A Whole Person Approach to Groin Pain
Recognizing the Role of the Thorax, Distal Influences & Optimizing Treatment
This June 9/10, 2017, LJ will be speaking at the FSPA (Finland Sports Physiotherapy Association) Congress in Helsinki, Finland. Have a look at the FSPA Congress: Prevention – Mission Possible website to see the full program here: www.fspa-congress.com
LJ’s talk will focus on a broader framework to assess and treat groin pain – lecture description:
Current evidence for effective treatment of groin pain highlights the challenging nature of all types of groin pain – whether inguinal related, adductor related, pubic-related or hip related. It is recognized that restoring pelvic girdle, hip muscle and abdominal muscle function are important factors to address in the rehabilitation of these problems. In some cases, this approach is successful. However, in other similarly presenting cases, local treatment to the pelvis, hips and core stability exercises yield minimal results, and can sometimes cause a worsening of symptoms.
The role of more distal dysfunction in regions such as the thorax is less commonly considered, despite the thorax being the centre of trunk rotation and providing both the origin and innervation of the abdominal wall. A dysfunctional thorax can drive asymmetrical abdominal function, making it difficult to achieve symmetry and balanced rotational control no matter what the rehabilitation program. In certain subgroups of patients, effective resolution of groin pain requires specific treatment to the thorax and progressive exercises for thoracic control, rather than treatment and exercise focused to the local painful tissues.
This lecture will present evidence to support the need to recognize that distal dysfunction – in the thorax or elsewhere in the body – can be the underlying cause for non-optimal whole body movement strategies that result in exhausting the adaptive potential of multiple tissues affected in groin pain. The whole body, whole person clinical reasoning models, ConnectTherapy™ & the Thoracic Ring Approach™, will be illustrated with patient case examples and current evidence as assessment and treatment frameworks for patients with groin pain.
