Groin Strain
One of the most common injuries in sports, particularly in soccer, is a groin strain. This type of injury describes a strain on the Adductor muscles located inside the thigh.

A groin strain injury normally happens when the muscle is forced to stretch beyond its limitations, resulting in muscle tissue tears. The tear in the muscle is commonly called the strain, and classified into three different degrees, depending on its severity.

1. First degree strains normally have little damage to the muscle fibres.
2. Second degree strains have more extensive damages on the muscle fibres.
3. A third degree strain involves complete damage to the muscle.

What is a strained groin?
Signs for grade one groin strains do not normally appear until a particular activity is done. Athletes may experience sensations of cramps or tightness, or feelings of pain once muscles are contracted or stretched.

Grade two Groin Strains immediately have sensations of pain, far more painful than those of the grade one injuries. It also produces severe pain on walking. The grade two Groin Strains are usually confirmed by pains, especially when muscles are contracted or stretched. This type of Groin Strain is normally very sore to touch.

Grade three Groin Strains are rare in the adductor muscles. These types keep the athlete from walking without pain and he immediately feels a stabbing pain or burning sensation. For both the grade two and three Groin Strain injuries, a large bruise is normally formed below the injured area after a few days. The bruise is generally caused by bleeding of the damaged tissues. As for those suffering from complete ruptures, an orthopaedic doctor is generally required. The damaged muscles are repaired surgically and normally, rehabilitation afterwards takes about three long months.

Preventing groin strains

Follow these guidelines to prevent groin strains:

• Wear compression shorts to maintain muscle temperature.
• Before sporting activities, do some warm up exercises.
• After doing sporting activities, do some cool down exercises
• For core strengthening exercises, use a Swiss Ball or lift weights or do pushups/situps
• Eat energy bars or gel caps to replenish your carbohydrates during sporting activities.
• Eat protein within a half hour of finishing your game or workout (to help rebuild muscles.

What is the treatment of a groin strain?
When you experience Groin Strains, try to consider the things below. • Consult professional sport injury experts • to relieve pain and reduce bleeding, try applying ice packs on the damaged area. Immediate treatment for any type of muscle injury is to start three practical yet helpful methods: rest, ice, and compression. Apply ice packs on the damaged area for twenty minutes, if possible, every couple of hours. Ice packs are proven to effectively reduce bleeding and relieve pain on the damaged tissue. This method eventually helps in reducing the injury rehabilitation time.

Although a very common sense approach, resting is sometimes ignored, especially by competitive footballers. Generally, footballers suffering from grade one Groin Strains should not have any sporting activities for three weeks; and about four to six weeks for those that have grade two Groin Strains.