The Pectineus
The Pectineus muscle is a flat, triangular-shaped muscle located in the inner thigh. It lies deep within the hip and upper thigh area, near the groin. This muscle plays an important role in movement and stability, but can also be a source of pain for many people. When it has trigger points, pain can radiate deep into the groin and into the hip joint making your inner thigh sore.
It’s responsible for a variety of movements, including hip flexion and adduction. This is why it’s common to experience inner thigh pain after sex or to pull an inner thigh muscle during activity.
Cause of Groin Pain
Pain in the pectineus can be caused by trauma or overuse. Symptoms may include burning or aching sensations in the inner thigh, painful intercourse, and difficulty walking. Trigger points are likely to form from tripping or falling, horseback riding, or sexual activity that requires a lot of inner thigh squeezing.
Trigger points in the pectineus will shorten your range of motion and cause groin pain when doing “thigh master like” exercises.
How to Fix Groin Pain
You would rarely have trigger points in this muscle only. The psoas muscle is a trigger point sidekick to the pectineus. Go here to see what you can do about that one.
If the pain is lasting way too long, you will need to see if you have different-length legs or a small hemipelvis and remedy those issues.
To help you feel better faster, do not sit cross-legged and when sitting your knees should never be higher than your hips. Pick a different position “in bed”. And when sleeping, lay on the side that doesn’t hurt and prop a pillow between your knees.
Exercises To Help Prevent A Pulled Inner Thigh Muscle
Bodyweight exercises such as squats, lunges, and step-ups can help activate and strengthen the pectineus. These exercises should be done slowly and with control to ensure proper form and targeting of the right muscles. Additionally, by adding weight in a backpack or by holding dumbbells during these exercises, one can further increase the intensity and challenge the pectineus even more.
Resistance training can also be used to target the pectineus. Single-leg deadlifts, hip thrusts, cable pull-throughs, and single-leg Romanian deadlifts are all effective options for strengthening this muscle group. It is important to focus on proper form when performing these exercises since incorrect form can lead to injury. Furthermore, adding extra weight or resistance bands will increase the challenge of each exercise and help build strength in the pectineus muscle quicker.
Stretching is a must too. Kyron shows you the pectineus stretch to do in the video below. Plus a bonus stretch from Michele.
So if your groin hurts after sex or if you have testicle pain (possibly even erectile dysfunction), you may have trigger points in your pectineus muscle. At-home care is the best for this muscle, but we will be able to help with assisted stretching to help relieve your discomfort at Body Ache Escape! Give us a call to schedule. 614-604-6358
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