Groin Injuries Hamper Top Strikers

Photo of Alan Shearer and Thierry HenryThere are two names that are conspicuous by their absence at the top of the Premier League Goal Scoring Chart this season. Newcastle United's Alan Shearer is the Premiership's all time leading scorer with an amazing 251 league goals and Thierry Henry of Arsenal has been the leading scorer in three of the past four seasons in England. However, both have been hampered by groin problems during the 2005/06 season.

So far this season, Shearer is trailing behind Chelsea's Frank Lampard, with an uncharacteristic two goals in 11 matches so far, which can be partially explained by the fact that the Newcastle skipper is playing on despite suffering from a hernia.

Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness recently revealed, "For the last couple of weeks he has been feeling his hernia and no-one knows how long it will last. He could get through to the end of the season without needing an operation, or it could get that painful he would need the operation next week."

Hernia and groin problems are common in soccer where the pelvic region is subject to large torsional loads. Two common conditions that affect athletes are an Inguinal (pronounced in-gwin-al) hernia and a Sports hernia (commonly known as Gilmore's groin).

Gilmore's groin is more common than the Inguinal hernia in soccer players. The condition is named after Jerry Gilmore, the London surgeon who first recognised this syndrome in 1980. Gilmores groin is a more apt title than a 'Sports hernia' because, strictly speaking, there is no true herniation; it is classified as a tear to the attachements of the Internal and External Oblique muscles where they should attach to the pelvis.

Gilmore's Groin starts with a feeling of stiffness and discomfort high in the groin region, but this is never enough to stop the player from continuing soccer activities. With more playing and training this discomfort gets gradually worse and there is an accompanying loss of Adductor (groin) muscle strength. This typically produces discomfort when rolling over in bed or when getting in and out of a car. On the field, the reduced Adductor strength leads to a feeling of weakness, reduced acceleration and slowness on the turn.

Conservative treatment such as physiotherapy can be effective in reducing the symptoms, but ultimately surgery is always the way to fix this type of problem. Physiotherapy treatment consists largely of optimising the strength of the Adductor muscles using a resistance programme and improving core strength and stability, in order to help the player control the large muscular forces across the front of the pelvis. The use of warm pants can also help relieve symptoms and help the player to keep getting by.

With reference to Alan Shearer, Souness revealed last week, "We're hoping we can get him through to November. We have the international break coming up, and that is two weeks, so there is a window there which would be a possibility. Given his track record, and given the way he plays football, I would imagine he would be out for about three weeks."

How Warm Pants help with groin injuries

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