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groin pain

mjheidebrecht
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04/05/2010 - 6:34pm
groin pain
Hello Ester. I am suffering from some pretty significant groin pain in my right hip constantly for about 1.5 years now. It has come and gone but is pretty severe now. I have been convinced that it is the Iliospoas muscle being tight and have spent alot of time stretching it etc but to no avail. Although I have had your book for a while now, I have only just started to work on the glide walking and when I push off hard with my glute musles, I feel a significant stretch in the right groin area (where it hurts). I am just curious to know if I should continue to work on this technique or if I am actually making this worse. Am I over using the psoas muscle in doing this? Any suggestions on how to min it's work while still not using the quads? I am very frustrated and a little depressed that this is such a problem for me and I truely think it is related to my ongoing low back pain. I want to fix it once and for all!!! thanks in advance for your response.
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09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
It's always tricky to stretch a muscle that is injured at its insertion / origin. You want to stretch it, but you don't want to tear the insertion off the bone. Glidewalking does provide a stretch for the psoas muscle with every step you take. This is a big bonus except if you have an injured psoas. Then you have to manage the situation carefully. Begin by trying to release the psoas (gentle, gradual stretching as in a mini-lunge, warmth, massage that releases the psoas, acupuncture, etc.). Then keep the gains you make by glidewalking a moderate amount, shortening your stride to stretch the psoas only slightly. As this becomes well-tolerated, increase your stride gradually, till your psoas tolerates a normal stride, which in turn will maintain a healthy muscle length. At the other end of the spectrum, you also want to spend some time allowing the psoas to have lots of slack and not be stretched. Stretchlying at night with one or more pillows under your knees is a good time to do this. Then when you get up, stretch your body out and get up slowly to give the psoas time to adjust to a longer length. You don't want to stretch the psoas all the time, nor do you want it to adapt to a short resting length, for example by sitting all day long without getting up to walking around and stretching. In my experience, a tight psoas also correlates with anxiety and stress - look into how you can address any unnecessary stress in your life. Good luck!
straightedge
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07/04/2010 - 11:56am
Once the groin pain is diagnosed it is important that the affected area be rested immediately. Any further movement or stress will only aggravate the condition and prolong recovery. It is also important to keep the injured area as still as possible.
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