A sports medicine expert has said active rehab more so than rest can be the best treatment for groin injuries.

Dr. Peter Brukner said groin injury was extremely common in all sports which involve high intensity speeds and which are of a twisting/turning nature such hurling and all forms of football - gaelic, soccer and rugby.

"Despite advances in knowledge, the diagnosis and management of groin injury and pain can still present a major challenge to sports physicians and physiotherapists treating it."

Dr Brukner said in terms of treatment, while the traditional therapy prescribed for groin injury was often 'rest' for the athlete, active rehabilitation provided more than 10 times the likelihood of pain-free successful return to sport.

He was addressing the recent annual conference of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP) in Killarney.

Tips are recommended by chartered physiotherapists for those playing sports involving twisting and high velocity turning include:

* Warm-up and stretch.
* Monitor training load, no rapid changes or increases in volume or intensity of training.
* Watch for signs such as fatigue, colds and performance deficits which can be indicators that the body is overloaded.
* Regular recovery and refuelling:foam-rolling/pool/relaxation/massage/stretch/nutrition. It is important to avoid 'overtraining', which increases the risk of injury.
* Be aware of poor field conditions that can increase injury.
* Hydrate adequately - waiting until you are thirsty is often too late to hydrate properly.