{"id":570,"date":"2026-09-29T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/guides\/pubic-symphysis-pubic-bone\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T10:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:08:00","slug":"pubic-symphysis-pubic-bone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medicinepark.ro\/en\/guides\/pubic-symphysis-pubic-bone\/","title":{"rendered":"Pubic Symphysis and Pubic Bone: What They Are and Why They Hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pubic bone, pubic symphysis, pubis \u2014 three names for an area most people can feel but few can point to on a diagram.<\/strong> It is the front of the pelvis, just above the genitals, where the two hip bones meet. When it hurts, the question “what is actually there?” comes before any treatment \u2014 which is why this guide starts with the anatomy, in plain English.<\/p>\n\n\n

Written by the physiotherapists at Medicine Park in Bucharest, it explains what the pubic bone and the pubic symphysis are, why they hurt in women, in men and in athletes, what the terms on your scan report mean, and when pain in the pubic area needs a doctor rather than a physiotherapist.<\/p>\n\n\n

What the pubic bone is<\/h2>\n\n\n

The pelvis is made of two large hip bones, one on each side, plus the sacrum at the back. Each hip bone is three fused parts: the ilium<\/strong> (the crest you feel at your waist), the ischium<\/strong> (the bone you sit on) and the pubis<\/strong> \u2014 the front, lower part. The pubic bone is therefore the front portion of each hip bone; the two pubic bones come together in the midline and form an unusual joint.<\/p>\n\n\n

Several structures attach to the pubic bone: the adductor muscles (inner thigh), part of the abdominal wall (rectus abdominis) and a set of ligaments. That crossroads is why pubic pain appears so often with exercise, and why it is so easily confused with groin pain<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

What the pubic symphysis is<\/h2>\n\n\n

The pubic symphysis<\/strong> is the joint in the middle, between the two pubic bones. It is not a mobile joint like the knee: a disc of fibrocartilage sits between the bones and strong ligaments hold everything tight. It normally moves only 1\u20132 millimetres. Its job is to absorb and transfer forces between the two halves of the pelvis when you walk, run, jump or change direction.<\/p>\n\n\n

In pregnancy, hormones relax the ligaments and the symphysis becomes more mobile \u2014 the source of the pubic pain so common in the third trimester. In athletes the problem is the opposite: overload, with the adductors and abdominals pulling repeatedly on the bone until it becomes inflamed and painful.<\/p>\n\n\n

Why the pubic bone hurts \u2014 causes by group<\/h2>\n\n\n

1. In athletes and active people<\/h3>\n\n\n

Osteitis pubis<\/strong> (also called athletic pubalgia or “footballer’s groin”) is inflammation of the symphysis and the surrounding bone, caused by repeated pulling. It appears in football, running, hockey and martial arts \u2014 sports with sprints, feints and kicks. The pain sits centrally, above the pubis, and gets worse with sprinting, kicking, getting out of bed, coughing or sneezing. It is the most common cause we see in the clinic; the osteitis pubis<\/a> page covers it in detail.<\/p>\n\n\n

The same group includes adductor tendinopathy<\/strong> (pain running from the bone into the inner thigh) and the “sports hernia”<\/strong> \u2014 a weakening of the abdominal wall at its attachment to the pubis, without a true hernia, that hurts on exertion. Telling them apart is done on examination, with specific resistance and palpation tests.<\/p>\n\n\n

2. In women<\/h3>\n\n\n

Pregnancy-related symphysis dysfunction<\/strong> (pelvic girdle pain) is the most common: pain at the front, over the pubis, sometimes spreading to the inner thighs, worse on stairs, when turning in bed or when standing on one leg. It can persist for some months after birth. Rarer causes: irritation after delivery (symphysis separation), ligament strain around the pelvis, or gynaecological and urinary conditions, which a doctor must rule out.<\/p>\n\n\n

3. In men<\/h3>\n\n\n

In men, pubic bone pain is most often mechanical \u2014 sports overload or repeated physical effort \u2014 but it can also come from an inguinal hernia<\/strong> (a bulge that grows when you cough), from the prostate or urinary tract, or from the hip joint itself (hip impingement<\/a>, hip osteoarthritis<\/a>), which “lends” pain to the pubic area.<\/p>\n\n\n

4. Causes that are not muscle or joint<\/h3>\n\n\n

Stress fracture of the pubic ramus (in distance runners and in people with osteoporosis), bone infection (rare, with fever), and gynaecological, urinary or bowel conditions. None of these are treated with physiotherapy, and a doctor must exclude them before any exercise programme.<\/p>\n\n\n

Terms you will see on reports \u2014 explained<\/h2>\n\n\n