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Groin pain and adductor strain treatment in Edmonton
Groin pain is a location rather than a diagnosis, with five recognised categories that often overlap: adductor, iliopsoas, inguinal, pubic and hip joint. Assessment at our Edmonton clinic sorts out which apply and screens for hernia or stress fracture before treatment starts.
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What causes groin pain?
Groin pain is a location rather than a diagnosis, and an international consensus divides it into five categories: adductor-related, iliopsoas-related, inguinal, pubic, and hip-joint-related. More than one can be present at once. Adductor-related is the most common in kicking and change-of-direction sports, and typically involves pain on the inside of the thigh that is reproduced by squeezing the legs together.
The categories, in short
The categories overlap, which is why a careful examination matters more here than a scan does.
- Adductor-related — inner thigh, painful on squeezing the knees together and on stretching
- Iliopsoas-related — front of the hip, painful on resisted hip flexion and on stretching into extension
- Inguinal — pain in the inguinal canal region, worse with coughing, sneezing or sitting up
- Pubic — tenderness right at the pubic bone and the joint between the two halves of the pelvis
- Hip-joint-related — deep groin pain from inside the joint, covered on the hip impingement page
What has to be ruled out
Some causes of groin pain are not musculoskeletal or are time-sensitive. These need medical assessment:
- A visible or palpable lump that changes with coughing or straining, which may be a hernia
- Groin pain with night pain and a limp, particularly in a runner or in someone with low energy availability — a femoral neck stress fracture needs ruling out urgently
- Testicular pain or swelling, abdominal pain, fever or urinary symptoms
- Groin pain in a child or adolescent, where hip conditions specific to growing bones need excluding
What treatment usually involves
For adductor-related pain, progressive strengthening of the adductors is the core of it. The Copenhagen adduction exercise and its progressions have the most research behind them, both for treating the problem and for reducing groin injuries across a season.
Alongside that: managing the training load that provoked it, and building strength and control through the hip and trunk so the adductors are not doing the job alone.
Return to sport is progressive — running, then changing direction, then kicking or sprinting — with each stage cleared before the next. Groin injuries recur often, and rushing this stage is the usual reason.
Questions people ask
Is a groin strain the same as a sports hernia?
No. The term sports hernia is used loosely and often unhelpfully; inguinal-related groin pain is the category it usually refers to, and it does not involve a true hernia. If there is a lump that changes with coughing, that is a different question and needs a medical opinion.
How long does a groin strain take?
Highly variable, from a couple of weeks for a minor adductor strain to several months for long-standing groin pain in an athlete. The variable that moves it most is whether the strength work is actually completed before returning to sport.
Do I need a scan?
Usually not for a straightforward adductor strain. Imaging is used where the diagnosis is unclear, where a stress fracture is suspected, or where the hip joint itself is in question.
Is it a hernia or a groin strain?
An adductor strain is tender along the inner thigh and worse when you squeeze your knees together. A hernia may produce a bulge, especially on coughing, and pain that is more central. The assessment checks for both, and if a hernia is suspected you will be referred to your physician.
How long until I can play again?
Mild strains often return within two to four weeks; more significant ones take longer. The return is based on pain-free adductor strength tests rather than time, because going back too early is the usual reason groin injuries recur.
Do I need to stop all training?
No. Running in a straight line is often possible early; cutting, kicking and sprinting are added back in stages. The physiotherapist will set what you can do this week and what changes next week.
Book a groin and hip assessment
Vertex Physiotherapy is at 6958 76 Ave NW #205, Edmonton, AB T6B 2R2. Call (825) 525-2852 or book online.