How to Diagnose Adductor Strains (Without Guessing)

By dpope2020

July 1, 2026

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How to Diagnose Adductor Strains (Without Guessing)

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In today's video we go over How to Diagnose Adductor Strains (Without Guessing):

Groin pain in athletes can be incredibly sneaky and tricky to manage. As a sports physical therapist or strength coach, you know that 1 in 5 athletes will suffer from a new adductor strain over a single season — especially in high-demand sports like soccer, hockey, and football.

But while basic adductor pain seems straightforward, missing a critical red flag can completely derail an athlete's recovery and push back their return-to-sport timeline. How do you confidently differentiate a standard adductor longus strain from FAI (Femoroacetabular Impingement), a true hernia, or athletic pubalgia (core muscle injury)?

In this video, we'll break down the exact subjective clues, objective special tests, and clinical pearls you need to accurately diagnose adductor strains in under 10 minutes—ensuring you never miss a complete avulsion or a hidden hip joint pathology.

What We Cover In-Depth:

✅ The 91% Rule: Why the adductor longus is almost always the culprit, and how to isolate it during palpation.

✅ Objective Special Tests: Step-by-step demonstrations of the Squeeze Test, Resisted Outer Range Adduction, and Passive Adductor Stretch.

✅ Clearing the Hip Joint: How to use the FADIR and FABER tests to rule out Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI), hip osteoarthritis, or dysplasia.

✅ Spotting Red Flags: How to differentiate an acute strain from a true hernia or gradual-onset athletic pubalgia (core muscle injury) so you know exactly when to refer back to a physician.

TIMELINE

  • 00:00 – Why Sports Physical Therapists Struggle with Groin Injuries
  • 01:04 – Most Common Athlete Populations & Mechanisms of Injury
  • 01:44 – Subjective Assessment: Kicking, Cutting & Tearing Sensations
  • 02:32 – How to Palpate the Adductor Longus (90%+ of Groin Strains)
  • 03:26 – Red Flags: Bruising, Palpable Defects, and Complete Avulsions
  • 04:04 – The Squeeze Test & Resisted Outer Range Adduction Test
  • 04:50 – Passive Adductor Stretch Test Explained
  • 05:01 – Differential Diagnosis: Ruling Out FAI (FADIR & FABER Tests)
  • 05:48 – How to Screen for True Hernias vs. Groin Strains
  • 06:13 – Athletic Pubalgia & Core Muscle Injury Assessment

Diagnosis, Groin Pull!

- Dan Pope DPT,OCS,CSCS

Show Notes / Relevant Articles:

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Thank you!

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS

References: 

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