A Brief Introduction of Groin Pain Treatment | 浅谈腹股沟痛的治疗
Groin pain is not a frequent condition I see in my clinic. In the past year there were no more than five cases. This condition is not frequent but it does happen. However, there are many patients do not know how and where to seek treatment of this condition. Therefore, I would like to share with you some experience of groin pain treatment.
The most recent case was a young girl. Being only first year in university, she had been suffering from groin pain for more than seven years. She could not sleep well because the pain was making her legs not comfortable in any position. This pain was also related to her years of professional dance training, which had left muscle and ligament injuries in many spots. Besides groin pain, she also had lower back pain, and slight lateral curved spine (scoliosis) for years. The muscle on the right side of her spine was tensed and bulged. The second and third lumbar vertebrae was noticeably bulged and with pressing pain. There were no other nerve related symptoms. After checking her, I concluded that this patient’s lower back pain, back injury, muscle and ligament injuries together caused the pain. In words of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we would say the problem is “weak liver and kidney”. Therefore I planned treatment specific for her. After the first session, her pain was much released, and largely disappeared after the third session. Now she is receiving further treatment to completely clear the problem.
Another case was a Brazilian lady, an outstanding scholar and a counselor to the government. Therefore her work involved very long time sitting down in front of a desk. For years, lower back pain and groin pain had been chronic. Sometimes she would have difficulty walking, and sometimes she would have excessive groin pain especially after sitting for a long time that make walking very hard for her. Then she would need to stand up and move slowly for a while before she can walk. Many doctors concluded her problem as hip joint arthritis on the left side of lower back vertebrae. I treated her arthritis with acupuncture and her pain was relieved quickly.
Next, I would like to share my experience treating this problem:
1. Most of the time I would choose acupuncture to heal the problem;
2. If there are pain or other problems on the lower back, treatment must be applied at both the lower back and the groin area together;
3. When choosing acupuncture points, the distant points are very important. Groin is the place where the liver meridian is passing, so points on the liver meridian are crucial. I usually use the Ququan, Zhongfeng and Shangqiu points on the liver meridian.
（Ququan Point）
(Zhongfeng Point)
(Shangqiu Point)
The cause of groin pain can be various. For example, pelvic inflammatory disease and anteversion of uterus for women, varicocele for men, as well as hernia, femoral neuritis, piriformis syndrome, lumbar disc herniation, hip arthritis would all cause groin pain. No matter what is the cause acupuncture can have good effects as long as the right points are chosen.
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腹股沟痛的病人在我的临床诊疗重只占一小部分，从去年到现在也不过五例。虽然不多，也不能说不常见。直到最近有一个年轻的女孩因为多年的腹股沟痛困扰来求治，我才想起写一篇文章来分享一下治疗此症的一些体会，因为好多病人不知去哪里治疗及怎么治疗。
先从最近的这个病例开始。这位女孩才大学一年级，但是她腹股沟痛已经有七八年了，晚上睡眠受到严重影响——腿放在任何地方都不舒适。这跟她多年的专业舞蹈练习有关。多年的舞蹈练习，造成多处肌肉和韧带的损伤。现在，除了腹股沟痛外，腰痛也有多年，并且伴有轻度脊柱侧弯。腰部脊柱右侧肌肉紧张、隆起。在第二、三腰椎右侧横突部有明显肿胀并伴随压痛。没有任何神经系统的症状。在检查过后，我认为这位病患的腰椎痛及腰部损伤，和局部的韧带损伤共同造成了现在问题。中医诊断把原因归类为“肝肾不足”。病人接受第一次治疗后，她腹股沟的疼痛和腰痛都明显好转了。在第三次治疗后，腹股沟的疼痛就基本消失了，现在在巩固治疗中。
第二个病例，是一位从巴西移民来的女士。她是一位出色的学者，也是政府的高级顾问。 因此，她的文案工作特别多，加上长期坐着工作，腰痛和腹股沟痛的问题也困扰她多年。走路有时会困难，尤其在久坐之后，站起来是腹股沟更为疼痛难忍，以致难以迈步，必须站立活动一会儿之后才能行走。她的问题，多位医生诊断为腰椎脊柱左侧髋关节炎。在针灸治疗关节炎后，症状迅速缓解。
下面，我分享一下我治疗此症的经验：
1.首先大多数情况下我都会使用针灸来治疗此症；
2.如果腰部有痛点或其他症状，一定要给腰部和腹股沟同时进行治疗；
3.在取穴时，远断取穴很重要。因为腹股沟是肝经经过的地方，所以肝经的穴位很重要。我经常取肝经的合穴曲泉穴、中封穴和商丘穴。
（曲泉穴）
（中封穴）
（商丘穴）
很多原因可以引起腹股沟痛。如女性的盆腔炎，子宫位置前倾，男性的精囊静脉曲张，疝气， 股神经炎，梨状肌综合症，腰椎间盘突出症，髋关节炎等。但不管什么原因，中医的针灸治疗是经络的治疗---只要找好穴位，都会有很好的疗效。
希望这篇文章对于长期受腹股沟痛困扰的病人一点帮助。
