Groin strains are one of the most common injuries in hockey. The skating stride repeatedly loads the inner thigh muscles as you push out and pull the leg back under your body. If you play in a St. Vital league, a Dakota Lazers team or a weekly beer league, here is what you need to know about a pulled groin.
What is a groin strain?
A groin strain is an injury to the adductor muscles on the inside of the thigh. The adductor longus is the muscle most often involved. Strains happen when the muscle is stretched or loaded beyond what it can handle, for example during a hard push-off, a quick stop or a sudden change of direction.
Hockey and soccer players have the highest rates of adductor strains. Weaker adductors compared with the hip abductors on the outside of the hip is a known risk factor for injury and re-injury.
Common signs
- sudden pain on the inside of the thigh or groin during a stride or stop
- pain when bringing your legs together against resistance, such as squeezing a ball between your knees
- pain or weakness when skating hard, crossing over or getting up off the ice
- tenderness on the inner thigh, sometimes with bruising
Groin strain or something else?
Not all groin pain is a simple muscle strain. Pain that builds gradually, pain at the tendon near the pubic bone, or pain at or above the crease of the hip can point to tendon problems, a hip joint issue or athletic pubalgia, sometimes called a sports hernia. These need a different plan, which is why an assessment is useful when pain does not settle quickly.
What recovery usually involves
Recovery depends on how much of the muscle is injured. Mild strains often settle within a few weeks. More significant strains take longer. Rushing back is the most common reason groin strains recur.
A physiotherapy plan typically moves through stages:
- Settle the pain: relative rest from painful activities, gentle movement and pain-free muscle activation.
- Rebuild strength: progressive adductor and hip strengthening, moving from gentle holds to heavier and more dynamic exercises such as Copenhagen adductor exercises.
- Sport-specific training: skating drills, crossovers, starts and stops, and building up practice time.
- Return to play: returning to games once you can skate at full intensity without pain and your strength is close to the uninjured side.
Getting back on the ice safely
- Return to skating gradually: easy laps and stick and puck before full practice, and full practice before games.
- Keep strengthening after you return: a short adductor routine a couple of times a week helps reduce re-injury.
- Warm up off the ice: hip mobility and a few adductor squeezes before stepping on.
- Do not play through sharp pain: it usually means the tissue is not ready for that load yet.
When to see a physiotherapist
Book an assessment if you cannot skate without pain after a week or two, the injury keeps recurring, or you are unsure whether it is a strain or something else. A physiotherapist can test your strength, identify the tissue involved and build a return-to-hockey plan.
Seek urgent medical care if you cannot walk, have significant swelling or bruising after a sudden pop, or have groin pain with fever, testicular pain or a lump.
Hockey injury physiotherapy near Dakota Community Centre
Pro-Motion Physiotherapy is on St. Anne's Road in Meadowood, a short drive from the Jonathan Toews Sportsplex at Dakota Community Centre. We help players with sports injuries and hip and knee pain, with evening and weekend appointments and direct billing to many insurers.
Book an assessment online or call (204) 560-2999.
Sources and further information
- International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy (2023): Adductor strains in athletes
- Dakota Community Centre: Lazers Hockey Club and adult hockey
This article is general information, not an individual assessment or diagnosis.