Adductor Strain: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
Adductor strains are common injuries that primarily affect athletes and are caused by sudden movements or overuse of the inner thigh muscles. In this article, you’ll learn how to recognize the symptoms, what immediate steps to take, and what you can do to get back in shape quickly.
The key takeaways
- An adductor strain is an overstretching of the muscles on the inner thigh and often occurs during sudden movements or intense physical activity.
- Typical symptoms include a pulling or sharp pain in the inner thigh or groin.
- If you have acute symptoms, you should initially stop exercising and avoid painful movements.
- Targeted mobility and strengthening exercises can help you gradually reload the adductors.
- Regular strength training, good mobility and a controlled increase in training load can help prevent another adductor strain.
Adductors and Their Role in the Body
The adductors are a group of muscles on the inner thigh consisting of six muscles. The term “adductors” generally refers to the muscles of the hip and inner thigh that are responsible for bringing the leg toward the body’s longitudinal axis at the hip joint. Functionally, the adductor group is classified as part of the hip musculature, but in principle, it belongs to the thigh musculature.
The adductors play a crucial role in stabilizing the pelvis. They help maintain balance and ensure an upright posture when standing and walking. In addition, they are primarily responsible for coordinating movements that require precise control, such as crossing the legs or changing direction while walking.
In sports such as soccer, tennis, and hockey, the adductors are essential for lateral movements and shooting a ball. They enable the powerful and precise movements required for athletic performance. Strong adductors also help prevent injuries by stabilizing the pelvis and legs.
A well-trained group of adductor muscles can reduce the risk of strains and muscle tears. In everyday life, the adductors help us dodge obstacles, climb stairs, and lift objects. They are important for movements that require lateral stability. The longest and strongest adductor muscle even extends all the way to the knee.
The adductor muscles include:
- Pectineus muscle
- Gracilis muscle
- Adductor longus
- Adductor brevis
- Musculus adductor magnus and
- Musculus adductor minimus
The most common injuries to the adductors include not only strains but also muscle fiber tears, groin strains, and inflammation.
By the way: You’ve probably heard of the abductors as well. Unlike the adductors, the abductor muscles are responsible for all movements that move the limbs away from the body. These are therefore muscle groups with opposing functions in the body.
Causes and Symptoms
An adductor strain results from overuse or overstretching of the inner thigh muscles. In most cases, this type of strain is caused by a sudden sideways movement or a lunge.
There is an increased risk of an inner thigh strain, particularly in sports that require athletes to make frequent changes in pace or perform abrupt counter-movements and side steps while running—such as field hockey, ice hockey, tennis, and soccer—or during sudden acceleration in sprints. Long-distance running can also place excessive strain on the adductors, as can sudden changes in direction during trail running, cross-country running, or in competitions. In approximately 64–69 percent of all acute groin injuries among soccer players, the hip adductors are affected.
But even in everyday life, people can suffer an adductor strain when making a quick change of direction—such as when dodging an obstacle or unexpectedly slipping on the street due to mud, snow, or black ice.
The main symptoms of an adductor strain include acute, pulling pain on the inner thigh or in the pubic bone and groin regions. These symptoms occur particularly when rotating, drawing in, or abducting the leg and can severely limit mobility.
Other symptoms of an adductor strain include mild to severe swelling or bruising, difficulty and pain when moving the leg, and stiffness in the affected area.
Provided that those affected take the proper steps, an adductor strain usually heals within two to four weeks.
Diagnosis of an adductor strain
Pain in the adductors can sometimes be very difficult to distinguish from other conditions that may also occur in this area of the body. It is often mistaken for pubic bone inflammation, but also for groin pain, such as that caused by a groin strain or a sports hernia. Unlike an adductor strain, which affects the muscles on the inner thigh, a groin strain generally refers to strains in the groin area that can also involve other muscles and structures.
Therefore, only a specialist can make an accurate diagnosis. As part of a medical history, an orthopedic surgeon will first ask the patient about the circumstances of the injury, the symptoms, and their athletic activities.
During the physical examination, the doctor will palpate the adductors to identify tender points, assess the range of motion and strength of the adductors through various exercises and tests, and examine the affected area for swelling, redness, and bruising.
Imaging techniques such as ultrasound and MRI can better visualize fluid buildup and muscle injuries . This allows a doctor to assess the severity of the strain and rule out other injuries.
Groin strain: symptoms and how it differs from an adductor strain
Typical symptoms of a groin strain include pulling or sharp pain in the groin, particularly during quick movements, changes of direction or when lifting the leg. Unlike an adductor strain, which affects the muscles of the inner thigh, a groin strain can involve various muscles and structures in the groin area.
Groin strain – what should you do?
If you have a groin strain, you should initially stop exercising and avoid painful movements. Once the symptoms begin to ease, you can gradually increase the load again. If the groin pain is severe or persistent, you should have the cause assessed by a healthcare professional.
Our products for targeted prevention and recovery for your adductors.
First-aid measures for adductor strains
In recent years, there have been several follow-up treatment protocols for soft tissue injuries with the acronyms ICE, RICE, PECH, or POLICE. However, the most current and modern approach here is PEACE & LOVE. This evidence-based approach to post-treatment covers both the acute phase and the days that follow. PEACE stands for the acute phase and stands for Protection, Elevation, Avoid Anti-Inflammatory, Compression, and Education. Protection means reducing strain and avoiding painful movements, but not complete inactivity. Elevation involves keeping the affected area elevated above heart level. It also involves avoiding anti-inflammatory medications so as not to negatively impact the body’s self-regulation. Compression using bandages can minimize swelling, and education focuses primarily on explaining the nature of the injury and the optimal post-treatment care.
After a few days, LOVE comes into play, standing for Load, Optimism, Vascularization, and Exercise. Load refers to applying a gentle load to the affected area. Proper load management is crucial here. The patient should also maintain a positive outlook. Gentle cardiovascular training improves metabolism in the affected area and can contribute to better healing, while targeted exercises in exercise therapy improve function step by step. Pain and other signs of inflammation must always be monitored.
Regardless of this framework, it is always advisable to collaborate with physicians and experts in the fields of physical therapy, exercise therapy, and nutrition to ensure a structured and goal-oriented approach.
(Source: Dubois B, Esculier J-F (2020) Br J Sports Med)
Fascia Roller Massage
After acute treatment and once the pain has subsided, you can boost your blood circulation using heat or a fascia roller massage to stimulate the supply of nutrients to the tissue. We recommend the following exercises, which you can perform using the STANDARD fascia roller from BLACKROLL:
- Massage of the back of the thighs: While sitting, place both thighs on the BLACKROLL. Support yourself with your hands behind your back. Lift your buttocks. Slowly roll out the back of your thighs.
Activating the inner thighs: Start in a prone position. Support yourself on your forearms. Bend one knee to a 90-degree angle. Place the BLACKROLL under your thigh. Roll your thigh quickly from the hip to the knee.
You can find more foam rolling exercises like these on our website.
More BLACKROLL exercises for you
Rehabilitation with Physical Therapy & Exercise Therapy
Ask your doctor for a prescription for physical therapy so you can receive the best rehabilitation for your needs. Your doctor can show you personalized exercises to help you gradually reintroduce the muscle to physical stress and slowly increase the intensity, as well as provide additional tips on how to quickly regain your full athletic performance.
The goal of medical exercise therapy is also to strengthen the affected area so that it can better withstand future stress and prevent the strain from recurring.
More Stretching Exercises
Return to Sports and Training, and Prevention
If you want to resume your training after an adductor strain, you should start with light activities that don’t put too much strain on the adductors, gradually increase the intensity, and listen to your body’s signals.
A thorough warm-up before exercise prepares your muscles for the upcoming strain, and regular mobility exercises (see examples above) make your muscles less prone to injury.
Also, incorporate strengthening exercises for the adductors into your workout and gradually increase the resistance. However, reduce the intensity of your workout immediately if you feel any pain. An optimal return to sports and training also involves scheduling enough rest days to give your muscles time to recover.
FAQ
Typical signs of an adductor strain include sudden pulling or sharp pain in the inner thigh or groin. The pain often becomes worse when contracting or stretching the adductor muscles.
A strain affects muscles or tendons and often causes pain that worsens with movement. With an inguinal hernia, tissue pushes through a weak point in the abdominal wall, which may cause a visible or palpable bulge in the groin. A definitive diagnosis should be made by a healthcare professional.
How long an adductor strain takes to heal depends on the severity of the injury and your individual capacity for physical load. Mild strains may resolve within a few weeks, while more severe injuries may require a longer period of rehabilitation.
You should seek medical advice if you have severe pain, significant swelling or bruising, or symptoms that persist or worsen. You should also see a healthcare professional if you can barely put weight on the affected leg or if the cause of your groin pain is unclear.
Gradually increase your training load and only return to high-intensity movements once everyday activities and sport-specific movements can be performed without pain. Sprints and rapid changes of direction in particular should be reintroduced gradually and in a controlled manner.
Regular strength training for the adductors and surrounding muscles, combined with a gradual increase in training load, can help reduce the risk of injury. In sports involving rapid changes of direction, the adductors should be specifically prepared for these demands.
Also interesting
Sources
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Harøy, J., Clarsen, B., Wiger, E. G., Øyen, M. G., Serner, A., Thorborg, K., Hölmich, P., Andersen, T. E., & Bahr, R. (2019). The Adductor Strengthening Programme prevents groin problems among male football players: A cluster-randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(3), 150–157. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-098937
Harøy, J., Thorborg, K., Serner, A., Bjørkheim, A., Rolstad, L. E., Hölmich, P., & Bahr, R. (2017). Including the Copenhagen Adduction Exercise in the FIFA 11+ provides missing eccentric hip adduction strength effect in male soccer players: A randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 45(13), 3052–3059. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546517720194
Serner, A., Weir, A., Tol, J. L., Thorborg, K., Lanzinger, S., Otten, R., & Hölmich, P. (2020). Return to sport after criteria-based rehabilitation of acute adductor injuries in male athletes: A prospective cohort study. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 8(1), 2325967119897247. https://doi.org/10.1177/2325967119897247
Thorborg, K. (2023). Current clinical concepts: Exercise and load management of adductor strains, adductor ruptures, and long-standing adductor-related groin pain. Journal of Athletic Training, 58(7–8), 589–601. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-0496.21