The adductor muscle manipulation in athletes with groin pain

What is the adductor manipulation?

The adductor manipulation is a muscle manipulation, usually applied manually by a therapist or doctor. It is an effective treatment method for athletes with sports-related groin pain when the adductors are involved. This technique was once developed by Jan Kleinpenning, a football caretaker from Almelo (The Netherlands) and is a derivative of the Van den Akker method.

The athlete with adductor-related groin pain

If you experience groin problems like pain and stiffness on the inside of the thigh up to the pubic bone, which are provoked when squeezing your knees together (so-called adductor-related groin pain), this can be treated using this specific technique. This treatment then ensures that the injury can recover faster and sports become possible again faster.

Via the video below  (almost 30 million views!) you can see how this technique is performed.

How does it work?

Decreased flexibility of the hip and groin muscles is a risk factor for developing groin injuries and also causes the injury to resolve slowly or not at all.
The treatment ensures that the tension in the adductor muscles decreases, their flexibility increases and the pain is reduced. In the short term, this can reduce your complaints so that you can get back on the football field faster.

The results

We investigated this technique in football players with adductor-related groin problems. Of all players, 75% of football players experience a reduction in pain and an improvement in flexibility of hip and adductor muscles immediately after treatment. Of all football players, 80% were able to start playing on the football pitch again within 2 weeks. After 12 weeks this increased further to 90%. You will do some stretching exercises afterwards and then progress your athletic activity.
The treatment is given within our clinic by physiotherapists specialized in hip and groin problems. During a consultation, we will examine together whether specific additional exercises are useful for you.

Research

Studies of our group and colleagues on the benefits of adductor manipulation in athletes with hip and groin pain can be found at: