Work Related Groin Injuries:
Work related groin injuries are very common in workers who participate in heavy manual labor or repetitive motions at work. Often, doing strenuous or repetitive work can cause either muscle injury, hernia, or both conditions at once. It is important to get an accurate diagnosis of the condition to ensure the appropriate treatment is started promptly and to avoid unnecessary surgery.
At Boston Hernia, we evaluate injured workers weekly and have designed a protocol to address groin pain in these patients. We evaluate for both a hernia and a muscle strain in each patient. If you have suffered a hernia at work, please work with your employer or occupational health clinic to go through workers compensation or “workers comp” to make sure injury is covered.
For patients with a hernia, we recommend a combination of fast recovery hernia surgery and physical therapy to ensure patients return to work safely post-operatively. Physical therapy will help to address any underlying mechanics that need to be corrected before returning to work. This whole process usually takes about 2-3 months. Light duty is allowed during most of the recovery period.
For patients without a hernia, we recommend physical therapy to address both the acute injury as well as the underlying mechanics that contributed to this injury in the first place. This process often takes 2-3 months to fully correct improper mechanics, during which light duty is allowed. These patients will often benefit from continued work with a strength coach to ensure continued improvement. Core Muscle Injury is the most accurate term to use for these patients as it reflect the pathology. In the past, the term “sports hernia” was used incorrectly as a real hernia is not common in these patients, and surgery is rarely curative. We partnered with an outstanding PT practice to explain this concept and the rehab required.
Why Boston Hernia?
- Experts in groin injury – 20 years experience
- Focused on hernia patients
- Consultation within 3 business days of approval from workers comp adjuster
- Surgery within 30 days of consultation (pending approval from workers compensation adjuster)
- Peer-reviewed, excellent surgical outcomes with faster return to work than other types of hernia repairs and less opioid use
- National leaders in postop opioid reduction
- Team approach to medical decision making
- Holistic approach to core health through surgery and physical therapy
- Safe and efficient return to work
Types of work injuries we see:
- Inguinal hernia
- Umbilical hernia
- Femoral hernia
- Groin Strain
- Adductor injury
- Abdominal strain
- Rectus Abdominis strain
- Oblique strain
Treatment Options:
- Surgery: Advanced open preperitoneal repair – fast recovery for inguinal hernia
- Umbilical Hernia Repair
- Physical Therapy: Referral to PT for non-surgical groin/muscle strain and for post-operative hernia patients
Return to Work:
- Expert injury evaluation and activity assessment
- Collaboration with physical therapy and occupational health as needed
- Successful return to work after surgery, prioritizing safety & low re-injury rates
About Dr. Reinhorn & Dr. Fullington
Dr. Michael Reinhorn is a specialist in inguinal hernia and umbilical hernia. He started his practice as a general surgeon in 2001, and in 2012 he transitioned to focus on the care of hernia patients. In 2018, he co-founded Boston Hernia, an ambulatory surgery practice focused exclusively on hernia surgery. In 2020, Dr. Nora Fullington was recruited from her work as a general surgeon, where she performed hundreds of laparoscopic hernia repairs, to Boston Hernia where she was intensively trained by Dr. Reinhorn in the open preperitoneal and Shouldice techniques. Together with their physician assistant team, they perform approximately 800 hernia surgeries every year. Boston Hernia has extensive experience with injured workers, case managers and adjusters dealing with their workers compensation claims. Both surgeons offer a tailored approach for each patient, taking into account individual patient factors to decide if surgery is recommended or not, what type of repair (open, laparoscopic, mesh, non-mesh) is best, and what type of anesthesia is safest. At Boston Hernia, our focus is on each individual patient and continuously improving our own surgical techniques and outcomes. We do this by participating in various hernia societies, studying our own outcomes through a national database, and publishing our data to influence the care of hernia patients nationally and internationally. Boston Hernia is an affiliate practice of the Mass General Brigham system. In addition to operating at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, a Mass General Brigham Hospital, we offer care at ambulatory surgery centers in Waltham, MA and Derry, NH.