Athletic Pubalgia

I enjoyed your article on sports hernias. I have been diagnosed with one but I can not find a doctor to treat it. I have been suffering for over a year! If anyone knows a doctor in the Nashville, Tn area or S.E. please email me.

Mike, I just came back from a surgery consult and the Doc said the very best in the country is Dr William C Meyers…out of the Philly area.

i had surgery for a sports hernia about 3 yrs ago…done by Dr. Meyers in Philly. took about 1 yr to heal 100%, but then again i was 43 when i had the surgery

My son had surgery with Dr. Meyers in Philadelphia. It took about 7 months before he was fully healed. It was worth the trip from Indianapolis to have him healthy again!

Hello. I’m going to see Dr. Meyers soon as I’ve been told I have a sports injury. I’m a soccer player. I occasionally vomit when the pain is bad and I’m exercising….did any of you experience vomiting with sports hernias? Thank you.

My pain is in the left groin. It bothers me quite often when I’m standing on my left and moving my right leg all around. Does this sound familiar with you pains?

There is another doctor in central NJ who performs the surgery, Dr. Boyarsky. He is a very good surgeon who performs some very complicated surgeries. Dr. Meyers does both sides, regardless of whether the other side needs to be done, and also cuts through tendons, which will take longer to recover. Boyarsky knows exactly what to look for to find the tears, by having you strain your stomach muscles during an ultra sound-it won’t show at rest. He’s also performed a ton of these with success, so he’s also an option and worth a try.

I’m a ballet dancer and I was diagnosed with a Sports Hernia by a doctor named William Brown in Palo Alto, CA (http://www.sportshernia.com/) back in June. He said I had two small tears on the left and right side of my internal obliques (lower abdomen). It seems like it started by my pulling my aductor longus (back in March), which caused my internal obliques to work overtime to compensate. I started feeling a slight discomfort in my lower abdomen in April (a few weeks after I pulled my groin). I should have immediately started resting it then, but I kept dancing with the discomfort until I started feeling more intense pain in mid-May. I finished some performances in May with quite a bit of pain and a lower level of performance and then I saw Dr. Brown about 3 weeks later.

He said I had a 50% chance of the muscles reconnecting with scar tissue and returning to normal fuction if I rested for at least 6 wore weeks and then slowly returned to my activity. If not, I would need surgery. I completely rested for 8 weeks and the pain got much better, but not completely.

Then I saw a doctor named Dr. Luftman at Kaiser Permanente in LA. He claimed that physical therapy to increase core strength would help me recover without surgery. His physical therapist encouraged me to do abdominal excercises in the range that is not painfull for me (with my legs in front of my torso) and to slowly work my way into the range that is painful right now (with my legs behind my torso), which will supposedly cease to be painful by that time I work my way up to it.

The whole thing is confusing. One doctor will make money if I have surgery and the other will make money if I regularly go to PT. Meanwhile I’m going broke trying to treat this condition that has kept me out of work for over 3 months. I’m doing the PT and I’m gradually starting to dance again. I feel pain in certain movements and no pain in many others. It’s a very strange condition. I hope I don’t need surgery.

Are there any other BALLET DANCERS with this condition reading this??? Please share!

In response to Matt. Dr. William Meyers does NOT do both sides on all people. I had a unilateral tear of the RA and adductors. Right side only. Meyers is the inventor of the surgery and the best. He also has the best MRI that detects and shows tears. i had multiple negative MRI’s locally that showed nothing.

Do not let anyone operate on you with mesh for this injury. It will give way again in a couple years except it will have a boatload of scar tissue to complicate things even more.

My husband had surgery to repair a sports hernia in December 2007 and has since returned full force to endurance sports – specifically, triathlon. He had surgery in Milwaukee by Dr. Richard Cattey. He is thrilled with the results.

Hi is that the same Paul that was at Dr Meyers on 11/18 that drove 5 hrs from CT. If it is how did you make out? I had talked to you in the waiting room I was with my dad. Well anyway. Dr Meyers couldn’t really see anything in my MRI But he felt that their was something their so he went at it as an exporitory with possible fix. When I woke up he told me that he was very surprised, Their was a very large tear and I also had a hole lower I guess towards the pelvic floor. I don’t know why it didn’t show up maybe because I have a tipped uterus I don’t know but I am glad Dr. Meyers went with his gut and fixed it. Also he only did my right side not both. As far as my research Dr Meyers seems to be the best. It will be two weeks this Wed since I had my surgery my original pain is gone I do have pain from the surgery but not horrible anymore. First few days were rough. How long did it take everyone else to feel somewhat normal?

Hi Pattie-

Yes that is me. Wow…many times it does not show up on the old MRI’s but i was told this one was close to 95% on detection. I am doing great. The AP is almost 100% healed now. I was back for my 6 month check up and he just saw minimal scar tissue on my adductor but it is not painful. You will feel better and better. I am now 7 months and i have no pain at all.

can someone , in lay terms, describe what dr. Meyers does in the surgery?

In response to the ballet dancer Stephen. If you have pain after you rest ~ 3 months – you probably need to have surgery done. Otherwise, you’d possibly need to deal with the pain. I also have a tear in one of the oblique muscles, but what I am doing is:
1. Rest
2. Shots: steroids with novocaine; several shots are needed.
3. No PT because it may not cure the problem at all – too risky; Instead, I will resume such sports activities as light biking in gym and swimming
4. Overall, would need to wait for ~3 months and see how it goes
5. If it will look OK will go back to the normal sport activities
Btw, Dr. Brown fixed sports hernia to SJ Sharks goalie. Hockey goalies are very sensitive to any groin injuries due to nature of their job.

I live in Arizona and am looking for a Sports Hernia specialist that can confirm the initial diagnosis of a SH. After searching the Blogosphere it seems to be critical to see the right Doctor with specialized knowledge of this area.

Any personal recommendations for Arizona, Northern or Southern California?

Hi Paul me again, sorry I haven’t checked back sooner. I am glad you are doing well. I am not so lucky I am back to the original pain. I can’t bend over at all without stabbing pain. I had surgery on my foot years ago and had a problem healing so they went back in a second time to take the screws out anyway the Dr said he couldn’t believe how much scar tissue I had and it was like cutting through bone the assisting nurse thought it was bone. Long story short I wonder if scar tissue could cause that much pain. I know I have to go back to Dr M. but I am just holding off as long as I can. Not looking foward to another surgery if you know what I mean. Up to three weeks after the surgery my anitial pain was gone, that’s what leaves me to believe that it’s scar tissue. Well you seemed very knoledegable about the whole thing let me know if you have any thoughts. You can email me at gpmb4pak@optonline.net. Or if anyone else on here has had similar problem please feel free to contact me. Thanks Pattie

We are also looking for a physician in the SW region who is able to diagnosis and treat.

I have been trying to see Dr. Meyers, but having a problem with my insurance, United Healthcare, who sees this surgery as experimental, and will not cover. I am starting a fight at present to get the coverage. Doctor’s office will not schedule surgery without predetermination of benefits guarantee from United because of prior problems with patients’ who have this insurance. Apparently United will tell the patient they have coverage, then deny payment to doctor after the operation sighting it is experimental. Hope no one else comes across this problem.

Another option is “www.noinsurancesurgury.com” , and Dr Kevin C. Peterson. Based in Las Vegas, Dr. Peterson will perform a similar surgery for a fee of $5000 for those with no insurance, (or for those whose insurance won’t pay). I may be making a trip to Vegas soon. I am sick of this pain. Best of luck to everyone!

everyone, i just had SH surgery from W. Meyers. i had chronic groin pain for 6 months. Did something running, probably in a road race or from over use, Got to where I could not roll over in bed or get out of the car, etc… I went to a surgeon (hoadley) in Atlanta for regular hernia check and it was negative and he told me to take it easy for a while and i told him i thought there was a problem and wanted more aggressive treatment but he still told me to do PT. I did not like that answer and started doing my research and found Meyers. Went up to Philly had my MRI, surgery the next day. I had a bi-lateral RA repair with adductor release. The RA is torn away from the pubic bone and he sutures it back and cuts the sheath on the adductor tendons to relieve pressure. Had it done on April 14. I swear the SH pain was gone immediately, surgical pain gone within 2 weeks. At 3 weeks I felt good enough to run again, but decided not to in order to continue rehab to insure solid healing. My rehab consisted of walking 25 miles a week and working hip and ab machines at the gym. Let me tell you, no matter where you live, go see Meyers, its worth it. Dont waste your time looking for a quick local fix to save $. There is no one in the US that does this surgery. Several use mesh including Hoadley in Atlanta, but Meyers has had to re-operate on over 200 patients to fix SHs where mesh was used and it did not last. You can spend a lot of money getting no where with this injury. Dont waste your time. Go see Meyers, he is he MAN

HEy everyone. My husband had a consult with Dr. Meyers after being in pain for years w/o no dr that could help. Unfortunately AETNA also clasifies this surgery as experimental. anyone fight AETNA and win? they say no proof that it works. Maybe they should ask those that had successful surgeries.
If someone won an appeal would they share their appeal letter? I want him to be pain free already.

I am scheduled to see Dr. Myers in late July and I have but one question. For those who had insurance companies view this as experimental, what was the actual cost of the surgery?

Hi. My fiance has had 4 hernia surgeries (2 with Dr.Mushawek in Munich Germany). He still has severe pain at the pubic bone. However, Dr. Meyers could find no tears near the pubic bone when he did MRIs. We have tried everything to try to fix it and are getting desperate. Has anyone had any success with Dr.Meyers/Dr.Brown or anything else when there was no tears on the MRI? Please contact me at mmmarthare@gmail.com.

Hi Megan,

When Dr Meyers did the MRI on me he couldn’t see anything but he said he really felt their was something going on so when he cut me open he said I had torn my stomache muscle from my hip bone and I had a large tear in my pelvic floor. He couldn’t tell me why he didn’t see it on the mri.

As far as insurance: I have Blue Cross and they also said it wasn’t a sure thing and wouldn’t cover it. But Dr. Meyers wrote a explanation along with the code number and they did finally cover everything.

Dr. William Brown in California bills the surgery as a hernia so insurance coverage should not be an issue. If you are far away book a flight with Southwest. They are always running low flight deals. Brown’s procedure is similar to Meyers procedure. He uses no mesh and will recommend the adductor release if necessary. He does not do it laparoscopically. Also, as of 09/30/2010, Meyers will no longer be accepting insurance. He started a new practice where her takes cash only. The office visit will run you five hundred and surgery 5-9K.

I injured myself 7 months ago playing hockey, was told I probably herniated myself by a GP. Was sent for an ultra-sound, results showed small umbilical hernia, no iguinal(groin)
hernia. My groin pain was way worse compared to my stomach. I was told that I could keep working out as long as pain was tolerable and was put on a wait list to see a hernia specialist. The hernia specialist didn’t seem to think my groin was herniated after palpating area, he wanted a second opinion and requested a bone scan.

I’m fortunate enough to have a radiologist as a friend and suggested that I not go for a bone scan unless necessary, he
recommended an MRI. A bone scan apparently involves a radio-active injection. No one won’t kill me but we should watch we put into our bodies( it all adds up).

I called the hernia specialist and he agreed the MRI would be better but in Vancouver, BC, we presently have about a 1.2 year wait for an MRI appointment. I decided to get one done privately, and sure enough my rectus abdominus is completely
torn on my right side, partial tear on my left side. So after all this, it’s determined I have Sports Hernia or Athletic Pubalgia.

I can’t believe nobody in Canada deals with this surgery as far as I know(Okay insert your Canadian jokes here). I was put on to Dr. Meyers in Philly, I’ve made an appointment and have been pretty excited about getting better as my injury has gotten worse. I’ve done some reading on Dr. Meyers and he seems to be the Man when it comes to research articles. However, I have read some nightmare reviews on him. What really concerns me is that some say it’s impossible to get a hold of him post-op, that his receptionist offers medical advise but she’s not a doctor or nurse. Some say(not doctors mind you) that they are concerned with his procedure, because he cuts the tendons, also some are re-tearing. Finally some are saying his approach is a bit barbaric.

I

I used Dr. Meyers in Philadelphia and did not have the great experience others had. I was scheduled for surgery (pelvic floor repair-athletic pubgalia)and the day before surgery he suggested I put off surgery and rehab it. I was completely caught off guard as we had gone throught the rehab option and it will not repair the tear. The office manager also told me that insurance would definately not cover it despite Blue/Cross insisting that they would. She even tried to bargain with the price of the surgery at their new office in 30 days. Bottom line is that they were going into private practice and wanted me to pay $8000 for the surgery at their new office. PS they dont take insurance at the new office. While all of the posts say he is the best I cant attest to that as the experience I had was horrible. I am now looking for a doctor who does the surgery (without the mesh) that any of you had a good experience with and would reccomend..Good Luck

Steve – do a google search for William Brown and Sports Hernia. You will see his webpage. His surgery seems to be similar to Dr. Meyers. He will also do the adductor release if necessary.

Injured Runner-Thanks so much for pointing me in the direction of Dr Brown of California. I called his office and later on that day he called me and spent an hour on the phone with me explaining everything and I am sending him my MRI. He mentioned that I could fly in and see him on a Sunday and have the surgery on a Monday and fly home by Wed. Dr. Brown couldnt have been nicer and never had a problem with insurance. Appreciate your help

Steve-I am glad you contacted Dr. Brown. He did the same for me. I emailed him and he called me back. What doctor does that? He first suggested I have an MRI to see if I had Osteitis Pubis which he said could be treated with injections. My MRI showed that I have torn right and left rectus abdominis-adductor longus apponeurois as well as Osteitis Pubis. When I emailed him the results he called me the same day and recommended surgery. This was in late September. I am actually flying out to California today (10/23/10) and am scheduled to see him Sunday afternoon in his office. I have surgery scheduled for Monday morning. If you would like to delve more into what I have been going through check out the injury forum at the runners world website. There is a Sports Hernia forum in there. I have posted a few times on it.

Hi Injured Runner–

I am wondering how your surgery went. I was diagnosed by Dr. Meyers 3 years ago with the injury on both sides, but I could not convince Highmark to pay for it (I even got a lawyer and tried to sue). Now that Meyers does not accept insurance, he wants 15K to do the surgery. I cannot afford that, and I am looking for other options. It would be worth flying to Cali if my insurance would cover it from Dr. Brown. Anything you could tell me would be appreciated. Hope you are doing well!

I cannot say enough good things about the experience today. All of the staff at the facility were top notch and very nice. In regards to insurance, the surgery is billed as a standard hernia procedure. They will pre-certify you before the procedure. Also the Holiday Inn Express on Albrae street has special rates for Dr. Browns patients. The hotel is nice and has free breakfast. They even have free wine and beer every weeknight for two hours and serve free food with it.

I will post more detailed information about my surgery and experience in a few days upon my return home. I will post it in the Sports Hernia thread on the runners world website (injuries forum). Feel free to pm me there with specific questions. I did not bring my laptop with me and typing these messages with my phone takes too long. I will go into more detail in a few days and look forward to discussing my experience.

Glad to hear everything went well, InjuredRunner. I called Dr. Brown and he spoke with me at length about my athletic pubalgia. I am sending him my MRI results and notes from Dr. Meyers, and hopefully headed to Cali soon to have surgery. Looking forward to hearing about how you are recovering. Good luck!

MyGroinHurts-Glad you contacted Dr. Brown. You will be very pleased with how you are treated. He has contacted me every day since I arrived in California through my return home to check up on me! He has been outstanding!

If anyone has questions about my experience PM me on the above mentioned forum or just ask on the forum. I have just posted a short summary of my surgery experience. My user name is different on the RW forum. You will know its me by reading the post about Dr. Brown.

Thanks for posting guys! I’ve been in touch with Dr. Brown’s office, they’ve been very helpful. Dr. Brown called me back to talk about my situation. My MRI results show a full tear of rectus abdominus on right side and partial tear on left side. I have an umbilical hernia and osteitis pubis. He was great with me, I’m flying down to see him Nov.14/10, maybe surgery next day. Will post back and let you know how it goes!!

I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express located at 42200 Albrae Street in Fremont. They have free breakfast, evening cocktails, and appetizers. There are plenty of places to eat nearby including a PF Changs and Market Broiler. Here is the link:

http://www.hiexpress.com/hotels/us/en/fremont/femhs/hoteldetail

They have special rates for Dr. Brown’s patients. It was 95 per night. Belinda from Dr. Brown’s office referred me to this hotel. I believe she told me to ask for Debbie at the hotel when making the reservation. The drive to Dr. Browns office was about 10 minutes through the city of Fremont. Fremont Surgery Center is very close to his office so it takes you about the same time to drive there. The staff there was outstanding as well!

I imagine if you book through a discount site you can probably find better rates.

BTW-they have already submitted my claim to my insurance and it was all paid for! Dr. Brown and I discussed how he may be seeing a lot more of Dr. Meyers patients now that he will not be accepting insurance.

Do not hesitate to contact Dr. Brown, he has been one of the nicest and caring doctors that I have every dealt with. He will take good care of you!

I initally injured myself playing racquetball in March 2010. I finally saw an orthopedic surgeon that made the diagnosis. I had to jump thru all sorts of hoops including eight weeks of PT before I had surgery on the left side. Dr. Hoadley in Atlanta performed my procedure on 9-17-2010 as an outpatient(he has a web site). I rested for two weeks and then started PT (his protocol) for six weeks. All was well until I started playing racquetball again. I initally played very passively for 30 minutes a week with no pain at all. About 3-4 hours after I play the pain starts in the left groin area about the severity than prior to the surgery and continues to this day. The pain is so severe that the next morning I have difficulty getting out of bed. Once I get going I just have some soreness unless I adduct the left leg against resistance in which case the pain gets severe again. At about 7-10 days the pain eases up. I am playing racquetball very aggressivly about 2-3 times a week, an hour at a time and just putting up with the pain. Hopefully with time the pain will resolve. I’m a 64 y/o male.

I’m just finding this (and other sites) dealing with this issue – which has been nagging at me for about two years!! Does anyone know if there’s an expert like Brown, Meyer or Boyarsky in Boston? I can’t believe that with all the medical expertise (and pro sports teams) here that we wouldn’t have someone of the same caliber of these guys. Thanks for your help.

I’m searching for a physician in Connecticut who I can see for what I am convinced is a sports hernia. All the surgeons that are discussed in these comments are out of state for me which creates an insurance problem. Please can anyone recommend a surgeon in Connecticut. Thanks

Hi, Does anyone have an experience with BCBS paying for this surgery with Dr. Meyers or another surgeon? I tried to contact Pattie on here but looks like her email has changed. Would love to hear from her since she got BC to pay. Anyone know if the price goes up if you have adductor release in addition to RA repaired? Also wondering if people have still had good results with Dr. Brown?

Would love to hear how it turned out with Dr. Brown. Anyone have luck with BSBS paying for this surgery. Tried to email Pattie above but it failed. Anyone know how to leave a message for her?

I’m very grateful to find this forum. I am pretty sure that I’m suffering from Athletic Pubalgia. I was thinking of going to Dr. Meyer, but Dr. Brown sounds like a much better bet with treatment and financials. Aetna views this procedure as experimental… does anyone have any insight into how it can be covered by them. I’m very surprised that there are no doctors here in New York City performing this surgery. Well, any information is appreciated!

I underwent AP repair surgery with Meyers close to 2 weeks ago. It seems like I am healing very well. I am following the rehab schedule and have already begun running on the treadmill. The only problem I’m experiencing is a lot of fluid retention at the surgery site. I saw Meyers for my post op visit and he drained it with a needle (66 CC’s) and I am going back in a week to get it rechecked. It seems like the fluid has already come back and I was wondering if anyone else had this issue from this surgery?

Hello! I have just been diagnosed with a sports hernia after have unstandable pain directly after running or playing soccer. I am going for my appointment with a surgeon soon. Does anyone know how long they try conservative treatment for, and how long rehab from surgery takes? Finally, which type of surgery is better? The minimally invasive, or the open surgery? Anything is appreciated!!

I just had the surgery done by Dr. Brown. What an awesome professional he is. I just under a week with my recovery. Everything is going as planned. To date, he has called me like 6 times!

I’ve been suffering for almost a year. I spoke to Dr. Brown in California over the phone and he thought it was Osteitis Pubis. I am really starting to wonder about SH though. PT helped some but I twisted the other day & it’s back. I was very impressed with Dr. Brown- OK, I haven’t had surgery with him, but he certainly seems very professional & patient. He called me back the same day I sent him an email.

My son has all of these symptons…please let me know if you had surgery with Dr. Brown how did it go

My son had a sports hernia surgery Mar. 7 with Dr. Brown and things are going great so far. It is early but Dr. Brown was very knowledgable, found 2 tears instead of 1 and repaired them both. He also called my son at the hotel that night to make sure he was doing OK. Billed this to insurance, provided us with pictures of the surgery, and emailed the operative notes and follow through for trainers.

Hello everyone,

I’m a new to this group. I would greatly appreciate if some of you who have had sports hernia surgeries with Dr. Brow a while back would leave a comment on your pain level and activity level. It would be so helpful to get some long term results instead of just week post-op.

Thank you!

I’m a 62 year old female who was an avid walker/hiker until 1 year ago when the groin pain started. I was seen at the University of VA and had a Wedge resection of the pubic symphysis which created even new and greater pain. I’ve had steroid injections and 3 weeks of “bedrest” with no results. I am scheduled to see Dr. Meyers next week. What “red flags” should I be watching for as he examines me and possibly suggests surgery? Now that I have read so much about Dr. Brown, I wonder if that’s who I should be seeing. This is going to cost me my nest egg, isn’t it?

Hi everyone,
I’ve been to see Dr. Brown in California as well. I opted out of surgery at the time since I had improved a lot with physio. However I was very impressed with his professionalism and patience. I have not improved as I would like and will likely go back and get the surgery. I am glad to hear others had good experiences- he seemed very competent and knowledgeable.

My case started a little different as I was put on Coumadin for PE, I was doing really good, then two weeks later I stood up after getting off my bike and felt a tear in the groin, incredible pain. Had a CT scan showed hematoma, had to have a nerve block for the pain, found out my INR blood was over 5 when this happened. Had an MRI which showed facial stripping and partial tear of the right adductor muscle. I then went to UCLA hernia clinic, they couldn’t help, except told me to get another nerve block and start physical therapy which I have with little success. I then went to see a Doctor Craig Smith in Los Angeles, great doctor suggested adductor release and inserting a mesh, I am concerned about the mesh but happy with the adductor release. I also have contacted Doctor Brown, I sent him a full report with copies of MRI reports etc, and he left a message yesterday for me to call him which I will be doing to get a second opinion, but if anyone wants a surgeon in LA try Craig Smith. Cheers Rob