Stay in the Game: 4 Physio Tips for Reducing Groin Injuries in Football

As football season approaches, it's important to take steps to prevent groin injuries. Groin injuries are common in sports that involve running, jumping, and quick direction changes. These types of movements can put a lot of strain on the adductor muscles, which run along the inner thigh and are responsible for moving the leg toward the midline of the body.

Here are 4 tips to help minimise groin injury this season:

1. Include adductor strengthening in your strength and conditioning program.

Reduced hip adductor strength is associated with an increased risk of groin injury in sport (Whitaker et al 2015). Therefore, it's important to incorporate exercises that target the adductor muscles into your strength and conditioning program. Examples of exercises that can strengthen the adductors include side-lying leg lifts, standing hip adduction with resistance bands, and adductor machine exercises.

2. Include some flexibility training targeted to the adductors or groin muscles.

Stretching is an important component of injury prevention. Including flexibility training that targets the adductors or groin muscles can help reduce the risk of injury. Examples of stretches that can help improve flexibility in the adductors include the butterfly stretch and the standing adductor stretch.

3. Include speed work with straight and curved line elements.

Gradually exposing the body to high-speed running that will be required in-season can help reduce the risk of groin injury. Incorporating speed work with straight and curved line elements into your training program can help improve your body's ability to handle these movements.

4. Perform an injury reduction warm-up program like the FIFA 11+, Touch Time, Footy First.

Warm-up programs that are specifically designed to reduce the risk of injury can be highly effective. The FIFA 11+ program, for example, is an injury reduction program that incorporates specific strengthening, motor control, and jumping/landing exercises into a structured warm-up session 2-3x weekly. The FIFA 11+ has been shown to reduce football injuries in recreational/subelite football by 39% (Harøy et al 2019). It was also shown to reduce hamstring, hip/groin, knee, and ankle injuries (60%, 41%, 48%, and 32% respectively). A meta-analysis (a statistical procedure for combining data from multiple studies) showed that injury reduction programs (like FIFA11+), can not only decrease ACL injury up to 50%, but all knee injuries by 30% (Thorborg et al 2017).

It's important to note that injury prevention/reduction is more nuanced than just completing a specific warm-up. However, incorporating the FIFA 11+ warm-up program can provide a valuable tool to help guide future directions in minimising the burden of injury in the football population.

In conclusion, preventing groin injuries requires a comprehensive approach that includes strengthening, flexibility, and speed work, as well as incorporating an injury reduction warm-up program. At our physiotherapy clinic, we can help develop a personalised injury prevention program that is tailored to your specific needs and goals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you stay injury-free this season.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse - Women’s Health Physio

Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Did you know? 

One in two women who have had a baby will experience prolapse at some stage in their life, that’s why it is so important to have an understanding of what it is and the symptoms experienced with prolapse.

What is pelvic organ prolapse? 

Pelvic organ prolapse is when one or more of the pelvic organs (bladder, uterus and bowel) slip down into the vagina causing a bulge or a heavy dragging feeling. Prolapse happens due to damage of the support structures of the pelvic floor including muscles, fascia or ligaments.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of prolapse include:

• Sensation or heaviness/dragging/buldge in the vagina

• Incomplete emptying of your bladder/bowels

• Discomfort in the lower abdomen

• Recurrent urinary tract infections

• Sexual discomfort

• Incontinence

 

Prevention and management strategies

The good news is there is lots that can be done to prevent or manage prolapse. The pelvic floor acts as a sling supporting the pelvic organs, therefore pelvic floor strength training is one of the treatment options that can prevent or help alleviate symptoms of prolapse. 

The Pelvic Floor - Women's Health Physio Sutherland

How much do you know about your pelvic floor?

Recent studies have shown that 20% of women asked to contract their pelvic floor are actually contracting the wrong muscles.

Your Pelvic floor is a group of muscles and fascia which run from the front to the back of your pelvis. These muscles provide support to the bladder, uterus and bowel. 

These muscles need to be able to cope with the growing of your uterus (and baby) during pregnancy. They also need to be able to stretch significantly during labour to allow for the birth of your baby.

Postnatally, the pelvic floor muscles need to be strong enough to be able to return to normal function of supporting your organs in daily activities and with time, strong enough to return to more strenuous activities such has running.  

Need to talk to someone about your pelvic floor? 

Providing Sutherland Shire NDIS clients with physiotherapy and exercise physiology services

Flow Physio Co Sutherland is an NDIS Registered Provider for physiotherapy and exercise physiology services and is now taking new bookings!

Flow Physio Co is proud to announce that we are an approved and registered provider of Physiotherapy and Exercise Physiology Services under the NDIS and look forward to servicing the Sutherland Shire's NDIS clients.

For more information regarding the NDIS, please visit the NDIS website.

For more information, please feel free to contact us in the clinic.