Pubalgia: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

Pubalgia is severe pain in the groin that commonly affects athletes. In this article, we are going to find out how we can deal with this problem.

Pubalgia is a problem that affects the inguinal region. It is known by different names such as groin, dynamic osteopathy of the pubis, osteoarthropathy pubic or hernia of athletes.

The latter name is due to the fact that athletes, or high level sportsmen, usually suffer from this physical condition due to excessive physical exertion. Pushing the limits of your body is not without consequences, especially in the long term. This problem is even more common in those who perform exercises that require multiple repetitions, changes in direction or pace.

In this article, we will learn about other causes of this disease, how its symptoms develop, and how best to treat it.

The causes of pubalgia

The pubalgia is due to muscle overload that occurs after repeated and continuous movements. For this reason, it is usually found in people who practice high intensity sport.

However, certain factors can favor its appearance and we must take them into account to limit them as much as possible. Let’s see some of them:

• Poor physical preparation : if you have just taken up sports and have been leading a sedentary life, be careful. It is possible that you will develop a pubalgia. Be sure to start off slow before progressing to longer, more intense exercises.
• Bad Warm-Up : One of the ways to avoid the above is to properly warm up the muscles before training. Warming up quickly can lead to a problem with pubalgia. Therefore, we have to take our time to perform each movement well.
• Anatomical features : It is possible that due to trauma to the pubic area or the physical condition of the person, the risk of suffering from this condition is increased.

When choosing a sport, it is important to review these aspects (especially the anatomical features) so as not to get immersed in a sport that will cause us to suffer from many symptoms of “athlete’s hernia”.

Symptoms of pubic enthesitis

Suffering from a pubalgia is not a pleasant thing. As some studies point out, its most characteristic symptom is “pain in the inguinal and pubic region which may radiate to the adductor region and to the lower abdomen”.

However, let’s see in more detail how the symptoms of pubalgia can be developed to see later the best way to deal with this problem:

• Pain before or after physical activity : this is the first warning signal not to be confused with stiffness or poor posture. The pain may be mild and usually goes away.
• Intense discomfort during sports practice : once the previous phase is over and without taking any action, the pain appears during training, causing its interruption because it is much more intense.
• Limitation of movement : the persistence of symptoms will only cause pain that will be felt even at rest. The problem is that at this point some movement limitations will be observed.

As you can see, the pain gets worse. This indicates that there is a problem with decompensation in the muscles in the area. The solution to this problem is to initiate appropriate treatment.

Treatment of pubalgia

There are different treatments for pubalgia depending on whether we are in a mild or acute phase or whether our movements are limited or not. Therefore, the options will be as follows:

• Strengthening and stretching exercises : they will help to generate good compensation for the muscles involved in pubalgia. This will be part of the rehabilitation program, which will include physiotherapy, osteopathy and electrostimulation.
• Anti-inflammatory drugs : if the pain is very intense and causes interruptions in sports practice, your doctor will recommend this type of medicine to reduce the pain.
• Specific warm-up exercises : People with pubalgia should perform specific warm-up exercises. This will prevent this problem from becoming chronic.
• Surgery : In the most severe cases, the doctor may recommend surgery to reduce the pressure in the area and thereby relieve the pain experienced by the patient.

As we have seen, this is a common problem among athletes. Therefore, if you play sports, before any pain in the inguinal region, we recommend that you consult a doctor.

An early diagnosis will allow you to solve a problem that can lead to very acute and debilitating pain.