Parts 1: immediate pain relief
1, ice the affected area. Ice the affected area as soon as possible to reduce swelling, stop subcutaneous bleeding and avoid bruising. Ice every 2 ~ 3 hours after injury 1 time, for 15 minutes.
Don't let your skin come into direct contact with ice. Use frozen vegetables such as ice packs, crushed ice or bagged peas, and wrap them with cloth or towel first.
A few days after the injury and after resuming activities, continue to ice, 3 to 4 times a day, or after each light activity.
2. rest. How long should we stop physical activity? This must depend on the severity of the groin injury. Mild to moderate groin strain requires at least 2 to 4 weeks of rest. Serious injuries require rest for at least 6 to 8 weeks or more to fully recover.
Stop physical activity for at least 5 to 7 days so that the affected area can begin to heal. Then reevaluate the degree of pain and gradually restore physical activity.
3. Pressure bandage the injured groin muscle. This can further reduce swelling and stabilize injured muscles. Special groin protectors are especially useful. Just fit the groin, not too tight, don't worry about cutting off the blood circulation in the relevant parts. Most pharmacies sell this kind of protective gear.
You can also use elastic bandage or groin bandage, but be careful not to tie it too tightly.
4. Raise the affected area. This helps to prevent swelling and ensure adequate blood flow in the affected area. Try to lift the injured leg with a rolled towel, sheet or pillow. Let the affected area be higher than the buttocks.
5. Alternate ice and hot compress. A few days after the injury, if time permits, you can apply hot compress after each ice compress. Hot compress is helpful to relieve some pain and discomfort caused by groin injury.
6. Take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs. Drugs with anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects include ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin. Over-the-counter paracetamol can relieve pain, but it does not help inflammation.
Follow the instructions on the doctor's or product label.
7. Distinguish the symptoms of groin injury from other conditions. The symptoms of groin strain or injury may be similar to other diseases, such as sports hernia. Before starting treatment, make sure that you are facing a groin injury and not other conditions. Common symptoms of groin strain or injury include muscle tension or spasm, sudden sharp pain and pain when muscles contract or stretch.
If the injury is serious, just walking is extremely painful.
Symptoms of sports hernia include pain in the lower abdomen and groin, pain when coughing or sneezing, and sudden persistent groin pain during sports activities.
Fatigue fracture of femur or pubic bone may cause groin pain and spread to buttocks. You are likely to feel pain, tenderness and swelling at night, and rest, ice compress, oppression and elevation of the affected area will not improve the symptoms.
When testicular pain, numbness, tingling, swelling aggravation, urinary tract symptoms and fever appear, you must see a doctor immediately to check whether there are other potential causes.
8. Do adduction to confirm groin injury. If the symptoms are mild and you don't know what kind of injury you are facing, you can confirm whether the groin is injured by adduction exercise. This adduction requires putting a light object, such as a fitness ball, between your legs. Squeeze the fitness ball gently with your legs. If it hurts, it may be a groin strain.
9. If you feel dull pain, you must see a doctor. The dull pain that worsens with action or exercise may be hernia, not groin injury. Other symptoms of hernia include lower abdomen or upper groin bulge. This is because one part of the intestine extends from the weak abdominal muscle tissue to another part.
Hernia needs medication.
The second part: seeking medical treatment.
1, see a doctor to confirm the injury. The adductor muscle group of thigh consists of five main muscles. Adduction is pointing towards the center of the body. Athletes who need to run, kick, sprint, change positions quickly and pass the ball vigorously often hurt adductor muscles, such as football players.
These five adductors are pubis, short adductor, long adductor, gracilis and great adductor respectively.
2. Ask the doctor to explain the degree of injury. Inguinal injury is graded according to the injury. The first-degree injury is slight, which is caused by overstretching one or more muscles in the five adductor muscles, and the muscle fibers in the affected area are slightly torn.
The second degree injury is the most common, and the muscle tissue is partially torn.
The third degree injury is the most serious, causing more severe pain, which is caused by the complete tearing of one or more of the five adductor muscles.
It is estimated that it will take a long time to recover. The length of recovery depends on your injury. In many cases, it takes as long as 6 to 8 weeks or more for muscle tissue to heal completely. Be sure to take care of yourself within the time instructed by the doctor to avoid hurting your muscles again.
If the situation doesn't improve, go to the doctor for further treatment. If you feel that the symptoms are getting worse or not improved within a reasonable time, then the pain may be caused by other reasons. See a doctor according to the instructions, check the symptoms of discomfort that have not healed for a long time, and find out if there are other potential reasons.
Pay close attention to the symptoms of pain. If the symptoms do not improve or the effect is not great, and the pain gets worse in the first few days of injury, you must see a doctor.
If you find a lump, you must see a doctor. Torsion, protuberance or lump in or around testis need medical treatment. If there is pain in the upper and lower abdomen, left and right sides, or the pain spreads to the groin, you also need to see a doctor.
Part III: Preventing the injury from getting worse
1, pay attention to your symptoms Use the severity of symptoms as a guide to recovery activities. Rushing back to exercise when it still hurts will cause subsequent injuries. As long as there is any pain, avoid activities. If you feel pain, don't walk, jog or run fast.
After the pain subsides, gradually resume activities at a very slow speed to avoid the deterioration of the injury.
If you feel pain, reduce your activities. After resuming activities, pay attention to the signals sent by the body and respect the limits of the body. When exercising, once there is pain beyond the normal range, stop exercising immediately. You need to challenge your body when exercising, but don't push yourself too hard and get hurt again. If you feel pain during the activity, reduce the intensity or duration, and then resume the activity at a slower speed. You may feel depressed, but what is even more frustrating is that you are injured again, which makes you completely unable to participate in the competition.
Persistent pain means that the affected area is likely to be injured again, or there may be other potential injuries. Reduce the intensity or duration of exercise until the pain symptoms are relieved. If the pain persists, you might as well see a doctor.
3. Do the exercise again. Slowly do the actions needed to participate in sports activities. Before actively participating in sports again, try to move slowly and deliberately, avoid gravity or friction, and confirm whether the muscles really don't hurt.
4. Find a coach. Finding an experienced coach in your sports activities can not only help you fully recover your sports ability, but also guide the correct warm-up and stretching activities to avoid your injury again in the future.
5. Do warm-up and stretching exercises. Not doing proper warm-up and stretching exercise before physical activity is one of the main causes of groin injury. Stretching can relax adductor muscle and help it prepare for the next exercise. Warm-up before exercise can promote blood flow to muscles and prepare them to work under pressure.
Massage the relevant parts can also promote blood flow and warm the joints.
Simply stretch the groin before and after exercise or before participating in sports activities. Sit on the ground with your back gently leaning against the wall. Put your feet together and pull in the groin direction. Knees move gently and slowly towards the floor. Hold this stretching posture for 20 seconds, and then repeat.
6. Continue to apply ice and hot compress. In the first few weeks of resuming activities, we continued to adopt three strategies after exercise: ice compress, pressure dressing and rest. Continue to apply hot compress after exercise, which will help to relieve the residual pain.
Tips to avoid known risks. Running on uneven ground such as beach is one of the main causes of groin injury.
Even if you are not an athlete, people of any age can hurt your groin. Elderly people with hip arthritis are also vulnerable to groin pain and injury. No matter how old you are, you should see a doctor as long as your upper thigh muscles are painful.
As long as the pain is within your tolerance, you can try swimming during the recovery period. Water will support your weight, so you can gently move your legs and start to restore muscle activity.