Oy. A brief kvetch...

[Guest guest]

I was just sitting in the car at a stop sign, waiting to turn right...and an

involuntary spasm over-tightened whatever " string " it is that runs up the

inside top of your thigh into the groin (that tightens when you lift your leg),

and evidently right on through and down the other thigh...and ow. This has

happened before. I wish I could figure out what was causing it to spasm and

damage

itself....ow, ow, ow. Goes along with the aching wrists, I guess, but I'd

really rather they didn't do this without some effort on my part to trigger it.

[Guest guest]

I was just sitting in the car at a stop sign, waiting to turn

right...and an involuntary spasm over-tightened whatever " string " it

is that runs up the inside top of your thigh into the groin (that

tightens when you lift your leg), and evidently right on through and

down the other thigh...and ow.

----------

String? String?

I know about muscles, tendons and ligaments. Don't know about

string.

I know about arteries, veins and capillaries. Don't know about

string.

I know about fascia, glands and organs. Don't know about string.

I've studied anatomy, physiology and kineseolgy. Never studied

string.

I've heard about surgeons leaving clamps, forceps and scissors

inside patients after an operation. Never heard about string.

What's string?

And now that I've busted your chops in front of all of our

cyberbuddies, if you can be " a bit " more technically precise, I

might be able to come up with some ideas for you. Can you tell or

feel where this so-called " string " starts and ends? Does it feel

like it causes a particular muscle action?

The muscle that most closely resembles a string in that it is a

narrow thigh muscle is the Sartorius, but the origin point doesn't

match your description. It originates at the anterior superior

iliac spine (the protrusion on the front of the plevic bone on the

outside of the hip). It then crosses over the top of the leg and

runs diagonally down the thigh and inserts on the proximal, medial

shaft of the tibia (just below the knee on the inside of the lower

leg bone). It doesn't go into the groin area itself.

I'm thinking it is one of the adductor muscles, possibly the

Gracilis muscle because of your string description. Gracilis is a

long, fairly narrow muscle that originates on the inferior part of

the pubic bone and inserts just below the knee on the medial shaft

of the tibia. It flexes and medially rotates the knee. The only

thing that doesn't really match your description is " inside top of

the thigh " and then only the " top " aspect. If you put your hand

flat on top of your thigh with your middle finger in the center of

the thigh, Gracilis will be on the inside of your thigh down about

where the outside edge of your thumb would be.

This also sounds very much like what happens with my wife. Her

adductors periodically cramp on her. There is a very easy muscle

energy technique called " contract-relax " that I do on her when it

happens. Takes less than five minutes and everything is all fine

again for awhile.

Let me know what you think. If you think this might be the culprit

and the cause, I will post a description for you on how to do the

technique.

String (shaking head sadly, side to side, and muttering " Padewan,

Padewan, wherefore art thou, my Padewan. " )