Soccer Injury - Please Help

Hi everyone,

First of all thanks for viewing. Well i am a 15 year old boy well 16 this year.
Recently like 1 and a half months ago i injured my right leg while playing soccer. it was a free kick and i think i gave it too much power and heard like a pulling or a snapping sensation, went to the doctor and he said it was a tear or a pull and told me to just rest and so i did . a month or so later i felt no pain and began jogging,few days later back to playin soccer and it went well for like 30 minutes until i passed the ball to the left from the right flank (with my right foot) and heard like a minor pull sound and it hurt and like sorta burns and couldnt walk properly till i got home and put some ice on it. and now 2 weeks later , i can walk perfectly fine without pain and even jog , but if i twist my right leg to the left then it hurts a little. im guessin by what i saw on google its the illiacus or some abductor muscle . and im friggin desperate to get on the pitch again. any thoughts of treatment to get me there anytime soon??

would really appreciate replies.
Thanks,
Riz.

Hi, I guess you just need some relaxing exercises. Try to enroll in a program that gives prescribed exercises concentrating on your right leg. Just sharing..

Hi eshuro, thank you for replying. Well i am going to see a physio doctor tomorrow but i also came across this on youtube. cant really give out the url but just type in "groin rehab" its the first video. Do you think that will work on the side? or did you have something else in mind you would like to share.

Ok, I found out what happened to my leg - see attached image

The orthopedic doc said it's healed and I should return slowly back to playing soccer, but i dont quite understand because i don't want to re-injure it all over again or make it worst. He also said it will hurt a little cause it will take time for it to adapt to the new bone. What do you guys think? Maybe could give me a schedule or something.

Hi,,,,

Thats an impressive X-ray! The medical term for your injury is an Apophyseal Avulsion Fracture of your Anterior Inferior Iliac Spine (AIIS). This is a result of one of your Quadriceps Muscles (called rectus femoris) pulling excessively on the bone.

You should be able to return to full sporting activity 6-8 weeks since the inury but do avoid excessive straining of the injury for at least 4 weeks.If you are still having some discomfort i would do a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises for your rectus femoris. Try lying on your front and pulling your heel towards up towards you. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and repeat 3 times, do this three times a day. Also some straight leg raise exercises may help strenghthen it, lying on your back lift your heel about 20cm of the floor and hold for a bout 10-20 seconds, repeat 3 times a day.

In terms of a schedule for returning to sport it would be unsafe to give you an exact time to follow incase you over did it, however a phased return would be my recommendation, just go out and kick a ball gently and build up the amount you can comfortably do each week whilst trying the exercises mentioned above.

Let me know how you get on. Tom

Will do , thanks Rambo21. Will let you know how i do =):)

I would take a slightly slower approach. Not sure why you would have suffered this injury in the first place. Perhaps a thorough checkup from your GP is necessary. Full blood tests etc. Also a dietary analysis. Have you recently undergone a large growth spurt or put on a lot of muscle in a short time?

It is important to let this thing heal well, and heal now! Especially if you wish to continue to play football as a good standard. I would have it further investigated on review perhaps via MR1 is possible. You need to demonstrate good union or you'll just tear it off again. 4-6- weeks is for basic fracture knitting and the beginning or ossification. 12 months is close to the time for full strength. So don't rush it and get good sports physio advice.

I would not over stretch it and also I would NOT do straight leg raises at this stage as they are pretty darn tough on that insertion. Movements though range would be ok, cycling, swimming, even some kicking of a ball gently against a wall or to another person to regain confidence in the movement. Also start strengthening other areas that might have been week due to overactive quads, e.g. you inner thigh (adductors) and hamstrings. Let us know how you get on.

Here's a bit more general info:

Avulsion Fractures of the Pelvis

· Avulsion fractures result when the fracture fragment is pulled from its parent bone by forceful contraction of a tendon or ligament

· Avulsion fractures are most common in younger individuals engaging in athletic endeavors

· In the pelvis, the newly formed secondary centers of ossification, the apophyses, are the most likely portions of the bone to avulse

· Since the apophyses tend to form at the time of puberty, most of these pelvic avulsions occur at the time of puberty

· In general, they are uncommon injuries, seen almost exclusively in adolescent athletes with a 2:1 male to female preponderance

· They occur most often in track events like hurdling and sprinting, or games like soccer or tennis

· Most common to avulse is the ischial tuberosity followed by anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS) and the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) about equally

Hi physiobob,

I guess im at the quick growing phase now as im 16. Im getting taller by the day so it seems .Anyway , about the straight leg exercises its not difficult to do at all as i used to do it last time so dont know if that will be a concern. Also, the orthopedic said that i need not to even go for physio.He only mentioned to give it some time and "slowly" get back into it ,whatever that means.lol. I am trying the stretches and it looks good so far. Well, can you tell me what to do exactly since you are a physio yourself, as i am only a kid and dont know much about this type of things because i wanna do it right and not to injure it again.It has to be the worst part of my life now as i am going through all of this. (cant join the school team for my pre-senior year ):mad:

Suggest working in your passing techniques for now. Learn to push the ball with force rather than 'walking' the ball. This will get the whole quads and inner thighs working together to create a stronger movement.

Contact speed/force as your foot hits the ball perhaps depends as much on hamstring strength just before that contact (in opposition to the speed of the quads). This is true in most movements, the muscles on the opposite site (antagonists) work to slow down the prime movers e.g. quads, on the way to kicking the ball in order to protect the knee joint from hyper-extending. The stronger the hamstrings are in that activity of slowing down the quads speed the later in the range they can kick in. Therefore you would end up with more speed/force at ball strike for the same initial force generated by the quads.

In return the above means you can put less quads force into a kick with strong eccentric hamstring strength and get the same result. This is also very applicable to sports like golf where ball contact speed is important (and so is protection of the back). Ask your coach for activities for work on your passing and build your skiils for a biut during this growth phase. The coach will understand.

Hmmm.. thats a much easier for me to understand ;).Thanks Physiobob. I will start the stretches and try to pass the ball outside my house everyday . Hopefully i will get better in time.On the same time i would like to get Bigger/bulky-er cause im kinda skinny and growing tall FAST. hehe so ive been eating alot these past few weeks but i dont seem to gain any weight. Probably cause im doing alot of endurance training? Im also drinking milk everyday just to get my bones stronger again. I was also wondering are those protein powder thingy any good or will it just mess up my whole body. dont know if i should even lift anything cause i heard it will only make me shorter . is that true?Got any tips? :P thanks TruckLoads!

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