Physical therapy can help ease groin pain

Groin pain may often come on suddenly after slipping, stepping off the second to last step when you thought it was the last step or stepping in a hole. In addition to pain, symptoms often include increased pain with transitional movements such as moving from sit to stand, lifting your leg to put on your pants, getting in and out of the car or going up and down stairs.

The inguinal ligament, the ligament of the groin, runs from the front of the hip bone to the side of the pubic bone. It usually is not happy when the orientation of these two points are altered.

It is fairly easy to have an anterior or posterior hip rotation in the winter as we are all slipping on the ice. If you slip and your leg goes forward or back with some force, this can cause the hip bone to move out of position causing a posterior or anterior rotation. This causes the inguinal ligament to be stretched, or loosened, which it doesn’t like.

Many times these hip rotations will reduce on their own as we walk around but if they don’t they are easily treated.

After slipping on the ice many of us end up falling. Ouch! This can cause a hip rotation and/or tail bone dysfunction.

The hip rotation is easily treated with muscle energy technique. The hip is placed in the correct position then the patient is asked for a small muscle contraction in the opposite direction, then relaxation to take up the slack from the muscle relaxation. This process is repeated three times and usually all is well. This treatment usually doesn’t have to be repeated.

The tail bone is treated like many other joints of the body. The tail bone can be evaluated in sitting or laying face down, as it is mobilized front to back and side to side restrictions are identified. Restrictions are released by holding the tail bone in the restricted position until the surrounding tissues soften or by directly mobilizing the joint at the sacrum.

If you have any problems that result in groin, buttock or low back pain, you may want to visit your favorite physical therapist or massage therapist.

Mary Boyd, MS, PT is a member of the Sandpoint Wellness Council and owner of Mountain View Physical Therapy. She can be reached for questions at 290-5575 or on the web at www.SandpointPhysicalTherapy.com. Also visit the www.SandpointWellnessCouncil.com for more health-related articles.