Treating Groin Pulls

Early diagnosis and proper treatment are important to prevent groin pulls from becoming chronic and potentially life-limiting; it doesn't take much to change a grade 1 pull into a grade 2 pull. Injuries to the muscle belly are best managed with adherence to the conservative treatment methods, which includes modifying and/or eliminating the activities that cause tenderness or discomfort in your groin area, and performing gentle strengthening and stretching once initial inflammation has gone down.

Scar tissue can often develop with groin pulls or strains, where your soft tissue has pulled away from the bone. As your damaged groin tissues heal this dead, fibrotic tissue will be produced instead of forming brand new healthy tissue. This tissue adheres to your muscle fibers, tendons, ligaments, fascia, nerves, and joints causing pain and preventing them from moving properly (this limits your range of motion, flexibility and strength). Injuries to the groin muscle-tendon attachments often requires more conservative management until you are pain free.

Patience is required with groin pulls, as they can take time to return to your normal state. Return to your activities too early can lead to chronic pain, which becomes much more difficult to treat. If your symptoms last for more than 6 weeks after trying conservative treatments, you will often be examined for other groin injuries such as tendinitis, stress fractures, osteitis pubis and/or groin disruptions.

Grade 1 groin pulls tend to take between 2-4 weeks, Grade 2 groin pulls between 1-2 months and Grade 3 groin pulls approximately 3 months. However, it is really dependent on whether you have an acute pull (4-8 weeks) or a chronic pull (can take up to 6 months), how long you've had the symptoms, and your commitment to proper rehabilitation. A good reference point for healing is once you've regained approximately 70% of your pre-injury strength, have full range of motion and are pain free, you can return to your normal activities.