!

Surgeon wants me to go back and see him to have cortisol injections into my groin which he think will help.

I think this would not be a good idea but really do not know what to do now?

Mike in VA,

Thanks again for keeping us updated! I need to hear all the positive info! I am very nervous about meeting with Dr. M, but at the same time VERY excited. I keep second guessing myself as to whether its even a SH or not. I think that is because I spend way too much time thinking about it. Its starting to REALLY get to me psychologically.....the weather is great, I should be enjoying the summer....training for my triathlon....but noooooooooo...I'm stuck walking...at a slow pace!
I'll stop whining now! :)

Just got back from running a 7k today. Amazing feeling to have all the pain gone 13 days post op. I owe Dr. UM and her staff a lot more than what I paid her to get my life back. Getting myself in such great shape prior to surgery has certainly paid off for me.

Mike in Va

AR,

It sounds like you are doing the right thing by seeing Dr. UM. But you can't listen to a general hernia surgeon about sports hernias unless they actually have treated sports hernias specifically. I went to see a hernia surgeon and he didn't even know what a sports hernia was. I ended up having a laparoscopy which 100% ruled out an inguinal hernia; completely unnecessary however. Putting a piece of mesh over your injury won't do much unless there is a repair made. Dr. Hoadley repaired my conjoined tendon with a suture and then used mesh for reinforcement. Does that make sense? But as you probably already know, Dr. UM does not believe in mesh, saying it is unnecessary.

If you are serious about healing this without surgery, I highly suggest you see an A.R.T. specialist. I have found that this has been the most helpful to me as I have been lucky to find a chiropractor who specializes in ART, sports injuries, and he understand this injury. I have learned a lot about my body going through the ART therapy and rehab.

Den,
I understand about the general surgeon. I had made the appt before learning Dr. UM would be in Denver. I figured I might as well hear him out. I didn't say in my previous post, but I did not feel confident that the general surgeon's approach was appropriate. He also mentioned that an elite athlete came to him w/ a sports hernia a couple of years ago, so he sent him to Dr. Meyers. Ok, I'm not an elite athlete, but that doesn't mean you can experiment on me.

AR,

You sound like you are on the right track... I just would hate for you to do something like I did. I was dealing with so many people who are clueless about sports hernias. The only person I found who really understood it was my orthopedist and he was not well versed in it. I finally got frustrated and went to see Dr. Hoadley in Atlanta. Hopefully, he has taken care of this beast. Thus far, I have no pain and no major setbacks, only tightness and I'm working on that. I have really tight hip flexors, adductors, and hamstrings -- so I need to work those things out. The A.R.T. specialist is helping me with that, especially my psoas... that has helped tremendously. I've been walking a lot, doing elliptical and I did some very light jogging... when I say light, I mean very light -- like two minutes of jogging on soft surfaces. But the good news is that I can do it. There were a bunch of people next to me playing Frisbee football... I was wondering what it will feel like to sprint again...

I have no pain for 7th straight day. I threw over 150 high pops at a youth baseball clinic. Felt no pain or soreness. I also got my custom tailored workout and my kinesiologist says I should be excited because I was stronger and more flexible than he thought and my ROM at the hip is improving dramatically.

Now the bad news. While jogging for rehab doing 40 yard drills on grass I stepped in a covered hole a foot deep and today went to the doc. Diagnosis: torn MCL and meniscus....

It just keeps getting better. However, this is minimal compared to my AP.

ARenko,

What time is your appt? Mine is at 9:30 am. You, Garrett and I should meet up for coffee before our appointments if at all possible. Put faces to the names.

I'm with you, I can't wait.

Mike in Denver

Mike in Denver,
My appt is at 1:15. I'm flying in that morning from Houston (back out in the evening). I probably won't make it downtown until 11:30-noon.

Mike In Denver........I have been playing thru it..but over the 5 years there were probably about 5 times where I felt it kind of retear or give...and thats when i couldnt run and even walking was very hard...but it would quickly improve in about a week and I was back out on the field.....still in pain but not to the point where I couldnt run.......Im sure I have a ton of scar tissue in there...probably whats holding it together...but yea Im scheduled for 7/15 with Meyers

Mike in Denver sorry didnt answer your whole question...yes Surgery on 7/15.....Torn Rectus and torn Adductor tendons

Here is my Gray Cook Functional Movement Screening

Here’s the scoop, we did 7 tests….



Overhead Squat, tests total body mobility, bilateral symmetry.



You scored 2 out of 3, meaning you had an “average” squat. It could be cleaner and deeper but there was no pain during the movement and you hit parallel maintaining the bar overhead which is good.



Hurdle Step, tests bilateral hip stability



2’s on both sides in terms of stability, although there was a right hip mobility problem during the left leg’s test…normal. You did it without falling, tripping, or cheating….good!

Inline Lunge, hip mobility on the front leg, stability for the knees, ankles and the rear hip.

Again you got deuces’…neither side was perfect, but they seemed rather symmetrical in this particular movement, and you got no pain…always a plus.



Straight leg Raise, hip mobility/stability (moving leg/stationary leg respectively)



2 on the right, 3 on the left. Asymmetry is the enemy! Left leg had “full” mobility in terms of this test, right didn’t. Also during the right the left foot started dancing!... a compensation in effect. The torqued pelvis is to blame. We’ll clean this up.



Thoracic Mobility, bilateral symmetry of the shoulders



2’s on both, no bad! “Average” ….probably slightly above average for a bigger chested guy.



Pushup Test, core stability



2….better than I expected BUT you have quite the neurological system…we need to examine things closer…I think you have just learned how to stabilize your core without the proper use of the abdominals.



Rotary stability



1 RIGHT, 3 LEFT, Bad news. Asymmetrical core stabilization over activate hamstrings and lumbar spines….again, you’re a strong dude with a great CNS, showed great core stabilization overall and drastically different core’s when we split you left and right….



Overall not bad my friend! Looking forward to getting you really rolling on this stuff. How are you feeling? Are the stretches going ok? Questions? Comments?