Dr. Sara Raiser (Running Medicine Physician), Kelsey Pontius (Sports Dietitian), and Dr. Kate Mihevc Edwards (Physical Therapist) bring their interdisciplinary lens to a tricky injury that often occurs in male young athletes: abdominal wall and groin pain.
In this episode, the team unpacks the case of a 17-year-old male high school track athlete presenting with lower abdominal and groin pain that radiates into the adductors and limits his stride. The pain is nagging, sometimes sharp, but mostly tight and aching. Is it a sports hernia? Or something else entirely?
Dr. Raiser explains the red flags that must be ruled out, from inguinal and femoral hernias to femoral stress injuries and hip pathology and why standard imaging often fails to provide answers. Dr. Mihevc Edwards dives into biomechanics, thoracic mobility, breathing mechanics, and gait analysis, showing how interconnected tissues and referral patterns often blur the clinical picture. Pontius highlights the nutrition and mental health side: how underfueling, over-cross-training, and performance pressure can amplify both pain and recovery challenges in young athletes.
Together, the team breaks down how an interdisciplinary approach combining medical care, physical therapy, nutrition, and communication with coaches can not only solve cases like this but also protect the identity and confidence of athletes who define themselves through sport. This episode is for athletes, parents, coaches, and clinicians who want to better understand abdominal wall and groin pain in runners and why “sports hernia” may be just one part of the bigger picture.
Timestamps
- 0:00 – Welcome & sponsor intro
- 3:30 – Case intro: 17-year-old high school runner with abdominal wall/groin pain
- 8:15 – Differential diagnosis: hernia, sports hernia, hip pathology, stress fracture
- 14:00 – Why imaging often comes back “normal” & how to set expectations
- 19:30 – Physical therapy perspective: thoracic spine, breathing, trunk control
- 25:40 – Nutrition, fueling, and the risk of under-eating in injured adolescent athletes
- 32:10 – Mental health & the identity struggle of the sidelined teen runner
- 38:30 – The role of coaches and parents in the recovery plan
- 45:15 – Lever system & safe return-to-run training tools
- 50:00 – Final interdisciplinary takeaways
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A big thank you to our sponsor, Lever Movement — a treadmill-based body weight support system used by clinicians, coaches, and athletes around the world. Whether you're rehabbing from injury, managing training load, returning postpartum, or focusing on performance, Lever is a versatile tool that helps keep runners running. As a listener, use the code CaseMiles for 20% off any of their 3 units. Thanks for joining us on Interdisciplinary Case Miles — real runners, real problems, real solutions.
