I pull my groin: what should I know?

The groin includes the adductor muscles that help draw the leg inward and steady the pelvis. A strain can happen during sprinting, kicking, lunging, slipping, or a quick change of direction. Pain may sit along the inner thigh or near the pubic area and can increase with walking, squeezing the knees together, or stretching the leg. Groin Pain can have causes beyond a muscle strain, so the way the injury happened and the findings on examination matter.

Stop the activity that caused the pain and walk only as comfortably as possible. In the early phase, use relative rest and a cold pack wrapped in cloth if it helps; do not press hard on a tender area. As pain settles, gentle range-of-motion work can come before light strengthening. Exercise Therapy can help restore adductor, hip, and trunk control. Sports Physiotherapy may be useful when cutting, kicking, or sprinting is part of your routine. A Return-to-Sport Programme should increase load in stages and include the movements your sport requires.

Have the injury assessed if you cannot walk normally, heard a pop, develop marked bruising or swelling, or have persistent pain at the inner thigh or pubic area. Seek urgent help for severe pain after a fall, a visible deformity, numbness, a cold or pale leg, or rapidly increasing swelling. Pain in the groin with abdominal symptoms, fever, or a testicular problem also needs prompt medical attention because it may not be a muscle injury.

Ask which movements should be limited, when strengthening can begin, how to judge readiness for running or sport, and whether another source of groin pain needs to be checked.