Groin Strain Recovery Time

Ask a footballer or a cricketer or hockey player about an injury he or she had faced and at least 7 to 8 out of 10 times you may get an answer - groin strain. Also called groin pull, it refers to tearing of some or all the muscles of the inner thigh or the groin. These, to be specific is called the adductor muscle group. These are a bunch of 6 muscles, spanning the distance from the inner pelvis to the inner part of the thigh bone (femur). The movement of pulling legs together and of the hip joint is accomplished as a result of these muscles. You can imagine thus how important these are for us and especially for athletes. An injury to this set of muscles can render the athletes out of play for sometime.

Causes and Symptoms of Groin Strain

We will first tackle the causes of groin strain. Because indirectly the cause too is responsible for the time period needed for the recovery. One of the major causes is a sudden contraction of the groin muscles when they are in a stretched position. This occurs in cases when there is rapid acceleration during running and changing direction. In other instances, when a soccer player attempts a long kick, he could sustain a groin pull. Inadequate warm up too can lead to a groin strain. Now what is the effect of this cause, or in other words, what are the strained or pulled groin muscle symptoms? Well, to begin with sudden pain and pulling sensation is experienced by the person. There can be a limitation to the movement of the thigh muscles and an increased sensitivity and perhaps even bruising, smelling and inflammation. Difficulty in walking, running, climbing stairs and the like are some more indications of a strained groin. If a person tries to squeeze his or her legs in, then there is pain in the groin. This is another indication of a pulled groin muscle.

Groin Strain Recovery Period

There are several factors which will play an important role in determining the recovery time. The first and the foremost is the grade or level of injury. The next is how immediately the treatment started and the nature of treatment. At the most, and at its worst, it can take around a month or so to recover completely from a groin strain.

Grade 1 Groin Strain
In grade 1, there is no major strain on the muscles. A small number of muscle fibers are slightly torn, but they don't incapacitate the person. The impact is felt after the activity. The muscles can function properly. Mild groin strain recovery takes anything between 2 days to 10 days. Resting the thigh muscles and using ice and compression will be adequate in this case for pulled groin recovery.

Grade 2 Groin Strain
A grade 2 strain is a bit more serious than grade 1. Its effects are felt immediately by the person. The injury and strain will affect the walking and make it very painful and the area affected will be sore to touch. The function of the muscle fibers will be affected in case of this injury and thus it will increase the recovery time. In this type of injury, the pulled groin recovery time can be around 6 weeks.

Grade 3 Groin Strain
The most severe, in grade 3 strain all the muscles are ruptured and there is a considerable loss of function. There is excruciating groin pain and considerable bruising as a result of internal bleeding. This can take anything between 1 to 2 months, depending on the treatment and how severe is the tear.

Physiotherapy, rest, light exercise and medicines, if any, will speed up the recovery. A positive frame of mind, too, will work wonders! So stay positive and take care!