groin pain

Your Pectineus Muscle And Groin Pain

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Treating Groin Pain Naturally

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

The holidays are inching up on us, and this month is one of my favorites.  I love Halloween because the children have so much fun dressing up and going to parties.

Back when I was a child we could roam around the neighborhood, knocking on doors and having our candy dropped into the pumpkin basket or pillowcase our moms gave us.  We traveled in a pack, and our parents knew we were safe as long as we stayed in our neighborhood because everyone knew everyone.

Nowadays children go to “Trunk or Treat” parties, often with mom or dad in tow. They’re still having fun, and it’s great to see their excitement when they’re sharing with each other how many goodies they have collected.

Now, even just LOOKING at that candy makes me gain 5 lbs!  Oh well!

Happy October to you and your family!

Your Pectineus Muscle And Groin Pain

Today, we will be discussing how a small muscle that most people aren’t even aware of can cause groin pain. I’ve been working with athletes since 1989 and I’ve seen this small muscle cause such pain that it was preventing the athlete from continuing with his/her sport.  And it’s so simple to treat!

The pectineus muscle is in your adductor muscle group. The adductors are responsible for hip flexion and adduction.

Adduction is when you bring your leg closer to the opposite leg, such as when you cross your legs when you are sitting down.  Athletes who play soccer, or who ride a horse, are heavily using their adductor muscles.

As you look at the graphic on the left, the muscles on the left side (right leg) are the larger adductor muscles.

The pectineus is shown on the right side (left leg) so that it is more visible, helping you see the location of the muscle.  In reality, all the muscles are on both sides.

Since the pectineus muscle is so close to the pubic bone, it is more difficult to self-treat. You need to sit on the floor and twist yourself, so the sore side is pressing into the floor.

The pectineus muscle is often overlooked, but it can cause significant pain when in spasm or injured. Here are some of the symptoms, causes, and a simple self-treatment I have developed for a tight pectineus.

Quick Facts About Groin Pain And Your Pectineus Muscle

Causes of Spasms of the Pectineus and Adductors:

  • Muscular injuries of the adductors, the iliopsoas muscle, and abdominal musculature are the most frequent causes of acute groin pain in sportsmen and sportswomen.
  • Spasms in your pectineus muscle are also a common cause of groin pain and are often overlooked.
  • Pectineus pain often stems from an injured groin muscle. Common causes include running, kicking a soccer ball, riding a horse, and sitting with a crossed leg.

Symptoms Of Groin Pain Caused By Your Pectineus Muscle:

  • Groin pain is any discomfort in the area between your abdomen and thigh, located where your abdomen ends, and your legs begin.
  • Localized pain on the pubic bone, in the groin area, on one side or the other, is a primary indication of injury to the pectineus.
  • Pain on palpation of the involved muscle and pain on adduction (moving your legs closer together against resistance) is also an indication of injury to the pectineus.

Treating Groin Pain Naturally

You are trying to be pressing close to your pubic bone, which is shown in the graphic above.

Sit as shown and use a ball to press deeply into your adductors. Start the treatment at the very top of the muscles, close to your pubic bone, and move down toward your knee.

If you find any tender points, called “trigger points,” hold  the pressure on the spasm until it stops hurting.

You can also “pump” the trigger point, applying pressure for 15 seconds, then stay where you are but release the pressure for 5 seconds, and repeat this sequence several times until the pain point stops hurting.

You may get better leverage if you lift up your opposite hip (lift up the right hip in this demonstration), bending your right leg so you can press your right elbow into your thigh to get better pressure.

If it’s difficult with the ball, use your right hand fingertips to press on the muscle on your left side.

In conclusion, the pectineus muscle can cause groin pain when injured.

If this simple self-treatment doesn’t help, it would be important to seek medical attention to determine the underlying cause, especially if it is severe or accompanied by other symptoms.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

www.FlexibleAthlete.com

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Relief From Groin Pain

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The Pectineus Muscle And Groin Pain 

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney 

Fall, Glorious Fall

Happy WomanFall is glorious in my book.  I was up in New York a few weeks ago, and the trees were just changing – I was about a week too early for the best colors, but it was still beautiful. The air was crisp and clean, and I loved all the fall decorations.

In Florida we are entering our most wonderful time of year. It’s starting to get cooler, the humidity is going down, and hurricane season is over. Hooray!  It’s great to be outdoors again!

And now that the weather has turned cooler in all parts of the USA, more people are exercising outdoors.  Are you?  Be sure to warm up your muscles before you go running or cycling.

Treating the Muscles That Cause Groin Pain and Impact Walking.

I have a client who had a pain pattern I hadn’t seen before, so it was a challenge to figure out what needs to be treated to get success. We’ll call my client “Bob” although that’s not his real name.

Bob had a shooting pain just to the left of his pubic bone whenever he tried to take a wide step.  As a runner it was definitely causing him issues whenever he tried to take a long step, like while running.

There are so many muscles that are involved in moving your legs so you can walk or run that I won’t be going into them all in this newsletter.  If it’s something you want to explore, please get either of my books by going to https://julstromethod.com/shop/

The Pectineus Muscle And Groin Pain

pectineus muscleThe muscle we’re concerned with today is the Pectineus.

The Pectineus is a small muscle that runs from the front of your pubic bone to the top of the inside of your thigh bone (femur).

It’s one of the large group of muscles called Adductors.  All the Adductors originate on your pubic bone and insert along the length of your femur, all the way to the inside of your knee.  When they contract, they pull your leg in toward midline (like crossing your legs).

However, when they are tight you can’t bring your leg out to the side.  And in the case of the Pectineus, you will have pain and limited range-of-motion moving your leg forward to take a big step.

If you look at the graphic above, consider what would happen if the muscle was so tight that it won’t stretch, and the bone was being pulled forward. You can see that it will pull on both the pubic bone and the top of the thigh bone. The Pectineus muscle is so small that the pain would be in a circle that encompasses both the origination and the insertion of the muscle.

Relief From Groin Pain

That’s what was happening to “Bob.”  First you release the “knots” from the Pectineus muscle, so that it can be stretched. The treatment is easy to explain, but impossible to show in a picture because it just looks like someone lying face down on the floor.  You couldn’t see the ball or where it’s located.

Take the Perfect Ball (or a tennis ball if you don’t have the Perfect Ball) and put it exactly where you see the muscle in the graphic.

Lie down on the floor, on top of the ball.  It should be pressing into the Pectineus muscle and the top of your thigh.  Ease into it because if the Pectineus muscle is tight, it will be really painful.  Just start by pressing gently into the ball and then add more of your body weight as the tension lessens.

To stretch the muscle, you can do an adaptation of the picture to the left.

Stand up straight and put your leg behind you.

For example, if you are stretching your left Pectineus, you can have your left leg back so your right leg is straight and your toe is on the ground, or you can do a more advanced stretch by picking up your leg and putting your foot on a step or a chair.

Be sure to hold on to something secure so you won’t lose your balance and fall.

If you turn your body slightly toward the right, you’ll get an even better stretch.

This treatment and stretch helped “Bob” relieve the pressure and he was able to get back to running again!

Have a happy month, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the instructional program for massage therapists.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Relief From Groin Pain

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How Can A Thigh Muscle Cause Groin Pain? 

Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT –The Pain Relief Expert

Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney

May Is A Beautiful Time Of Year

It’s MAY!!   Bring on the flowers that came from the April showers!

Of course, here in Florida we have flowers all year, so it’s our friends to the north that are enjoying a glorious array of color during this month.

In some ways, life is beginning to slow down for us.  With most of the snowbirds gone, driving is easier, the stores are less crowded, and we can park at the beach.  The weather is still beautiful so we can still go outside to ride a bike, jog, or play the sports we enjoy.

This Month’s Treatment – The Rectus Femoris Muscle

Rectus Femoris Muscle

Your Rectus Femoris muscle is one of the four quadriceps muscles of your thigh. It is the only one of the quadriceps that originates on the tip of your pelvis.  When your “quads” contract you straighten your leg.

I’ve written several times about the domino-effect of a string of muscles that cause low back pain, hamstring tension, sciatica, and hip/knee pain.  I call the entire treatment the Julstro Protocol.  I’ve even written a book titled The 15 Minute Back Pain Solution that explains the whole thing. This time I would like to talk about how the rectus femoris muscle can cause groin pain.

How Can A Thigh Muscle Cause Groin Pain?

It’s a bit complicated unless we go through the entire cycle of muscles involved in the Julstro Protocol, but that would be redundant.  As a quick refresher, your psoas muscle (anterior side of your lumbar vertebrae) and your iliacus muscle (on the inside of your pelvis bones) both insert into the inside of your thigh bone.  When they are strained (usually from sitting for long periods of time – including cyclists who ride for hours, or when you drive a car long distances) they shorten and rotate your pelvis forward and down.

This forward rotation causes your rectus femoris to be too long to do the job of straightening your leg, so the body ties a knot (a spasm/trigger point) on the outside of your thigh, right where your middle finger touches when you have your arms relaxed at your side.  This knot then holds your pelvis down in the front, and your pelvis rotates – down in the front and up in the back.

This is where the groin problem comes in.  Your pubic bone/groin is being moved backward during this rotation.  The muscles of your inner thigh all originate on your pubic bone, but they are now being overstretched!  As a result, they are putting stress on your pubic bone.

Just like pulling on your hair will hurt your scalp, the muscle pulling on the bone will hurt the bone, in this case, the pubic bone.  You end up with groin pain!

I’ve had people think they had a serious condition (one man was told he had the beginning of prostrate cancer!!) when all that is happening is a muscle strain.  And one that is simple to fix.

We aren’t going through the entire Julstro Protocol, even though that is exactly what I’d do if you came in to the office.  If you’re interested, the entire program is in the book.  However, I do want to show you how to do the treatment for your rectus femoris.

Relief From Groin Pain

Treating Your Rectus Femoris 

Sit in a chair and use either a 12”x1” piece of PVC pipe or a rolling pin (don’t let it roll). Starting at the top of your thigh, slide the pipe down to your knee as shown in the pictures below.  Rolling will prevent you from going deep enough into the muscle, so just slide.

Do your entire thigh, outside-front-inside.  You will likely find big “speed bumps” all along the muscles. The picture on the right is treating your rectus femoris, and the picture on the left is treating your adductor muscles which all originate on your pubic bone.  With the adductors, you may find a painful point closer to your inner knee where several muscles all join together to stabilize your knee joint.

 

                                               

 

 

 

 

 

Press deeply, but always stay within your pain tolerance level – it should “hurt so good,” but never be severe pain.

I always suggest that you do three passes down each line of muscles, and then go back and focus some direct attention on each bump (spasm) to bring blood into the area and release the knotted muscle fibers.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Health Tips From The Professor