As triathlons, duathlons, and marathons resume as Chicago is in Phase 5, more Chicagoans are becoming more active. With training for these races, it is important to warm up, cool down, and properly recover to minimize injury. If overtraining occurs where you are not cross-training (ie Yoga, Pilates, weight training), one of the more common injuries involves groin strains/pulls. Injuries to the groin muscles, including adductor longus, magnus, gracilis, or pectineus, are quite common when training for these races due to the load placed on the lower legs due to the training schedule one must maintain. One of the treatment options to keep you active if an injury to the groin involves Active Release Techniques (ART)

With groin injuries, ART can treat groin injuries when properly diagnosed. ART providers, most of whom are typically chiropractors, incorporate corrective exercises, and utilize ART to break scar tissue in the groin muscle(s) involved to treat these injuries quickly and efficiently. Understanding your injury as you decide to seek out treatment will greatly influence your recovery due to the recommendations the ART provider gives to ensure proper healing.

ART will likely be uncomfortable if you strained your groin, but a thorough exam will reveal how significant the injury is. ART will likely require a few treatments alongside corrective exercises to help reduce the contraction of the muscle and to help change how you move promoting continued training for your race. Often, patients report some discomfort with treatment, but usually, application of ice and/or heat with a barrier will reduce swelling and inflammation associated with treatment and the injury. These components will maximize your body’s ability to heal, but recognizing the injury and having it looked at soon after injury occurs will assure that your groin injury heals properly, avoiding any lingering effects while you continue to train.

Treating groin injuries will prevent this injury from lingering for months and allow you to run, swim, and bike aggressively to accomplish your 2021 goals. Consider ART for your groin injury so it does not keep you from doing what you enjoy.