Squash Injury: Sports Hernia or Groin Strain

In mid October I went down with an injury that held me back from playing full intensity squash for two months.

There was no lead up to the injury although you could argue I wasn’t perfectly conditioned for the sprinting I was doing on the doubles court. I had been a bit under the weather the through the end of September and most of my conditioning was left to the singles court. However, things happen and what was most important was to look to the future and plan to be healthy and strong as I returned to play.

I thought it would be useful to give a detailed timeline as this is often what patients are interested in with their own recovery. No two injuries are the same and we all come from unique backgrounds but this can still be useful. It also even still surprises me how non-linear pain can be. If I had only used pain as a guide, I would not have been as active or as healthy.

Graded exercise over the past two months.

As you can see the journey was no perfect. I tried to stay true to these guiding principles.

Avoid

Slow and steady

Pain can be safe - build gradually

These pictures are taken from one of my favourite editorial pieces on education and recovery for patello-femoral pain. I use the images regularly. Simple guidelines to work within. I also focused on my overall health, again something I could control. I don’t obsesse over these things as it is not in my nature but I know alcohol, sleep and good nutrition can have a positive or detrimental effect on recovery. The degree is debatable but they are abosulelty clinically relevant.

I tried to build up both my sport specific stress (running and squash) as well as my leg strength (copenhagens, squats, deadlifts, pull ups, planks, monster walks). This is a common sense approach but it is well studied in soccer hamstring and groin injuries (Aspetar resource is fantastic). What I realized early on was that some pain was inevitable and did not mean I was making it worse. The caveat being the hockey. Perhaps if i’d played 45 minutes instead of 1.5 hours I could have managed the stress, but I didn’t and it set me back. Thankfully I have other options to stay active and have fun. 

As of December 7th I could play a lower intensity squash match. As of december 10th I could play a higher intensity match but things are still not perfect and my speed is slightly limited. I am closing in on two months and it probably needs until the new year to feel fully healed. I still need to be careful during the next window as even though it is starting to feel better i know the tissue is still remodelling and not 100%.

Hopefully I’ll make an update on an epic squash match in the coming weeks:)