What Causes Adductor Tendinopathy

Adductor tendinitis or tendinopathy are among the most common groin injuries. They often result from a lot of stress placed on the adductor muscles and tendons during active sports (hockey, basketball, soccer, football, rugby, tennis) or track & field activities (running, hurdles, long jump) that involve a lot of jumping, kicking, and changing direction at various speeds while running. Individual activities (skiing, skating, karate, heavy squat weight lifting, gymnastics and horse-back riding) can also put a lot of continuous pressure on the groin, especially if they involve a sudden fall or direct hit. During vigorous activities we often load our hip joint by up to eight times our body weight. However, even everyday activities that involve twisting or lifting heavy objects while bending or running on a slippery or unstable surface (like grass) can cause adductor tendinopathy.

Adduction of the hip against forced abduction also causes adductor tendinitis or tendinopathy (when you are trying to bring your leg in towards your body, but something presses your leg away from your body), such as kicking against resistance or jumping.

Overstretching, overexertion and overuse of your adductor muscles occurs frequently especially when training competitively for the above activities, and/or swimming breaststroke (whip kick) on a regular basis. Your chances for injury are increased when you have not warmed-up and stretched properly before your activity, as your muscles aren't ready for the stress. If you are exercising or moving about in cold weather or are tired, you are putting yourself more at even more risk for adductor tendinitis or tendinopathy.

Weakness in your adductor and other hip muscles or strength differences in your adductor and/or abdominal muscles that cause a force imbalance around the pubic bones and pubic symphysis (the joint between the 2 pubic bones) can result in adductor tendinitis or tendinopathy. If your muscles are tight or inflexible, this will make your situation worse.

Other biomechanical abnormalities (alignment issues, leg length discrepancies, over pronation or supination which affect the way you walk, or incorrect sport-specific motions) can put a lot of stress on the groin and result in adductor tendinitis or tendinopathy.

Lack of exercise and obesity, age-related weaknesses and/or degeneration, genetics, previous groin injuries, and the length of time you¹ve had the condition will definitely influence the severity of your adductor tendinitis or tendinopathy.