Hamstring Injuries and Treatment

What is a Hamstring?

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



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Pain in Your Shoulders

Here's How to Cure it Quickly

If you've got pain in your shoulders, you might think there's nothing you can do. You might've tried popping prescription pills, or maybe you've gone to see your doctor and he just told you to rest?

Whatever you've tried already, you probably haven't tried home physiotherapy for the pain in your shoulder, right?

I suffered a shoulder injury in the gym a while ago, and at first I didn't know what to do. My doctor told me to rest, so I did, but nothing got any better. I still had the agonizing pain in my shoulder. And it was constant - all day, every day, and all night too!

After I did some research on the internet about pain in shoulders, I discovered that you can treat your shoulder pain at home with a few simple stretches and exercises which almost magically restore your shoulder to its natural state.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but gave it a go and felt better after my first session. I persevered, and a few weeks later, here I am back to normal with no more pain in the shoulder!

Home physiotherapy is easy to do, and works to heal the pain in your shoulder for most common shoulder injuries.

All it takes is a special set of stretches and exercises designed to restore range of motion, flexibility, loosen up your shoulder, promote regrowth and restoration of damaged tissues and ultimately: relieve the pain in your shoulder.

Just spend a few minutes a day, probably in the morning before work, going through a simple routine of simple stretching and gentle arm exercises (no treadmills or 100lb dumbbells here!), and you'll be pain free in no time.

It worked for me, and it can work for you too. You don't need to spend hundreds or thousands on doctors and surgery. Give home physio a try today.

After I cured my shoulder pain, I wrote a book about my experiences and documented everything I learned about the special stretches and exercises I'd uncovered during my research.

Click here to get that book and use the same techniques to fix your shoulder pain today. It's easy!




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Treatments For Back Pain

Almost everyone experiences back pain at some point in their lives. For some, the pain goes away quickly, but many experience pain that recurs or becomes chronic. Back pain can get in the way of home, work and social life. It is important to be proactive.

Knowing just what to do for your back can be difficult. 85% of back pain cases are diagnosed as nonspecific, meaning that a cause is not found. It is safe to say that much of the back pain people feel today can be attributed to muscular causes; only a minority of people have spinal degenerative problems that cause pain. For regular sore, aching, nagging back pain, there are things you can do from home to help the pain go away for good.

Stretching

The first and most important step to ridding back pain is to get active. A sedentary lifestyle is detrimental to your body. Muscles that are held in one position for a prolonged period of time become rigid. Chronic muscle tension is a common result of a sedentary lifestyle. It is important to stretch regularly, giving your body a break from the position it holds while you work, watch TV or travel. When stretching for back pain, focus not only on the back muscles but on the hamstrings, hip flexors and gluteal muscles as well.

Strengthening

Muscle weakness is another common problem that causes back pain, mainly because it causes postural dysfunction. Modern conveniences like cushy chairs and couches have encouraged us to grow soft. Without core muscle engagement, our spines are not elongated and posture suffers.

The core consists of muscles in the stomach, lower back, hips and buttocks. These work together to promote pelvic and spinal stability and to assist the spine in holding the upper body upright. It is important to develop core muscles that are not only strong but balanced; an imbalance in the area can pull the pelvis out of alignment and distort posture.

For a helpful series of stretches, see http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/stretching-back-pain-relief. To learn exercises that develop a strong and balanced core, see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047.

Posture

The modern era, with its emphasis on working and playing from chairs, has given birth to a poor posture epidemic. It is common to slump down when you are working at a desk, allowing your lower back to round out and your shoulders to slump forward. Forward head posture is very common among people who use computers, iPhones and other electronic devices regularly.

Stretching and strengthening will help you achieve proper posture, but you must also practice posture awareness. It is easy to sink back into poor habits the minute you sit at your computer desk or pull out your phone. Change the way you do these activities. Adjust the height and angle of your computer chair and monitor to encourage your head to stay properly aligned. Hold your electronic devices to eye-level rather than craning your head down to get closer to them. These may seem like small changes, but when you add up the amount of time you spend with your technology throughout the day, the change adds up for your back and neck as well.

Sleep Factors

How you sleep and what you do it on can play a big role in back pain. Remember, most people spend a quarter to a third of every day in bed. Sleeping on your stomach is not recommended; this allows the lower back arch to increase and can cause muscle tension. If you sleep on your side, put a pillow between your knees to promote proper hip alignment. If you sleep on your back, put a pillow under your knees; this promotes a neutral pelvic position.

If you have been sleeping on a lumpy, sagging mattress, it is time for a new setup. Most people with back problems benefit from firm mattresses that keep the spine and pelvis aligned. Platform beds are excellent supports for a mattress. Memory foam can be placed on top of platform stands to create a firm, uniform bed. If you can't afford a new bed, you might even benefit from sleeping on the floor in the meantime. Many with back pain report beneficial results from the floor versus an old mattress.

Four main prongs of back pain home treatment are stretching, strengthening, posture awareness and sleep adjustment. For the average case of back pain, these changes may be enough to bring relief.

Education in back pain is the cheapest form of self-preservation. Learn about what causes back pain and 4 things that cause sciatic nerve pain. For Next CLICK HERE  OR Back Pain Specialist Dr. Robert Duvall Reveals  HERE 




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