A groin strain is a common muscle injury involving a tear or a pull in the adductor muscles, the group of muscles located along the inner thigh. This injury often occurs during activities that require sudden, forceful movements, such as sprinting, kicking, or rapid changes in direction. Recovery is a phased progression, moving from immediate pain control to gradually rebuilding strength and finally restoring the ability to handle high-intensity movement.
Immediate Steps for Acute Pain Relief
The initial 48 to 72 hours following a groin strain are dedicated to minimizing internal bleeding, inflammation, and pain. The first step involves relative rest, meaning you must immediately cease any activity that causes pain, as continuing movement can worsen the tear. Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), after consulting with a healthcare professional, can help manage pain and swelling during this acute phase.
Cold therapy controls inflammation by slowing blood flow to the injured site. An ice pack wrapped in a thin towel should be applied to the most painful area of the groin for 10 to 20 minutes, repeated every one to two hours for the first two to three days. Compression helps limit swelling and provide support. An elastic bandage or specialized compression shorts should be worn snugly, avoiding tightness that causes numbness, tingling, or discoloration in the leg.
Progression to Gentle Movement and Stretching
The transition out of the acute phase begins once walking and daily activities can be performed with minimal or no pain. At this point, the focus shifts from reducing inflammation to promoting blood flow and restoring the muscle’s resting length. This is also the time to switch from using ice to applying gentle heat, which promotes vasodilation to increase circulation and relax stiff muscle tissue before movement.
Start with pain-free range of motion (ROM) exercises, often performed while lying down to remove the load of gravity. A common early movement is the supine butterfly stretch, where you lie on your back with knees bent and gently allow the knees to fall outward until a mild stretch is felt. Another gentle exercise involves knee roll-outs, where the foot remains on the floor and the knee of the affected leg is slowly rolled outward. These movements should be performed slowly and deliberately, stopping immediately if any sharp pain is experienced.
Strengthening Exercises for Full Recovery
Rebuilding the capacity of the adductor muscles is necessary for a full recovery and to prevent the injury from returning. Rehabilitation begins with isometric contractions, which activate the muscle without changing its length, making them safe for early loading. The adductor squeeze involves lying on your back with knees bent and gently squeezing a small ball or rolled towel between the knees for a 5- to 10-second hold, repeating for 10 to 15 repetitions.
Once isometrics are pain-free, the program progresses to dynamic, resistance-based exercises that load the adductors throughout a full range of motion. Early dynamic movements include side-lying hip adduction, where the bottom leg is lifted against gravity. Later, high-load exercises like the Copenhagen Adductor Plank become foundational.
The Copenhagen plank is effective because it targets eccentric strength, the muscle’s ability to resist lengthening, which is often lacking after a groin injury. Finally, multi-directional resistance band exercises, such as standing hip adduction against an anchored band, help rebuild strength for sport-specific movements.
Knowing When to Return to Sport
Returning to full activity should be guided by specific, objective criteria rather than simply the passage of time. The most important benchmark is achieving complete pain-free status during all activities, including maximal effort movements. Objectively, strength testing should demonstrate that the injured adductor muscle has regained strength symmetry, ideally being 90% to 100% as strong as the uninjured side.
Before returning to competition, athletes should successfully progress through a series of pain-free dynamic tests. These include maximal linear sprinting, abrupt changes of direction, and sport-specific actions like kicking or rapid cutting movements. A thorough warm-up, focusing on dynamic stretching and light-load activation of the core, glutes, and adductors, must be integrated into the routine before every session. Full return to sport requires achieving full strength, confidence in the muscle’s stability, and the ability to tolerate increasing training volume without pain recurrence.