Pain in inner thigh when stretching

[elfynity]

I have been doing ballet now for a few months, and I have always been more flexible on my left side, until recently, I started to feel pain in my inner thigh whenever I stretched. It seems to be getting worse. I feel the pain the most with grand battement to the side and attitude with my right leg.

 

Does anyone know what this could be from?

 

I am planning to go to a physiotherapist and I have asked my ballet teacher, but I haven't got alot of information yet about it.

[Clara 76]

The causes kind of depend upon what exactly is going on in there. Many times, adult students have tighter bodies, so psoas stretches are beneficial, along with hamstring and other kinds of stretches. Can you think back to any precipitating event or moment when you first became aware of the pain, or is it something more chronic that has never really gone away?

[jimpickles]

I would say - though maybe this is more a medical matters board topic - that if it hurts, dont stretch it. Every time you do a stretch that causes pain, you are doing more damage. You need to let it settle down fully, and then can start a gentle stretching regime to get the flexibility you want. If damage has been caused in the past - even if it has apparently healed - there may be scar tissue at the site of the old injury. This will be tighter than normal muscle, so if you try restretching it you will end up damaging the normal muscle around it, leading to a vicious cycle of long-term tightness. In this case, you need to wait until the scar tissue has disappeared, which may take up to a year. Meanwhile, I suggest that you can stretch gently, but only to a level that causes NO pain or discomfort. Depending on the severity, it might be better to do NOTHING for 3 months that even MIGHT cause some pain or discomfort, before gradually starting a gentle regime, as above (this is what I would do).

 

Jim.

[mermaid7176]

jimpickles- Thank you for the great info. I, too, have chronic pain in my inner thigh area that was caused by over-stretching years ago. I tend to re-injure it whenever I try too hard to work on my splits. Your post was a helpful reminder that I need to back-off and let it heal properly. I tend to want to push through the pain- which only makes it tighter.