Adductor (groin) strain & groin pain: return times
Not medical advice. This page is general education summarizing published research on professional footballers. It is not a diagnosis or treatment plan for anyone. If you are injured, see your own clinician.
The adductors are the inner-thigh muscles used in kicking, changing direction and sprinting.
What the research reports
- Adductor muscle injury: about 13 days on average to return to training (95% CI 10.3–15.9).
- Longer-standing groin pain took longer: about 45 days to return to training, the longest of the tendon-related problems studied.
- For comparison, rectus femoris (front of thigh) strains took about 16 days to return to training.
These are averages across many players. Individual recovery varies a lot. Last reviewed 16 Oct 2026.
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