Chicago Hernia Institute

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Sports Hernias in Chicago

For Athletes

Even though it's called a sports hernia, it's not a hernia. It's a painful injury to the soft tissues in a joint area. This usually happens during sports that involve quick changes in direction or a lot of twisting. While it's not a true hernia, it can have similar symptoms. The main difference is that a sports hernia doesn't cause a bulge in the groin.

Sports hernias can be treated with surgery or without surgery. Your doctor at Florida Orthopedic Institute will explain your choices.

How It Works

The soft tissues most often affected by sports hernias are the oblique muscles in your lower abdomen. The tendons that connect these muscles to your pubic bone are most likely to get injured. In many cases, the tendons that connect your thigh muscles to your pubic bone (adductors) can also be stretched or torn.

What It Is

A sports hernia is a painful injury to the soft tissues in your abdominal joint area. It often happens during sports with sudden changes in direction or a lot of twisting, like ice hockey, soccer, football, and wrestling. The soft tissues that control these movements in your lower abdomen and pubic area are most likely to be torn or injured. The tendons that connect the oblique muscles to the pubic bone are especially at risk. In many sports hernias, the tendons that connect the thigh muscles to the pubic bone (adductors) are also stretched or torn.

Despite the name, a sports hernia is not a true hernia. The condition is also known as Athletic Palagi. Even though the symptoms are alike, the pain and pressure come from torn tendons that connect to the renal pelvis. A traditional hernia (inguinal) involves a separation of abdominal muscles, causing the intestine or other soft tissue to bulge out.

Symptoms

The main symptom of a sports hernia is sharp pain in the groin area at the time of injury. This pain gets better with rest but comes back during activity. Unlike a regular inguinal hernia, a sports hernia doesn't cause a visible bulge in the groin.

Over time, a sports hernia can weaken the tissues, potentially leading to an inguinal hernia where an abdominal organ may press against the weakened soft tissues, forming a visible bulge. Because of this, it's important to get treatment as soon as possible.

Diagnosis

Your doctor at Florida Orthopedic Institute will ask about your symptoms and how the injury happened. They will then do a physical exam. If you have a sports hernia, you'll likely feel pain when they touch your groin or above your pubic bone. Even though sports hernias can sometimes be related to a traditional inguinal hernia, the doctor usually won't be able to find a hernia during the exam.

After the exam, your doctor may order X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to help figure out if you have a sports hernia. Sometimes, bone scans or other tests are recommended to rule out other possible causes of the pain.

Treatment

A sports hernia can be treated with surgery or without surgery, depending on how bad the injury is. Usually, non-surgical treatments are tried first. If they don't work, your doctor may consider surgery.

Non Surgical Treatments

nonsurgical treatments

There are three main nonsurgical treatments things you can do to treat your sports hernia:

Rest: In the week after the injury, rest and ice can help reduce pain.

Physical therapy: Usually, you can start physical therapy exercises about two weeks after your injury. These exercises will help improve the strength and flexibility of your abdominal and inner thigh muscles.

Anti-inflammatory medications: Your doctor may recommend non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) to reduce swelling and pain. If your symptoms last for a long time, your doctor may also suggest a cortisone injection (a strong steroid anti-inflammatory medicine).

Surgical Treatments

Surgery to fix the torn tissues in your groin can be done in two ways: a traditional, open procedure with one long cut or an endoscopic procedure. In an endoscopy, the surgeon makes smaller cuts and uses a small camera (endoscope) to see inside your abdomen.

In some cases, the surgeon may need to cut a small nerve in the groin (the inguinal nerve) during the surgery to relieve pain. This is called an inguinal neurectomy.

Your doctor at Florida Orthopedic Institute will explain your options and help you decide which procedure is best for you. No matter which option you choose, you'll likely need to go through a rehabilitation program after surgery to help you regain your strength and endurance.

More informatics QNA.

Q.1 Which doctor should I see for a sports hernia?

Ans: Many hernia specialists and general surgeons consult with an orthopedic surgeon for this surgery. Similar to the surgical treatment of rectal hernias, sports hernia repair can be done as a traditional open surgery with a single long incision or as a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure.

Q.2 Is a sports hernia worth surgery?

Ans: Overall, 90% of open, laparoscopic, and sports hernia (athletic pubic pain) correction surgeries are considered successful. With postoperative physical therapy and rehabilitation, sports hernia patients can usually return to sports activities in 6 to 12 weeks.

Q.3 How do I find the best hernia surgeon?

Ans: Your doctor may recommend and refer you to a surgeon who specializes in breast surgery. You may be happy to accept your doctor's recommendation, or you may be wondering about your choice.

Q.4 Can a sports hernia be removed without surgery?

Ans: Although a sports hernia does not heal on its own, surgery may not be necessary. This injury does not involve a hernia and may be treatable with rest, physical therapy, and anti-inflammatory medications. However, this is not always the case and surgery may be required to completely repair the injury.

Q.5 What are the disadvantages of hernia surgery?

Ans: Risks of liver surgery Scarring at the incision site, or infection and bleeding. If the hernia is in the intestine, it can make it difficult to defecate. A collection of fluid in the forearm is called a seroma.

Q.6 How long can someone live with a hernia?

Ans: How long have you lived with the swelling? The unqualified answer is that it is impulsive. Some people live with their hernia for the rest of their lives, while others develop hernia-related symptoms within a few months of having a hernia.

Q.7 Who wouldn't want hernia surgery?

Ans: You may want to postpone surgery if: You are taking blood thinners to stop the procedure. You have other health issues that make surgery risky. You have a skin infection that may also affect the materials used to repair the hernia.

Q.8 What is a sports hernia?

Ans: Osteitis pubis [20]: Inflammation of the pubic symphysis can cause chronic pelvic pain and may be confused with sports-related pubic pain. Imaging studies such as X-rays, MRIs, and bone scans can help distinguish between musculoskeletal and sports hernias.