Hip Flexor injury - how far along am I in treatment

Hello to all,

New member here. I've been looking for information on how to recover from a hip flexor injury I obtained back in August. Haven't found much help. The internet doesn't seem to include enough information on this type of injury. Perhaps because it's so complicated. My main issue is that I can't afford to go to physiotherapy, I'm a student without a job and I can't see myself affording several sessions. That's why I tried to obtain as much information through the internet as possible.

Anyway let me tell you my story. I was very stubborn at the beginning stages of the injury so I continued to play on it a week after I had the injury, and eventually it got worse or returned. It lead me to research on the net on how to recover. Most of it said that I would need about 3 weeks or until I receive full range of motion and comfort once again. Did that twice with no success and reinjured my hip flexor. At the beginning of December I told myself I wouldn't play any basketball until Mid January, so I gave it about 5-6 weeks.

I feel as if I've had a great deal of success up to this point. At the beginning I was playing basketball for 30 minutes, and this slowly escalated to 45 minutes, to an hour, and so on. At one point I felt a bit tense in my hip flexor, but no pain. So my question is if this is normal, that I still feel the injury lingering a bit? I played basketball for 2 hours on Sunday and again I was surprised that I could go full out, twist and turn, jump, and at the next day just feel a bit of soreness in that area. I'm just afraid if it's a prelude to a reoccurring injury or if this kind of feeling is normal.

Just a few questions if anyone could help, so that I can get back to 100%.
1. After the 6 week mark of rest which I have presently completed, what would be the next step?
2. Is there a workout plan that I should consider to help strengthen my hip flexor that would fully recover any injury I have there or prevent it from reoccurring?
3. I do some hot/cold treatment alternating because I've hear it helps with circulation and recovery. Would it be a good idea to continue this?

Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.