Hamstring Muscle Injuries
A common sporting injury is a pulled hamstring muscle, also called hamstring tear or strain. Such as injury is caused by over-stretching one of the three hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh, and is common in sprinting.
Description
- Grade 1 Tear: Athlete can walk and possibly slow run with very little or no pain. Fast running may cause pain.
- Grade 2 Tear: Athlete feels pain when walking. Any running causes definite pain.
- Grade 3 Tear: Athlete can't walk without aid or with definite pain.
Causes
There are several possible causes of a hamstring injury:
- Due to the relative inflexibility in this area.
- An over-stretch of the muscle due to the muscle being fatigued and tight, or after inadequate warm-up.
- Muscle strength imbalance between the strength of quadriceps and hamstring muscles.
- Overuse, which gradually gets worse as you continue the activity that caused the problem.
Hamstring strainTreatment
The first and best treatment for any hamstring tear should be RICE — Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Anti-inflammatory medication is also very beneficial. After a period of RICE treatment, rest and followed by very gentle stretching and then gentle strengthening before any more vigorous treatments are undertaken. Care must be taken to avoid re-injury, as it is very common for the injury to reappear. A severe tear may require surgery.
Prevention
The following steps can help ensure a hamstring injury does not occur or reoccur.
- The hamstring muscles muscles should be developed at the same rate as other legs muscles,
- Good flexibility should be maintained and adequate warm-up is performed before all sprint type activities.
- Training should have a progression to build up and gradually transition to harder and faster workouts.
Related Pages
- More about the Hamstring Muscles
- See treatment for other sporting injuries
- Muscles of the human body
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