Hamstring Injuries

26/02/2014

Hamstring injuries are particularly common in sports involving running and/or kicking. The injury may involve a tear in the muscle belly (muscle strain) or injury to the tendon (tendinopathy), which attaches the muscle to the bone.

Muscle tears can occur during sprinting, when the muscle is contracting/shortening or can occur when the muscle is on stretch like when your leg is out straight after kicking a ball. A recent Swedish study showed that sprinting injuries tend to rehabilitate quicker than stretching injuries. Re-injury is common after a hamstring tear and a physiotherapy prescribed rehabilitation program helps to reduce the chance of re-injury and get you back to sport as soon as is safely possible.

Hamstring Tendinopathy is common in runners, particularly those doing middle to long distance running and a lot of hill running. It often presents as lower buttock pain and can refer to the back of the thigh. A running assessment by your physiotherapist is useful to see if you are over striding or if there is any muscle imbalance which may have lead to the injury. If you would like more information on these injuries please call InnerStrength of Bayside on 8555 4099.

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