What is a soft bar?
The groin region is located at the transition from the lateral abdominal area to the thighs, i.e. at the connecting line between the upper iliac crest and the pubic bone. The soft groin is also known as the sports groin and includes several symptoms of different causes. Generally, it is a long lasting pain after exertion in the groin area due to a weakness of the connective tissue, hence the name soft groin. You can find more general information on this topic on our groin page.
Causes of a soft bar
A soft groin or sportsman’s groin occurs mainly in team sports, primarily soccer. Sometimes a soft groin is also called adductor strain, whereby the adductors are a muscle group of the inner thigh muscles. These adductors originate in the region of the groin and can therefore cause pain in the groin if pulled.
Strictly speaking, however, an adductor strain is not a soft groin. However, since the soft groin and the sportsman’s groin are used as synonyms and sportsmen and women can easily develop adductor strain, the resulting pain in the groin region is often counted as part of the sportsman’s groin. In fact, however, a soft groin is actually a weakness of the connective tissue.
Nevertheless, an adductor strain can be the cause of a soft groin. At the very least, an adductor strain can cause connective tissue to be damaged by the strain, which favors a soft groin. The decisive factor, however, is the structure of the inguinal canal, which is located in the inguinal region.
In men, this channel contains the spermatic cord (funiculus spermaticus). In both sexes, the inguinal canal also contains blood vessels (arteries and veins), lymph vessels and various nerves, such as the genital ramus of the genitofemoral nerve. All these structures are secured by the inguinal canal so that they cannot be constricted.
However, if the above-mentioned connective tissue weakness occurs, the channel may not remain stable. The reason for this is the limitation of the inguinal canal. The bottom of the inguinal canal is formed by a band, the inguinal ligament.
The front wall is formed by the aponeurosis of an abdominal muscle (Musculus obliqus externus). The posterior wall is formed by a fascia, the fascia transversalia. The roof of the inguinal canal, on the other hand, is only separated from the abdominal muscles above by connective tissue.
If connective tissue weakness occurs here, it is possible that too much pressure from the abdominal area will act on the groin and the inguinal canal. The name soft groin comes from the “soft” connective tissue that is no longer able to compensate for the pressure in the abdominal cavity that arises when kicking a soccer, for example. If a shot suddenly causes strong muscle tension in the abdomen and thus increased pressure on the inguinal canal, a soft groin can result.
The problem is that the muscle-free tissue now presses on the inguinal canal and constricts it. The nerves and blood vessels contained in it are constricted and this causes severe pain. The cause of the severe pain in the soft groin is therefore a pressure load on the nerves (ilioinguinalis, iliohypogastricus and genitofemoralis) of the inguinal canal.
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