Your hamstrings are tendons, which are strong groups of tissues on the back of your thighs which then attach the larger thigh muscle to the femur (thigh bone). You use your hamstrings a lot in activities where you need to bend your knee, such as running, football, rugby & even weightlifting (squatters are in danger).
In this post, we’re going to be looking at the main causes of a hamstring injury, as well as what it actually is and how we can treat it and further minimise any risk of a further injury.
What Is A Hamstring Injury?
As mentioned above, hamstrings are groups of tissue behind the thighs and the term ‘hamstring’ refers to the three muscles that run along the back of your thigh from your hip to your knee (such as the biceps femoris).
A hamstring injury is commonly defined as either a strain or tear to the muscle or tendon at the back of your thighs. That’s why you can get pulled hamstrings as well as mild hamstring strains and complete tears.
Similar to the article we did on sprained wrists, hamstring injuries come in three grades.
- Grade One is a mild pull on the hamstring muscles or strain around the tendons
- Grade Two is partial muscle tear of one or more of the hamstring muscles.
- Grade Three is a complete tear of one of the hamstring muscles and is the most severe of all three grades.
Depending on the severity of your injury, it may take a lot more time to heal. For example, grade one may only take a few days but grade three could take months.
What Causes A Hamstring Injury?
According to the NHS’ page on hamstrings, hamstrings occur if any of your tendons or muscles are overworked or stretched beyond their limits. They can either occur gradually over time such as squatting, where the slower movements stretch your hamstring more than what it can take. The other way you can damage it is during fast, sudden movements like sprints or jumps, which cause sudden shock to the muscles or tendons
Unfortunately, you’re more at risk of injuring your hamstring if you have previously injured it. That is why a lot of sports stars have nagging hamstring injuries that can go suddenly, and why it’s one of the most common sporting injuries in the word.
What Are The Symptoms Of A Hamstring Injury?
Going back to the grades of hamstring injuries…
Grade One hamstring injuries typically cause a sudden and sharp pain as well as tenderness around the back of your thigh. Although the strength of the affected muscles should not be affected, it still may hurt to move your leg.
Grade Two injuries are definitely more painful. There can be swelling and bruising on the back of your thigh and some of the strength in your leg may have decreased slightly.
Grade Three are severe hamstring tears and these will be extremely painful as well as tenderness, bruising and swollenness being there as well. You might have felt the sensation of something popping when it occurred and it is extremely likely you won’t have any function in the affected leg at all.
Hamstring Injury Treatment
As previously mentioned, recovery times from a hamstring injury can range in time – depending on how severe injury is. Whilst a slightly strained/pulled hamstring can only last a few days, a complete tear of one of the hamstring muscles will severely affect your physical activity for potentially months. This includes things like walking or driving, not just sports.
WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR/GP
Most injuries to your hamstring can be cared for and treated at home, using the ways which we’ll outline shortly.
You should see your doctor/GP if you think your injury is severe or the injury doesn’t seem to be healing. Whilst there will be lots of guides out there, you’re the only one who can tell the severity of it after a doctor.
Whilst the doctor may not be specialised in that particular area, they can recommend you for surgery (if required) or refer you to a physiotherapist for further recovery.
HOW TO REST & RECOVER YOUR HAMSTRING AT HOME
Again, similar to the article on sprained wrists, you will want to implement the RICE method if you’re feeling pain and swelling.
- Rest – If you suspect that you have damaged your hamstring, leave it resting for a minimum of 48 hours.
- Ice – Apply an ice pack to the affected area immediately after injury, it will keep the swelling down. It is recommended that you use cold/ice packs multiple times a day for 20 minutes at a time. Do not apply ice directly to the skin.
- Compression – Wearing things such as elasticated compression bandages help reduce the swelling around the hamstring. It can also limit the movement of your leg to prevent further injury.
- Elevation – Keeping your leg raised on a pillow helps keep the blood flowing and helps reduce the swelling.
You can also take painkillers such as paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs – Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) such as ibuprofen & aspirin to help reduce the swelling. Whilst ibuprofen is an over-the-counter medicine you can also get prescribed other NSAIDs by your doctor if needed.
You may get some scar tissue, but that’s ok. It’s the body’s natural way to repair itself.
EXERCISES FOR HAMSTRING INJURIES
Whilst hamstring injuries are caused by exercise and exercising too soon can damage your muscle, you still need to exercise in order for your muscles to avoid shrinking.
You should start by waiting until the pain has subsidised enough to enable you to do light, gentle hamstring stretches. Once you’re able to do the stretches effectively, it may be time to bump up the exercise to a light walk or cycle until you feel you’re fully fit to resume your normal exercise routine.
Your GP may give you further advice, or refer you to a physical therapist for more exercises.
How To Prevent Hamstring Injuries In Future
If you’re unfortunate enough to experience a hamstring injury, you’ll know they’re not pretty. Therefore you should work hard to reduce injury altogether and not just hamstring injuries.
WebMD lists some useful tips to avoid further/future injuries to your hamstring.
- Warm-Up – Warming up before exercise and effective stretching after physical activity will help your muscles more and leads to less stress
- Slowly Up The Workload – Everyone loves jumping up a weight, but make sure you do it slowly, no more than 10% per week. Too much can overstrain your hamstring and lead to injury.
- Stop exercising if you feel pain in your hamstrings
You can also undertake weight training to help strengthen your hamstrings. An article by MensHealth.com has outlined some terrific hamstring stretching and strengthening exercises to reduce the risk of a further hamstring injury.
- Deadlift
- Romanian Deadlift
- Single-Leg Deadlift
- Hex-Bar Deadlift
- Glute Bridge
- Slider/Swiss Ball Leg Curl
- Kettlebell SwingGlute Ham Raise
- Reserve Sled Pulls
- Machine Leg Curl
- Cardio Row
Here at SS Healthfoods, we sell a variety of home fitness equipment such as barbells & plates, kettlebells and medicine balls that can all assist in hamstring recovery at home.
