Sports Hernia Symptoms

Groin pain is a very common problem among athletes, and there are plenty of sports hernia symptoms that clearly indicate some damage sustained. With the high intensity sports that are played, which require a lot of heavy running and lifting of heavy weights for training, sports hernia is a condition that regularly plagues many athletes around the world, and the healing time is pretty long for this condition.

If a proper rehabilitation procedure is not followed the hernia can become worse and can cripple the individual for an extremely long period of time. Even by following the recommended healing procedure and duration, the athlete will suffer from severe bouts of pain occasionally, owing to the sports hernia sustained.

What is Sports Hernia?

This is a condition that arises when there is a weakening of the tendons and muscles in the lower abdominal wall of an individual. This is different from a normal hernia (also known as an inguinal hernia) in the sense that there is no visible swelling or pouching of the muscles in this area. Apart from this factor, there is no difference between a sports hernia and an inguinal hernia. It is for this reason that the sports hernia symptoms will not be very different from the inguinal hernia symptoms.

The area where the hernia occurs is known as the inguinal canal, and this is located in the lower abdomen just above the groin. There are various muscles, tendons and ligaments present in this area, and this is why it is very easy to develop a condition of inguinal hernia or sports hernia. The hernia does not occur as a result of weak abdominal muscles, but because of the thinning of the abdominal wall, and there are several reasons that lead to the emergence of this condition. Several other types of hernia exist, and the basic nature of these conditions is the same.

Symptoms

The most obvious of all sports hernia symptoms is an intense pain felt in the lower abdomen area, and upper groin area. You need to think of the moment when this pain first appeared, and must try to recollect what you were doing then. In highly intense sports like football, basketball, hockey, tennis or running, this condition will occur when the individual turns suddenly and feels a vague sensation of pain in that particular area.

Another clear symptom of the condition is that the pain vanishes after a few days of rest, but reappears when one resumes playing the sport again. This is the clearest indicator that the pain was not caused due to a groin pull or a groin stretch, but is a sports hernia instead. This pain can also spread to the legs and this causes extreme discomfort, especially while carrying out physical activities. Sports hernia symptoms in women are pretty much the same, the only difference being that the pain may also be felt in the testicles in the case of men. One must also determine if the pain increases when the individual bends forward, because this is also a clear sign that the pain is caused by a sports hernia. These symptoms of sports hernia are similar in nature to groin hernia symptoms and abdominal hernia symptoms.

Treatment

Physical therapy will be required to treat this condition. Some painkillers will be administered in order to get rid of the sports hernia symptoms, and this will be followed by a detailed physical rehabilitation program that will involve various methods of treatment for hernia repair. Needless to say, the individual will need to avoid all forms of physical activity in this time period, and resuming the sport that he/she plays is totally out of the question.

If this fails, then a sports hernia surgery will be necessary, and a mesh will be attached in order to support the abdominal walls. Undergoing this surgery will mean that the individual will require another couple of weeks to recover. A detailed program about walking on a treadmill and then cycling before undertaking rigorous physical activity, will then be employed. All in all, the whole process could take anything between 8 - 12 weeks if there is a surgery. A recovery time of 4 - 6 weeks will be necessary in case there is no surgery. By reading about these causes of hernia, you can now try to avoid certain activities that may put you at risk.

Sports hernia symptoms can be quite painful and can resurface after a few months as well. Extreme caution must be taken until the athlete is fully healed, and visiting a specialist is absolutely mandatory.