Expert: Dr. Paul Newhart - 9/29/2010

Question
Hello,

First a bit of background:
I'm 22 and have played hockey all my life without any muscle strains. Feb 2010 I strained my left groin for the first time. It "healed" in 2 weeks, I played fine, then strained it again 2 weeks later. Then, it "healed" in 2 weeks, played an entire hockey tournament (5 games in 3 days) with zero pain, then 1 week after this I strain it again doing some light skating.

This last time was May 2010... but unlike the first 2 incidents, my groin hasn't showed any significant sign of healing and its been about 5 months. I did 5 sessions of physical therapy which didn't seem to do anything. Now I have pain in my right hamstring and calf... simply from walking.

My guess is that there is some misalignment in my hips because of my original groin injury. My question is to what extent can chiropractic work help me? I understand I can get my hips/spine adjusted... but will this do anything in helping my groin heal?

Also I had a consultation at a local chiropractor and he used some tool on the back of my neck to measure nerve irritation or something. I was about 4.5 on a scale of 0 to 6 (6 being worst). Could you shed some light on this as well?

Thanks for taking the time to read this
-Chad  

Answer
Chiropractic can definitely help.  Without an exam it is difficult to give you an exact cause, but, from your description, it sounds as if there is a strain to the Psoas and Iliacus muscles.  The attach to the spine and pelvis respectively, and travel through the groin, to the upper leg.  When they are irritated, they can and will cause irritation at the spine.  Having the spine aligned, as well as addressing these muscles will give you a good turnaround time.
The device you had used on your neck was probably a neurocalometer.  This will measure temperature differentials across the spine.  A differential may mean nerve irritation