Groin injury

[LaFilleSylphide]

Hi everyone! I've seen a doctor about a pulled or strained groin injury I sustained a while ago, and basically they massaged it and told me to ice it, and to leave it alone. Of course, our doctors here aren't exactly... comparable to Western doctors. It's been more than a month now (I'd say a month and a half) and I don't notice any improvement. I cannot sit in an open 2nd position, I cannot execute grande battements, and I cannot arabesque using my right leg as a supporting leg.

 

How long do I need to not use it to see improvement? The worst feeling is any sort of rotation from front to second, the strain on the inside of my thigh extends from inner knee all the way up the inside of my thigh. It's terrible and sudden - is there something else I can be doing besides "leave it alone"?

[Victoria Leigh]

Can you get physical therapy? Ultra sound, electric stimulation, specific exercises? This kind of injury is a super nuisance thing, because it will not heal as long as you keep trying to do the things that cause it. It will heal, but it takes time and I think could be helped by therapy.

[LaFilleSylphide]

I have to ask around when it comes to ultra sound and electric stimulation. I haven't encountered that here before, but I figure someone should have those machines somewhere! If not, I may have to visit Thailand. After it heals, is it possible to regain my flexibility again? At the moment, I feel like I'm forever flawed.

[Victoria Leigh]

I think it is, LaFille, if it is nothing more serious than a groin pull or strain. I have done that before, a very, very long time ago, but it did heal and I did not lose any flexibility. I was in England at the time, and did have Osteopathic therapy, which did include ultra sound. Not sure about stim, can't remember, but I do know that it healed relatively quickly.

[Miss Persistent]

You can get home ultrasound machines these days too - something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1Mhz-Portable-Home-Ultrasound-Machine-Massage-Unit-/380778615526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58a82c92e6

 

I've always been a fan of massage too, perhaps some self massage or if you can find a massage therapist to help get in there and break up and scar tissue bring some blood to the area it is often helpful.

[LaFilleSylphide]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I couldn't order any machine online as we don't have a postal system in Laos that could or would deliver something to our home. I do, however, have the rare benefit of having an hour massage weekly (very inexpensive). I have to find a PT that could possibly use an ultrasound machine on the injured area. I'm incredibly frustrated with this pain, and stretching is near impossible.

 

I think the worst part of this injury is that it seems fine, but anytime I go through a certain range of motion (I often forget that I cannot), I feel that pain and pulling again immediately. It's so hard to reconcile with myself that simple things such as a grande ronds de jambe en l'air is so off limits, or even grande battements. The worst is when attempting something as mundane as an arabesque - I didn't even think that those muscles were associated with arabesque, but I felt it immediately. A month and a half later, my body still hasn't figured it out. Very annoying and completely frustrating.

[Garyecht]

Groin strains are frustrating because they take so long to heal. I think it's good to do something like google "how to treat a groin strain" just to learn about them, their cause and treatment.

 

Psychologically I think you need distract yourself by doing activities you can do without pain. Hopefully you can find some physical activities you can do. You might try other less physical dance forms (folk or social?) that will keep you dancing but without pain. You might take up some other artistic activity for a while, acting class, art history, drumming, or anything that will help you develop artistically that doesn't result in pain.

 

The good thing about being an adult dancer is that you have the remainder of your life to develop your skills. Yes we are impatient, which is why we need to deal with our impatience as much as the pain we feel. Easier said than done I know.

[Sabastianni]

Physical therapists here typically use laser, ultrasound, and electric stimulation. This aligns with Victoria's suggestion above to pursue PT.

[Kini]

I've suffered through numerous groin pulls in the past and the quickest way for me to recover is to rest the leg a little bit i.e restricted barre/center floor work and soaking in a hot bath tub a few times. (Going through it now as I managed to strain the muscle in my left leg shoveling snow of all things.)

[DaPixie]

How is that injury doing?

[silkmaiden]

LaFille, I really hope you're better! Groin injuries are really slow to heal. If you're still having issues I was gonna suggest trying to find a chiropractor/masseuse that understands sports injuries and how to use trigger point message (also known as A.R.T.) to release scar tissue. Often residual pain and tightness is due to the buildup of scar tissue and it takes some manual manipulation to release and break up the scar tissue so that the muscles can stretch out properly again.

[LaFilleSylphide]

I think it's getting better. I can admit that normal daily movements don't seem to make it act up as much as it used to. It used to be that stepping in and out of a car used to aggravate it, and I would get sudden tension because I was worried or nervous about hurting myself more. Even getting out of bed carelessly used to make my muscles tense up because of the discomfort. However, I don't have that feeling anymore, but I haven't exactly been stretching it or doing anything with it.

 

I actually DID have a PT do some deep massage on it! She said that my tendon (which I don't remember, but on the inside of my thigh) was so tight and tense, it was like a rope. I've only done that once though, and it's been a while... I've been completely bogged down with work getting ready to go out of town.