It’s only two more weeks until the Boston Marathon…if you’re lucky enough to be going, are you ready? Recently I received a message from a woman who is heading to Boston, but she had some deep pains in her groin that were potentially pulling her out of the race. If you’re a runner, you know the emotions that were going through her mind, along with the fact that she was in pain. But, I’m happy to say, we worked it out!
She had tried everything she could think of, and then she remembered that she had solved a previous problem by doing the self-treatments that she found in Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living, so she decided to see if she could find the answer again. However, it’s only two weeks to the race, so she decided to email me and see about getting a telephone consultation. It was fun going back and forth in the emails, and I was so happy to hear how my book had helped her in the past. I agreed, with such a short time until she had to leave for Boston, it would be helpful.
So, this Saturday we spoke and she had her computer on, so she could go to my favorite muscle website and look up each muscle. If you are having groin pain, take a look at the pectineus muscle and the adductor longus muscle. This was the problem!
The treatment is a bit tricky, but if you are having groin pain, it’s worthwhile looking into it. Take a ball (I love the Perfect Ball, but you can use a tennis ball too) and put it directly onto the muscle, all the way at the very top of your leg, touching your pubic bone.
Next, lie down flat on the floor, facing the floor, and move around until you can put pressure onto the ball. When you find the “hot spot,” stay still on the ball for 30 seconds, then move just a little bit to see if there are any more spasms. If you find another spasm, treat it the same way.
If you are heading for Boston, or for any other marathon, I hope you’ll be sure to add self-treating the spasms that can cause you injuries, or even knock you out of the race. It isn’t hard, it just takes a little direction, and some focused attention.
Wishing you well,
Julie