Adductor Injury Rehab Help

[bmanCO]

I've attempted to gather as much information as I could from older threads, but I'd like to get a clearer idea of exactly what I should be doing to properly rehab what I think is an adductor injury. I'm a 22 year old male who's been doing Starting Strength for approximately two months now. About a month ago, while squatting, I started to notice some significant discomfort in my upper inner thigh on the right side where the leg connects to the pelvis. I feel it at the very bottom of the squat, especially when driving up, and the pain gets worse the longer I squat in a given workout. Being stupid and inexperienced I decided to push through it, but it got worse over the course of a week and eventually became a sharp pain that was preventing me from completing sets.

I took a week off of squatting and then tried to go heavy again, but I stupidly ended up exacerbating it further. I proceeded to not squat for two weeks, then over the course of the last week I started to do some very light sets for high reps to try and increase bloodflow (but only on workout days, so I wasn't following the Starr protocol), which felt fine, and didn't cause any pain. I also starting foam rolling my adductors, glutes and IT band after every workout. I decided to test the waters with some heavier weights yesterday, but the pain is definitely still there.

The pain only bothers me when squatting now, typically, though I also feel it if I stretch the area (e.g with a butterfly stretch). When I stupidly exacerbated it the first time there was a bit too much pain to do deadlifts and cleans, but now I can do those without any issues. Now I seriously want to commit to rehabbing this so it doesn't become a nagging issue. It seems to me like my injury might be some sort of tendon injury, as it's localized right where my inner thigh meets the pelvis. If the information I've gathered is correct, a tendon issue would rule out the Starr protocol as a useful approach (on top of the fact that it's been a month since the injury first occurred). What do you think my best options are for rehab? Thanks a lot.

[madmaxaus]

Well you don't really know if it's a tendon issue or not, besides muscles are tendons.

You say you have no pain with light weights, I suggest so the Starr protocol. Then start again light and work your way up.

[boot29342342]

I would disagree with Mad Max here on the tendon vs. muscle issue. If you do indeed have a tendon tear, even a partial one, then you should not stretch that area. After the initial new collagen tissue has been laid down, tendons rupture really easily, and if you do this repeatedly, you will end up with nasty scar tissue, which is both inflexible and tear-prone. So don't stretch it, please. I wouldn't foam roll it too aggressively, either, as it would be hard to get to that part of your leg without stretching the muscle in the process. (This is your inner upper thigh we're talking about, right?)

Anyway, I think we need a bit more information. How much did you increase the weight between your light high rep phase and when it started hurting again? Was the increase sudden, that is, as soon as it stopped hurting, or did you build up gradually as in the Starr protocol?