The large muscle group on the back of our legs is collectively called the hamstring. It is made up of three muscles; semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris. The biceps femoris is the most common muscle to be injured in a hamstring injury.
Hamstring Strains
The most common type of injury of the hamstring is strain or "pull". This usually happens in sports that require quick starting and stopping (soccer, football or baseball). There are different grades of strains depending on the severity.
Grade 1 - minor tear of the muscle fibres. Pull or over stretched.
Grade 2 - moderate/significant tearing of the muscles fibres. Partial tear.
Grade 3 - complete tear of the muscle. Into two separate pieces.
Signs and Symptoms
• Sensation of tightness or cramp after activity (over stretch or "pull")
• Immediate pain in back of thigh as well as pain with stretching or with running (partial tear)
• Bruising below the area of pain the next day (partial or complete tear)
• Severe stabbing pain and burning. Unable to walk without pain (complete tear)
Treatment of Hamstring Injuries
The first step in properly treating a hamstring stretch is to reduce the amount of swelling or bleeding (bruising). This is done with the R.I.C.E. principle:
R - Rest your leg
I - Ice the area immediately (not directly on skin) 15 minute intervals
C- Compression (wrap with tensor)
E - Elevate your leg above your heart while lying down
Depending on the severity of the injury therapy may be needed to help with recovery. Interventions like ultrasound, electrotherapy or acupuncture can help reduce swelling and speed healing. Muscle therapy (massage or myofascial release) can help to reduce scar tissue build up and help with new muscle fibre alignment.
Once pain allows it, gentle stretching can begin. This should be done with care and stopped at any sign of pain. Simple resistance exercises can also be started once there is no pain in performing them.
Preventing Hamstring Injuries
As we keep talking about in these monthly newsletters, it's better to prevent an injury from happening than to fix it once it happens. Most hamstring injuries are a result of the muscles either being too weak, stiff or having improper balance.
A proper warm up period before activities is important to get the blood flowing and to increase the temperature of the muscles themselves. Stretching should be saved for after your activity when the muscles are already warm.
Preventive stretching and strengthening of the hamstrings is useful if you are prone to these injuries or have imbalances. These should be done eccentrically (while lengthening the muscle) as this is a common mechanism during injury. As our lower leg is extended/straightening quickly, our hamstrings have to work to slow the leg down. This quick lengthening under load causes the strain or tear.
Importance of Hamstring Strength
While preventing injuries to your hamstrings is an important reason to have good strength, there are other reasons as well. A lack of strength can increase your risk of an ACL injury (knee injury).That is why it is important to have a good combination or ratio of hamstring and quadriceps strength. An ideal ratio is 75 percent.
You can calculate this by performing both a leg extension and leg curl at your one repetition maximum. That means, how much you can lift one time. You then divide your leg curl total by your leg extension total to get your ratio.
For example if you can curl 50 lbs and you leg extension maximum is 100 lbs, you would divide 50 by 100 to get.50 or 50%. Again you want to be closer to 75% and most people are stronger in their quadriceps than hamstrings which can lead to an increase in leg and knee injuries.
Dr. Cameron Edgar helps his patients recover from their injuries faster and get back to their normal daily lives, either at work, home or sport. He and his wife help their community in downtown Burlington, ON at Edgar Family Chiropractic.
You can learn more CLICK HERE
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7850917
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