Pubalgia: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
Pubalgia is severe pain in the groin area that often affects athletes. Today we will discover how we can deal with this problem.
Pubalgia is a problem that affects the inguinal region and is known by different names such as pubalgia, dynamic osteopathy of the pubis, pubic enthesitis or athlete’s hernia.
This last name is due to the fact that this condition is usually suffered by athletes or athletes because they perform physical overexertion, which makes this problem more frequent in them. Especially in those who perform exercises that require several repetitions, changes of direction or rhythm.
Today we will discover some more causes of this condition, the symptoms that warn about its appearance and the best way to deal with it.
Causes of pubalgia
Pubalgia occurs due to muscle overload that occurs after repeated and continuous movements. For this reason, it usually occurs in people who practice top-performance sports.
However, there are some reasons that may favor its appearance and that we need to take into account to prevent it as much as possible. Let’s see some of them:
- Poor physical preparation : if we are going to do sports, but due to leading a sedentary life our physical form is not the best, it is possible that when we start some sports, pubalgia makes an appearance.
- Poor warm-up: One way to prevent this is by properly warming up your muscles before training. Doing it quickly and badly can lead to a problem with pubalgia. Therefore, we must take our time.
- Anatomical characteristics : it may be that due to trauma to the pubic area or due to the physical condition of the person, there is a greater risk of suffering from this condition.
When choosing a sport, it is important to review these aspects (especially the anatomical characteristics) so as not to immerse ourselves in a sports practice that will make us suffer and suffer from many of the symptoms of “athlete’s hernia”.
Symptoms of pubic enthesitis
Having pubalgia is not a pleasant thing. Its most characteristic symptom, as some studies point out, is “pain in the groin and pubic area that can radiate to the adductor region and the lower abdominal region”.
However, let’s see in greater depth how the symptoms of pubalgia can develop in order to later see the best way to treat this problem:
- Pain before or after physical practice : this is the first warning sign that we should not confuse with stiffness or poor posture. The pain may be mild and usually goes away.
- Intense discomfort during sports : once the previous phase has been overcome and without taking action, the pain appears during training causing it to be interrupted, since it is much more intense.
- Limitation of movements : the continuation of the symptoms will only lead to pain that will be felt even at rest. The problem is that at this point you will notice certain movement limitations.
As we can see, the pain progresses alerting that there is a problem that decompensation in the muscles of the area. The way to solve this is by initiating an appropriate treatment.
Treatments for pubalgia
There are different treatments for pubalgia depending on whether we are in the mild or the most acute phase, already with limited movement. Therefore, the options will be the following:
- Strengthening and stretching exercises : they will help to generate a good compensation in the muscles involved in pubalgia. This will be included in the rehabilitation program, which will include physical therapy, osteopathy and electrostimulation.
- Anti-inflammatory drugs: if the pain is very intense and causes interruptions in sports practice, this type of medication will be used to reduce pain.
- Specific warm-up exercises : people with pubalgia should perform specific warm-up exercises to prevent this problem from becoming chronic.
- Surgery : in the most serious cases, the doctor may recommend surgery to reduce the pressure in the area and, thus, improve the pain that the patient is suffering.
As we have seen, this is a frequent problem in athletes. For this reason, if you do sports, if you have any pain in the groin area, we recommend that you go to the doctor.
An early diagnosis will allow you to solve a problem that can lead to really acute and disabling pain.
