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

SH in SC -

Did you ever think you'd be able to do pullups again? Is it now about one month since your surgery? It seems to me you're having excellent results, SH in SC. I will be very happy if I can ever achieve that.

Surf

Surf,

Dr UM will check both sides during your exam. Bilateral is double the costs I gave you. If you have it on both sides I think you will feel it for sure. Hang in there!

Mike in Va

SH in HC,

Thanks for the report... the area of mesh still feels really puffy... I'm only in day four, but does that eventually go away? I'm assuming its swelling/inflammation. It's not painful except at the incision point. I have a little tightness in my left ab, but very minimal.

I did some light stretching today and 10 minutes on a stationary bike. I don't have any serious pain except for coughing/sneezing... ouch! Otherwise, my hamstrings are a little tight. But I have been walking about three times a day. Probably going to walk on a treadmill tomorrow...

Surf,

Not ignoring your questions brother.. Just Mike keeps beating me to the punch ;)

I had tears on both sides, though the left was worse. Dr. UM will only operate on what is causing you pain. She said lot of people show up w/ bi-lat tears, have one side operated on and never need surgery on the other side. Others develope symptoms on both sides. Its just the crazy nature of this injury. As stated by another poster, just because you have symptoms on both sides doesn't mean you will require bi-lat surgery. SH pain is primarily caused by nerve irritation which can cause pain in the legs, groin, abs and even your back. A tear on one side can def create a sense of pain on the other side. At least this is the way it was explained to me.

Den,

I too have puffiness around my incision site. My guess is it will go away with time. I'll continue to take the antiinflammatories and see what shakes in the next few weeks.

Mike in Va, and MeLLoDraMa,
Thanks.

Shapes of Incisions
Are most of the incisions of the various doctors horizontal, or are they parallel to the crease between leg and abdomen? Are they in the middle, or to one side?

Surf

In other words, why aren't more participants, including professional athletes, showing up in this forum?

Surf

Suggested new feature: Editing. Ability to edit one's own posts.

Surf/others:

Sorry for not responding sooner to the questions you posed back on page 85. It's been a while since I checked in on this board.

My PT regimen started with very gentle stretching (hands-on by the therapist) and massage, combined with electrical stimulation, laser light therapy and ultrasound.

The stretching exercises included bent-over hamstring stretches holding a small pad between the knees, prone abdominal twists (hips rotated so one touches the ground and one points to the sky) and seated groin stretching (slowly opening the hips, using big roller pads underneath the thigh to gradually increase the stretch).

We then went to some mild strengthening exercises. These included bridging with a kegel contraction, planks and squats with a ball between my back and the wall. The strengthening got a bit harder, bringing in some resistance work-- lifting my knee in front of me with the weight cord attached to my ankle, ab crunches seated on a ball and crunches lying on my back holding a hand weight and lifting both my hand and foot (opposite sides) to meet above the middle of my body. I'd occasionally feel a little pain during the harder strengthening exercises but mostly could work through it and felt fine walking around and going through daily-life activities.

At the end of therapy my PT worked in platform exercises with lateral movement designed to mimic skating motions -- right and left strides, crossovers, etc. Then I started doing squats with medium weight.

I felt good but as soon as I tried to start skating again the pain came back. I took some time off, shut it down again, then did another round of PT, with similar results.

Hope that helps.

Surf, one addendum to my previous post. You asked how often I was doing the PT. It was 3x/week for an hour per session. Can't really say what did me the most good. I did feel like the bridging and planks midway through helped me turn the corner from painful to pain-free, but there was a lot of other stuff happening with the PT that could have caused that improvement, too. Overall, I'd say if you're truly committed to PT as an alternative to surgery, be prepared to invest years, not months. Dr. Meyers did tell me about a recent study from Europe which found that 5 years of PT could "cure" people. I wasn't ready for that kind of investment, especially after just one try at skating brought back my pain following all that PT.

And I have not had the surgery yet. I'm scheduled for the second week in July.

Good luck to you and everyone else who's fighting the fight.

hockey player,

Thanks for sharing your experiences -- it helps us all. How is your current condition? Other than skating, can you live a normal life now, such as getting out of a car normally, doing household chores, riding a bike like a normal person, etc?

I'm presuming you didn't go through with the surgery. Or did you?

Surf

hockey player,

Thanks. Are you on the fence between Dr. Meyers and Dr. Muschaweck?

Surf

I am replying to surf's post, but this is for all the posters on this thread. This thread has been amazing, the most comprhensive, informative source I have seen. I haven't had a chance to look at all 80 plus pages, so I hope someone here can give me a simple synopsis.

I am a 47 yr old male. I have been active, playing full court pickup basketball 3-4 times a week. I am about 10 to 15 lbs too heavy, but was working on that until this pain started up. I was also training for the Bolder-Boulder 10k until I started noticing a dull ache and limited movement in my stride. I also noticed that my mobility through my core was diminished and side to side movements were slowly declining. This escalated to not being able to run at all, with a lot of pain in the left groin and lower abdomen. The lower ab pain felt like you do when you do too many leg lifts.

I went to two GP's. One diagonosed an abdominal strain, the other said it was "maybe" a small inguinal hernia, not needing surgery. Both said to rest, apply heat and take ibuprofen.

I have been sporadic taking the ibuprofen and applying heat, and the pain has been lessened. But if I try to exercise, I feel pain in the affected area and can't really work out. I tried to play limited basketball, and this also hurt too much.

Unfortunately, I lost my job in January and don't have health insurance.

I really think I have a Sports Hernia. No protrusions at all and pain so similar to what I have read on this thread that it is uncanny.

Has anyone here recovered from a Sports Hernia with rest and PT?

Are there any recommended PT exercises for a Sports Hernia?

This is a very confounding injury. I read about others desperation, and it is what I am feeling as well. I've always been healthy, until this.

Any help would be much appreciated.

My current condition is not great, but not dire. I can mostly go through with activities of daily life, but they do sometimes bring pain. I took two 3-mile walks with my family over the weekend, at a moderate pace, and noticed the rectus pain increase on both sides. The pain lingered throughout just simple walking around, packing up the car and even now sitting here writing this I have a slight bit of pain on the left side. It's not intolerable but it's definitely keeping me from living an active life. No way I could regularly work out without making it worse.

I have decided to have Dr. Meyers operate on me. If you read a post I made a while back, I explained that Meyers' MRI and exam led him to conclude that I have bilateral tears that he can fix (no adductor release). I saw another doc in NJ who learned the diagnosis/repair from Dr. Muschaweck and he thought I was fine because when he did his finger and ultrasound exam he didn't find a bulge. I think this injury obviously manifests differently for different people in different circumstances. My slightly educated guess is that Dr. M's approach is good for those dealing with inguinal canal issues that are not "traditional" hernias, while Meyers' is better suited to rectus tears that don't result in an inguinal bulge or swelling. I seem to be in the latter camp, so I'm going with Meyers.

Mike,

Even though I already had surgery last week, I fully believe that PT can help you recover if you stop your full activity soon enough and concentrate on core exercises. My surgeon believes that also, but I had not been able to run in over 18 months -- so I elected for surgery. I also believe that some day they will figure out more about this injury and possibly eliminate surgery. But that time is not now -- although Dr. UM is showing that non-invasive, minimal techniques are clearly working.

When I was doing PT, I was improving. I felt like I was very close to overcoming it, but one day after PT, it all came crashing down when I got terrible inflammation throughout my pelvis. This led to sharp, fleeting pains. After that, I think I mentally gave up even though I tried PT on and off for the following year.

You have a lot of common symptoms that many of us have experienced, but you need to completely rule out an inguinal hernia first and perhaps some other problems. My advice would be to see someone who is experienced in dealing with inguinal hernias and sports hernias. There are a number of them documented on this thread. Otherwise, you will be led down a long path of frustration as I was. I ended up having a laparoscopy to diagnose a possible inguinal hernia which was completely unnecessary. You could go see a sports orthopedist, but even many of them are not that familiar with this injury. Again, the key is to find experience or you will be wasting a lot of time going to doctors who are just not educated about it.

Most of the doctors listed on this thread want you to get better whether that is through surgery or conservative PT. Additionally, they are interested in learning more about this injury with everyone they treat -- so they are usually eager to help you. So find a specialist and good luck!

Mike in Denver,

You're in luck because Dr. Muschaweck is coming to Colorado in July. I suggest emailing Andrea in Munich with a description of your pain and how you think it may have happened over time. She will schedule you for an exam with Dr. Muschaweck so you can get a firm diagnosis and go from there.

Email Andrea at: [email protected] (Ulrike Dr. Muschaweck) and get scheduled. I know how much it helped me mentally. I did the PT thing and it definitely will help lessen the pain, but as soon as you do the wrong exercise and stress the injury it comes right back. I go for surgery in Munich in 2 weeks and can't wait to get there.

Mike in Va

Den -

The feeling of "puffiness" or as I describe it: "feeling like you have extra stuff in there" went away for me around week 4 post surgery. I think it is more common for those who, like me, did laparoscopic surgery. Friends of mine who had gall bladder surgery report the same feeling. The change also occurred after I forced myself to take 2 days off - there is a lesson there. At 49, I need to keep reminding myself to take time off and rest. Now, more than ever.

Surf - No, I never thought I would be able to do pullups again. Feels good.

Still, after a hard running session on the treadmill, I had some pain in the general groin area that night. Funny, I did not feel it after running outside. I am going to limit my treadmill running in the future. My surgeon did say that some of the SH related pain would take time to go away, while some of the relief was immediate. Overall, still pleased and moving ahead with my life.

Thanks for the quick reply. One GP did recommend an ultrasound to try to find the possible hernia. She also recommended that I see a surgeon who has more educated fingers. Since I don't have insurance right now, I have only limited funds. There is a hernia specialist in Las Vegas who said he could diagnose the problem for no charge and would be able to operate should I need an operation.

I will look back on the thread to see if there is someone I can see for a reasonable fee.

Thanks again.

Mike in Denver,

Your story is almost exactly like mine. Basketball. Trying to avoid surgery. Except I'm 11 years older than you. I'm 58 yrs-old.

Muschaweck News Story Video
Here is a video news account about Dr. Muschaweck's technique. I think she'll give you the Ultrasound exam for free when she visits in July. Ask Mike in Va about that.

http://www.leistenbruch.de/fileadmin/filme/Outside-The-Lines_klein.wmv

This video was courtesy of MeLLoDrama, who just had surgery in Munich last week, and who is sharing his experience here for the benefit of all of us.

Mike in Denver, I'm glad you've come here. Every new perspective helps us all. The more minds we have here, the greater is our discovery power.

Surf