Loading after grade II hip flexor tear in soccer player

Hi guys,

Been looking at the forum but can't seem to find any posts from the past years on this topic so thought I'd see if I could start a discussion.

Dealing with strains (minor and grade II tears) how quickly do you guys usually go into loading the muscle and how much pain do you allow? What type of manual therapy do you usually start with?

Previously I've been working with a healing phase where we use parts of the RICE principle (Rest, Ice and Compression) for a few days and then move on to mobility for a week or so (rough estimate). After about 2 weeks I've been putting on eccentric load and taking it from there.

Heard about some new research from Australia with I think it was PT Jack Hickey where they had started putting load on within the first few days (I believe they were testing it on hamstring injuries) and tolerating a pain level of about 4/10 (If I remember correctly). Heard it on the Physio edge podcast (episode 72 if anybody is interested).

So basically what I'm interested in is how fast do you guys progress your athletes with muscle tears, do you and if so when, add any type of manual therapy such as ART (Active Release Therapy), deep tissue work and so on?

Dealing right now with a couple of grade I and II tears in soccer players mainly and we're in mid season so there's obviously pressure on the athletes (and myself) to get them back on the field asap.

Hopefully we can get a good discussion with some input on how other PT's are approaching the rehab of muscle tears, some are really restrictive and some seem to go right into deep tissue work during the first few days.

Thoughts, ideas, stories to share? Any new interesting research to share?

Have a good one!