Have you ever had a pinching pain in your groin? This is a pain that can stop you in your tracks when you are just walking along. It generally does not come along with an accident but just a sharp pain that can happen in the groin at seemingly random times. However, once it comes on it can be incredibly painful.
Before we get more into the topic of pinching pain in your groin it is important to understand what this is not. This is not a diffuse pain, meaning it is not a pain that goes down the whole leg or even beyond the groin. This is also not a pain that causes numbness and tingling. And this pain is not felt in your abdominal region, just in your groin. This pain feels exactly like what it is, a pinch. It can stay for a few seconds or last for a few hours but usually does not last much beyond that.
This pain is often a pain that only occurs on one side, meaning that you rarely get a pinching pain in both groins and that is not the topic that we will be discussing. This is for pinching pain that you get on one side only.
This pain can feel like something is caught, that something is being pinched. It can come on at any time and during periods of just sitting still or periods of vigorous activity. This pain can often cause you to limp while walking but since it does not generally last very long, this limp should go away quickly.
However, this pain can be reoccurring. This means that it happens more and more frequently. If you are finding that it is occurring with more frequency it is something that you want to get some physical therapy for because it is a sign of something more going on and if ignored long enough it will not just remain a pinching pain in the groin but will spread to other areas of the leg and back. But if you cannot remember the last time, you felt this pinch, it could be just a one off and a few stretches may help it never return.
When talking about treating this area or doing things to help the pain is important to note that if all you do is try to stretch the groin area, you will not be fixing the whole problem. And ignoring the actual cause of why you are having pinching could cause it to become more frequent and develop into a more major problem.
The first stretch you should do however is a stretch to that area. This will help loosen up any tightness that is directly in the area. Start withstanding with your legs in a straddle and your toes pointed forward. Slowly bend the knee of the side that does not hurt. You should start to feel a stretch in the groin. Stop when you feel a gentle stretch, do not push it to the point of pain.
If you bend your knee as far as you can and still do not feel a stretch, then place your foot on a stool, making sure that your toes are still pointing forward. Keeping the leg that is on the stool straight, slowly bend the knee of the side that does not hurt. Again, you want to stop when you feel a gentle stretch, not stretch to the point of pain. Once you have a good stretch, you want to hold it 30 seconds and repeat it 6 times.
If you do not feel a stretch when you do that stretch in either position, do not worry about it. Do not force the stretch. Just keep it gentle. If you force it, you could wind up hurting yourself worse.
You can watch the video below to get a demonstration of all the stretches.
The next stretch is the figure four. This stretches most likely you will not feel in the front of the hip or where it hurts, but more in the butt and back region. This is important to loosen up all the muscles around the hip to get relief.
This stretch can be done in sitting, standing, or lying down. We are going to show it today in sitting but you can refer to Total Performance Physical Therapy You Tube channel to see other ways that this stretch can be done.
Start with sitting up nice and straight. Cross, your right ankle over your left knee. You want to do this stretch on both sides, so it does not matter which side you start with. If you feel a stretch just with your ankle crossing over and going on top of the knee, then hold it there for 30 seconds and repeat it 6 times. If you do not feel a stretch then sitting up nice and straight, hinge forward at the hips. You do not want to bend from the back. Your back should stay nice and straight, but you want to hinge forward from the hips and keep going until you feel a nice gentle stretch. You can feel this in your inner thigh, your butt or your back.
The final stretch is done laying down and it is the most aggressive stretch so if you get any pain while you are doing this you want to stop immediately. Start with laying on your bed. You must do this on an elevated surface because you want your leg to hang, so a bed is a good place to start.
Now move all the way over to the far side of the bed. You want the leg that hurts to be on the outside as it is going to hang off the bed. Now pull the knee of the leg that does not hurt to your chest. Then lower the leg that does hurt slowly down off the bed and let is dangle. Be careful not to move too quickly as this can strain the muscle. Hold that 30 seconds and repeat 6 times. Again, you can see this one done in the video if you are not sure what to do.
The final thing you want to do is not a stretch, but this will help loosen up the muscles. Take a tennis ball or a golf ball or any firm ball that you have around the house and sit on it. Put the glut of the side that hurts on the ball and then roll around, if you find a tender spot, stop, and hold it for about 20 seconds, then move onto another especially sore spot. You can repeat this process for the side of the hip, the front of the hip and the groin where it hurts. You want to do this for about 10 minutes total, spending more time on the sore spots but no more than 20 seconds on each sore spot as you can make things hurt worse.
If you or someone you know is suffering from hip pain and was a free consultation with a Doctor of Physical Therapy. All you must do is call our office at (215) 997-9898 or click here and enter your information and we will be in touch!
