Running provides a variety of physical and mental benefits -- weight control, cardiovascular health, stress relief and even a more active social network. However, it demands a lot of the muscles and joints of your lower body, including those of the groin, or inner thigh. While ordinary, gentle distance running on level surfaces does not usually result in groin pain, a lot of other types of running can lead to groin soreness and injury.
The Muscles of the Groin
Your groin muscles are responsible for drawing your legs together; if you place your elbows between your knees and press your legs inward, you're engaging your groin muscles. There are five pairs: the three shorter adductors, consisting of the pectineus, adductor brevis and adductor longus and extending from pelvis to thigh bone; and the two longer adductors, consisting of the gracilis and adductor magnus and running from the pelvis to the inside of the knee.
Adductor Tendinitis
Pain felt in the groin during running may radiate down one or both legs and is often felt most strongly when you accelerate quickly from rest or rapidly change direction. This type of pain is usually indicative of inflammation of the tendons connecting the adductor muscles to the pelvis. Unlike a tear, pull or strain, it is more likely to be the result of overuse -- that is, chronic damage -- than of a sudden insult. Treatment involves rest, icing the area and, if needed, anti-inflammatory drugs and rehabilitation exercises.
Sports Hernias
A sports hernia may occur either over time or suddenly, although in runners the latter is far more likely. The culprit is probably repetitive shearing, or lateral, forces on the adductor muscles where they attach to the pubic bone. About one in every eight sports hernias involves pain on both sides, but most are unilateral. Physical therapy may offer some relief, but advanced sports hernias usually require surgical repair with the placement of a mesh in the groin and a six- to 12-week rest period.
Osteitis Pubis
Osteitis pubis is the inflammation of the pubic symphysis, the point at which the left and right pubic bones articulate. Symptoms include pain and tenderness of either a sharp or a dull nature that usually comes on gradually. The pain is most often felt in the front and center of the pubic bone, but often radiates into the lower abdomen and the groin. The cause is almost always stress overload combined with some sort of biomechanical imbalance, such as a leg-length discrepancy. Rest and icing are the short-term treatments, while strengthening and stretching exercises can help prevent a recurrence.
