Sports Medicine Master System-Chapter 173 - 124: The Groin

Following Alina to the sidelines, Chen Yu looked at the players on the field.

’This is the National Team, after all.’

When it came to the four generations of the Dream Team, Chen Yu knew every single player. He could name them all, and for some, he could even recite their careers in great detail.

He even knew some of their gossip.

But this group in front of him... he scanned them and was stunned to find he didn’t recognize a single one.

"That’s number 10, the captain of our National Team, Claudio Reyna. He’s also the most valuable player on the team. The year before last, when he transferred from Bayer Leverkusen to Glasgow Rangers, the transfer fee was a full two million euros." It seemed Alina could only describe the players’ skills in terms of their market value.

But Chen Yu still looked completely lost.

Whether it was Bayer Leverkusen or Glasgow Rangers, Chen Yu had never heard of them.

’Looks like I really need to find some time to brush up on my soccer knowledge.’

’Otherwise, I won’t even be able to make conversation.’

Besides, transfer value was one thing, but wasn’t annual salary more important?

Generally speaking, the annual salary is about one-tenth of the transfer value.

Take Ronaldo, for example. His annual salary was 3.5 million, and his transfer fee was twenty-seven million US dollars.

By that calculation, Reina’s salary was probably only two hundred thousand US dollars.

That was basically the equivalent of an NBA minimum salary.

And yet, he was already the biggest star on the United States Team.

He asked around and found that it was indeed the case.

The few players who played abroad generally earned around two hundred thousand US dollars.

That was even less than some domestic players. The professional soccer league had been established for five years, and salaries had slowly risen. The high-end players could already command a salary of three hundred thousand US dollars.

’Their salaries really are too low.’

’It’s even less than what I make.’

Alina sighed heavily. "That’s exactly why no one wants to play soccer. All the promising young athletes in high school and college, they’d rather play American football or basketball than soccer."

"Chen, have you ever been to Brazil? There are soccer fields everywhere. Here, we only have basketball courts and baseball fields."

Towards the end, his tone became somewhat indignant.

Never mind traditional powerhouses like Brazil and Argentina; even for Mexico, when their national team played, the sidelines were packed with reporters.

But for them, the great United States Team fighting for their country, the reporters on the sidelines were actually local Mexican journalists. There wasn’t a single American reporter to be seen. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Chen Yu patted Alina’s shoulder. Even Alina, the head coach of the National Team, didn’t come from a professional soccer background. He used to play lacrosse.

"Once we get some good results, people will naturally start paying attention to us."

Alina nodded, then added, "Actually, I should thank the former president. If it weren’t for him, we probably wouldn’t have even been able to establish the professional soccer league. When we hosted the World Cup in ’94, I thought soccer would generate some buzz. Who knew we’d lose so badly in ’98? And on top of that, that guy couldn’t keep his pants on. Just when things were starting to heat up, the momentum was gone."

Chen Yu could only offer a wry smile in response to Alina’s complaints.

His gaze fell on Donovan, who was wearing the number 21 jersey. He had come here this time to deal with his groin issue.

The area from the pubic bone to the anterior superior iliac spine is the inguinal region, or the groin. It’s a dense area of muscles and ligaments around the hip joint.

The strain usually occurs at the junction of the adductor muscle group and the tendons, and it’s extremely common in movements involving sudden changes of direction.

A muscle strain itself is a very treatable problem, but when a muscle strain doesn’t heal properly, part of the reason is related to the location of the groin.

For other locations, like the calf, shoulder, or back, if you strain a muscle, you can keep it still and recover quickly through rest.

But you can’t do that with this area; it’s always moving.

Walking, squatting, standing up, even slightly twisting your upper body will engage it.

You can reduce your activity and try to bear with it, but you can’t avoid basic necessities like going to the bathroom.

As long as you move, it will affect its recovery.

Repeatedly failing to heal properly can cause it to develop into a chronic strain with inflammation, eventually becoming a recurring old injury. Normal activities might be fine, but the moment you start jumping or making explosive movements, the pain becomes unbearable. For an athlete, this is nearly as bad as a torn ligament and can directly cause a severe decline in performance.

Ultimately, this problem requires rest—proper rest.

Chen Yu beckoned for Donovan to come over, then had him lie down for a physical examination.

Under the Eye of All-Seeing, Chen Yu could clearly see the adductor muscle group.

They connected the pubic bone on one side and the femur on the other, and were composed of five muscles.

The muscle causing Donovan’s problem was the pectineus, the one most prone to issues.

Any movement of the hip joint or leg uses it.

"Does it hurt?" Chen Yu asked.

Donovan shook his head.

But when Chen Yu increased the degree of internal flexion, his face immediately contorted in pain.

Chen Yu knew what was going on.

Because it’s a muscle group, when one of the muscles is strained, it might not affect your daily activities.

But as soon as you start jumping around or making explosive movements that engage all the muscles, you’ll immediately feel pain.

Many people just rest it for a bit and think it’s fine, but the problem isn’t actually solved, and it eventually develops into a chronic strain.

The key issue is that there’s no great treatment for this; it’s not something surgery can fix.

You can only use massage, anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving treatments, and then let it slowly heal with rest.

Ordinary people can do that, but athletes can’t. Sometimes they really want to rest, but they just don’t have enough time.

"Dr. Chen, I saw in the news that Mr. Baggio went to your clinic. Did you cure him?" Donovan, lying on the grass, suddenly asked.

Chen Yu didn’t stop what he was doing. "Why? Are you a fan of Baggio?"

"Yes, I’ve been a fan of Baggio since I was a kid." Donovan nodded excitedly. "And Ronaldo, Redondo—they’re all the best soccer players in the world. Of course, I like basketball too. I like Olajuwon, I like Hardaway. Dr. Chen, what’s it like to be with people like them every day?"

Donovan stared at Chen Yu, unable to imagine what it would be like to be around those idols every day.

"What’s it like?" Chen Yu thought for a moment. "It’s... normal, I guess. If you just like the version of them you see on the field, then you should just keep on liking that."

When you spend enough time with them, the superstar halo fades, and you realize they’re just ordinary people.

They can be weak, they can be selfish, and they have all sorts of minor flaws and tempers.

Donovan said, "Oh," then cautiously asked if Chen Yu could help him get some autographs.

"No problem." A small thing like that was no trouble at all.

Donovan, however, was ecstatic. He was still young, after all, only 19 this year.

Signaling for Donovan to get up, Chen Yu asked Alina where the locker room was.

"I’ll take you." Alina handed the training session over to his assistant coach and led Chen Yu to the locker room. He was actually quite curious to see how the famous Miracle Doctor would treat Donovan.

The previous team doctor was a renowned orthopedic specialist in the country, but when it came to treating Donovan, all he would do was prescribe anti-inflammatories and painkillers.

Contiguglia followed them as well. Since he was the one who had personally recruited Chen Yu, he wanted to see for himself just how skilled he was.

Once in the locker room, Chen Yu had Donovan sit down and take off his shirt.

The problem was with his right groin, at the origin of the pectineus muscle where the muscle connects to the tendon. There was some inflammation.

After the strain, the local blood supply was compromised, causing inflammation. This led to muscle stiffness and reduced elasticity, resulting in a persistent dull ache that wouldn’t go away.

Chen Yu took out a steel needle and sterilized it.

Seeing the long, thin steel needle, the expressions of the three men in the room changed. Donovan, in particular, asked tentatively, "Dr. Chen, are you going to stick me with that needle?"

Chen Yu nodded. "Don’t worry. This treatment method is called Acupuncture. It doesn’t hurt as much as you think. Besides, just think, all those idols you like get acupuncture from me every day at my clinic."

That last sentence instantly made Donovan shut his mouth.

Chen Yu placed his hand on Donovan’s left shoulder, searching for a suitable acupoint.

After all this time, having needled so many people, Chen Yu’s understanding of Acupuncture was no longer limited to simply inserting needles into acupoints. He had reached a deeper understanding of corresponding regions and meridians, and of yin-yang balance.

This was the same principle behind needling the hand for neck pain.

The Lung and Large Intestine meridians in the anterior shoulder region could balance the four meridians that pass through the groin area, clearing stagnation and alleviating pain.

He located the midpoint on the line connecting the coracoid process and the axillary fold, and inserted the needle at an angle toward the armpit.

His movement was still fast, precise, and steady. At the same time, he silently activated a Bronze Level recovery effect.

"Relax, relax."

Chen Yu reminded him repeatedly.

Donovan grimaced. He wanted to relax, but how could he, thinking about a steel needle several centimeters long stuck in his body?

Beside them, Contiguglia and Alina both craned their necks, watching like curious children.

A moment later, Chen Yu removed the needle.

He had only used that single needle.

"Lie down properly," Chen Yu instructed, signaling for Donovan to lie back down.

Then he continued with the hip joint restriction test.

"Does it still hurt?" Chen Yu asked.

Previously, Donovan would have felt a dull ache in this position.

But now, Donovan shook his head and said in disbelief, "I can barely feel any pain. How is this possible?"

He looked up at his own body.

Chen Yu didn’t explain and continued with the examination.

’It seems that one needle was effective. Donovan’s pain has been greatly relieved.’

Of course, this single needle couldn’t solve the problem entirely. It would still require a long period of treatment.

"Stay lying down. I’ll give you a massage."

Acupuncture and massage were probably the most useful methods.

Of course, anti-inflammatory medication was also essential.

"Later, I’ll create a training plan for you. The muscle groups on your right side need to be strengthened."

When it comes down to it, muscle strains happen because the muscle group isn’t strong enough.

If you were as strong as Ronaldo, you think you’d get a strain?

Donovan nodded blankly, unable to stop himself from saying, "Dr. Chen, you’re really amazing. The previous doctor, Dr. Joseph, would only ever give me painkillers."

After taking the painkillers, the pain would be gone for a while, but when I woke up the next day, it would hurt just as much as before.

It was torture.

He had just finished speaking when Chen Yu began his work, and Donovan couldn’t help but let out a comfortable grunt.

"Your massage is different from his, too. His was very painful."

Both were called massages, but the feeling was completely different.

Alina turned his head to exchange a look with Contiguglia, a glance that said: ’We definitely found the right person for the team doctor job in Chen Yu.’