Everything You Need to Know About Hamstring Injuries

The hamstring muscle is responsible for your hip and knee movements while you walk, run, squat, bend your knee or tilt your pelvis. These are a group of muscles at the back of your thigh, and they are known as:

• Biceps femoris
• Semimembranosus
• Semitendinosus

These muscles connect the bottom of the pelvis and the shin bones. They work in opposition to the quadriceps muscle, which is located at the front of the thigh. 

Hamstring injury

Hamstring injuries are very common, especially for athletes. Games like soccer, tennis, skating, dancing, etc. require sudden and frequent movements and thus can cause hamstring injuries. If you engage in any such activity that requires hamstring muscle to stretch and contract very quickly, you can suffer from a hamstring injury. 

You can consult a podiatrist Irvine to understand how hamstring injuries are handled. Podiatrist in Irvine attends to several patients with hamstring injuries around the year. Right from basic treatments to advance surgeries, they undertake everything. Besides, they even have many different satellite offices, which you can visit anytime. 

How Do Hamstring Injuries Occur?

When there is one or more tear in the muscles or tendons of hamstrings, pain, and discomfort is experienced. Just like any other muscle damage, hamstring injuries are divided into three grades:

1 – a mild muscle pull

2 – a partial muscle tear

3 – a complete muscle tear or rupture

How the injury occurs depends on the type of physical activity you are doing. For instance, for an athlete who requires to kick frequently, the injury occurs because of overstretching the muscles. On the other hand, sometimes in sports, when already exhausted muscles are rapidly used, it can cause strain or tear in the muscle. 

Usually, pain and swelling are connected with a hamstring injury. However, if hamstring fibers have been ruptured, bruising can also be noticed around the hamstring area. 

For beginners, the imbalance between the hamstring and quadriceps leads to injury. On the other hand, for advanced players, hamstring injuries are associated with going extra hard for a longer time. Whatever the condition is, consulting an Irvine Podiatrist in case of suffering from an injury is a good idea. 

Determining whether you have a hamstring injury or not?

An experienced podiatrist will immediately let you know the cause of your pain and discomfort. However, if before going to a podiatrist, you want to determine your condition, here are a few pointers for you:

Symptoms of mild strain or pull:

• Pain will begin once you have completed your activity and are resting
• Pain will increase when you are walking or jogging uphill
• You will not be able to bear your weight on the affected leg
• You will feel muscle tightness in the affected leg

Symptoms of a partial tear:

• Immediate pain
• Pain upon bending the leg
• Tenderness
• Unable to bear weight on the affected leg

Symptoms of a complete muscle tear or rupture

• Experiencing sudden stabbing pain in the affected area
• Immediate inflammation
• Tenderness
• Bruising
• Feeling weakness in the injured leg and unable to weight bear

Treatment

The first thing you must do after suffering from a hamstring injury is apply ice over the affected area. This will control pain and reduce swelling and inflammation. If the pain is unbearable, it is best to consult a Podiatrist immediately. Your podiatrist will prescribe some ointment or medicine for pain depending on the severity of your injury. 

Also, your Orange County Podiatrist may recommend seeing a physiotherapist for gentle stretching and exercises. When you are going through your treatment, you must change your running style (if you are an athlete). However, if it’s just mild to moderate injury, conservative treatment options will be recommended.  

To speed up the healing process, provide support, and reduce the chances of re-injury, the following are suggested:

• Biomechanical diagnosis and correction
• Managing neuro-dynamics
• Enhancing trunk muscle control
• Strengthening weakened muscles
• Incrementally increasing running 
• Stretching tight muscles regularly
• Gradually going back to normal routine

Most of the patients only suffer from mild to moderate injury and it is treated using conservative methods. However, if your injury is severe, your podiatrist may recommend going for surgery. A specialist surgeon will be involved for effective treatment. 

Recovery time for a hamstring injury

How quickly you seek treatment, and how well you are going through it will determine your recovery time. For most individuals, recovering from hamstring injuries is not very time-consuming, however, for some, it can be frustratingly long. Nevertheless, keep in mind that the chances of re-injury increase if proper care is not taken the first time. 

Generally, it takes about 2 to 3 weeks before you can go back to your normal activities. Then again this will be based on:

• Absence of pain
• Recovered strength
• Recovered flexibility
• Ability to perform all activities normally

So, you see, hamstring injury is not that big of a deal, but it certainly needs proper care and attention. if you are experiencing any of the symptoms mentioned above, it is best if you consult a podiatrist without any delay. Let your podiatrist help you in determining your level of injury and thereby suggest you proper course of treatment.