Pelvic pain is most commonly seen in sportspeople who participate in sports that require rapid change of direction and also pregnant women. Simplistically, the pelvis is a ring of strong bones that joins the spine to the legs that transmits force from the upper body to the lower body. Pain is often seen when there is excessive or maladaptive load being transmitted through the joints of the pelvis. Direction change and rotation through the pelvis, as in sports, puts high loads through the pelvis. Localised pain, muscle weakness and reduced movement are common symptoms of pelvic pain. Your sports or musculoskeletal physiotherapists are experts at treating and managing pelvic pain. Your management may involve taping techniques or pelvic belts (common in pregnancy related pelvic pain), soft tissue release and strengthening exercises.

SIJ Dysfunction

SIJ pain is most commonly seen in the pregnant population, however you do not have to be pregnant to develop this type of pain! The SIJs join the lower back to the pelvis. SIJ pain is often one sided and can occur if there is too much or too little movement at this joint. Symptoms of SIJ pain include difficulty standing on one leg, localised pain over the SIJ, muscle tightness and weakness. Physiotherapy management involves soft tissue work, taping or bracing (more common for pregnant women) and strengthening exercises for the muscles around the pelvis.

Athletic Related Groin Pain

Athletic related groin pain refers to pain in your pubic region or groin secondary to playing sport. This covers things like osteitis pubis, adductor tendinopathy, abdominal muscle strains, and stress fractures of the pubic bones. Physiotherapy assessment can help identify the exact cause of your pain and the things you are doing in your sport that may be causing this. Treatment of this includes modifying your load, manual therapy, using belts and braces if needed, and exercises to strengthen the groin region.

Adductor Strain

An adductor strain is where there is a disruption of muscle fibres in the adductor region (the muscles on the inside of your thigh). This usually occurs in direction changing sports, or where excessive stretch has been placed on the muscle. Typically these can take between 3-4 weeks to recover. Treatment includes manual therapy, strengthening of the adductors, and using sport-specific strengthening strategies to prevent recurrence when you return to your sport.