Sharp pain in Rhomboid and Groin

[zameslee]

Hi everyone!!

I experience a sharp pain in my right rhomboid every time I deadlift (more painful during the descent) and front squat (more painful while ascending). I first started experiencing this pain when I was doing front squats with about 85kg (187 lbs). The pain was quite mild when I first felt it, but it became worse and worse with each training session. Been having this pain since last year October (8 months). The pain is about 8/10.

I also have a sharp pain in my right groin/adductor (and occasionally some pain in the right hamstring) every time i squat. Pushing my knees out causes it to hurt more as compared to letting my knees travel forward. I first got this injury when I was climbing up a flight of stairs 2 days after a very high squat volume session (when my legs were experiencing DOMS). While climbing up the stairs, I felt a very sharp and intense pain shooting through my right adductor and right hamstring. Since then, my right adductor hurts every time I squat, and this pain would last for the next few days after a squat session (it's a sharp & intense pain, so I know it's not DOMS). Been having this pain since last year December (6 months). The pain is about 6/10.

For both injuries, there was no bruising, swelling, popping or tearing. Both injuries feel like muscle strains due to overuse (though I'm not too sure). I have tried foam rolling, lacrosse ball rolling, stretching, using ice, using heat, resting 1 month for my rhomboid and resting 2 weeks for my adductor. I even went for corticosteroid injections (3 times!) where the doctor injected bufencon and rosiden (which are even more potent than hydrocortisone) into the injured areas. But all these only helped to reduce the pain temporarily.

I'm at a loss now and I'm extremely frustrated. I have not been able to have a proper training session for the past many months, and I feel that my progress and my hard work is slowly diminishing. Can anyone advice me on what to do? Thanks!

[zameslee]

Sorry for the long posts, but I have additional questions to ask. I'm currently considering to do either ART massage or PRP (platelet rich plasma) therapy for my 2 injuries. However, I heard from some of my friends that ART did not help them with their injuries. And PRP therapy is extremely expensive. I'm quite wary of trying all these treatments now, as I have spent quite a fair bit on the 3 corticosteroid injections which did not help me in the end.

I have also come across the Bill Starr rehab protocol from this forum, but before I start doing it, I would like to ask:
1) My rhomboid and groin injuries are not new injuries (injured for 8 months and 6 months respectively). Does the Starr rehab still work for injuries that have lasted for several months? Any scar tissue would have already formed during this time.
2) My groin injury is very near to the adductor tendon, can I still use the Starr rehab for this injury?
3) For the rehab protocol, how much weight should I start with, and how much weight should I increase every day? Is there a percentage that I can use? My squat 5RM is 165kg (364 lbs) and my deadlift 3RM is 195kg (430 lbs).
4) Am I supposed to feel pain while doing this rehab protocol? I find that I only start feeling my groin pain when I squat about 80kg and above, and I only start feeling my rhomboid pain when I deadlift about 100kg and above.
5) Coach Rip mentioned that "no other heavy work should be done". Does this apply only to the exercise that was chosen for the rehab protocol, or does it apply to all exercises? For example, for someone who is using the squat as the exercise for the rehab protocol, can he still train the deadlift and upper body work as per normal? Or does he have to do a deload for every exercise?
6) Can I use this rehab protocol for both my rhomboid and my groin injury at the same time? Or should I focus on rehabbing them one at a time?
7) Can I do this rehab protocol together with ART and PRP therapy (if I choose to do them)?
8) Is it mandatory to apply ice during this protocol? There is increasing research which shows that ice is not only ineffective in injury treatment, it also inhibits the healing process by interfering with the natural inflammatory response that the body creates in order to heal soft tissue injuries (10 Reasons ? Icing Injuries is Wrong | Stone Athletic Medicine).

Thanks so much for any help and once again sorry for the long posts!!

Edit: I just saw that I created this thread in the wrong category. I misread the category as "repetitive injuries" when it is actually "repetitive inquiries". Hoping this thread can be moved to the "training" category.

[zameslee]

Does anyone know how to delete a thread? I have moved this thread to the "recovery" category, since this is the wrong category for this thread. But I can't find the option to delete the thread.