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Hamstring Strain

Hamstring injuries happen when the hamstring muscles are stretched too far causing tearing of the muscle fibers. Sudden sprints or other fast or twisting motions with your legs are the major causes of hamstring injuries. The primary risk factors for hamstring strain includes: flexibility, imbalances, improper warm up, and age. We offer different hamstring strain exercises to help you ease your pain.

Causes
Symptoms
Treatments

Pulled Hamstring Causes

Hamstring problems aren't exclusive to athletes. The hamstring, an important muscle group in your leg, can become vulnerable through many kinds of activity, even normal everyday walking and jogging. The hamstring muscles are a primary element in helping your knee to bend. When these hamstring muscles become strained, walking or regular movement can become difficult or even impossible.

You might encounter a pulled hamstring in the following cases:

Sudden stops and starts in your exercise routine or lifestyle placing undue stress on your muscles
Working out without stretching or warming up properly beforehand
Overexertion in activities that involve lots of running, jumping, or sudden changes in direction
Stretching further than your body can handle during a warm up

While painful, a pulled hamstring can be treated with the right tools, rest, and rehabilitation exercises.

Hamstring Symptoms

Because most hamstring injuries are caused by sudden movement or over-extension during activities, you will likely know immediately if you have injured your hamstring. It's common for the sufferers of hamstring injuries to experience varying amounts of pain immediately. Should you suffer a severe hamstring injury you should consult a doctor.

If have a pulled hamstring, you may experience:

Inability to walk or stand without severe pain
Difficulty putting weight on your injured leg
Spasms or tightness of the muscle
Tenderness
Bruising and swelling in severe cases

If you've injured your hamstring, you may find it difficult to walk or move your injured leg. As with many other types of muscle strain, rest and gentle rehabilitation exercises are the keys to recovery.

Hamstring Strain Treatment

Once you have experienced a hamstring injury, it’s best to rest and reduce inflammation to protect against a chronic injury. Crutches may be temporarily necessary. If the injury is minor, after a few days, mild activity and stretching can begin again, and prevention becomes key.

Immediate Relief

Rest – One of the first things you can do as muscle pain treatment is to stop doing what you are doing to give your muscles a rest.
Ice – Apply ice to the sore area for 20 minutes, 3 times each day to reduce swelling and provide pain relief.
Compress – Compression can reduce swelling, provide warmth, and increase circulation. Use compression sleeves, such as the Cho-Pat® Thigh Compression Sleeve to aid in providing immediate relief and support. Available in four sizes, this sleeve promotes healing by supporting the injured hamstring and allowing for increased circulation. Moisture-wicking, light-weight sleeve supports your thigh, IT band, hamstrings, and quads. It stabilizes and provides support to the hamstrings, IT band, and quad muscles, while promoting circulation and warmth which controls fluid build-up and enhances healing. The custom material is breathable and facilitates the movement of moisture away from the skin.
Elevate – Elevating the injured muscle can also help to reduce inflammation and swelling, thus reducing pain.

Long-Term Healing

Stretch

CoreStretch® - Strengthen all your core muscles and gain flexibility for maximum injury prevention through proper stretching techniques with CoreStretch. Originally developed for physical therapists, the CoreStretch uses the body’s natural traction to achieve safe, effective stretches. It delivers a variety of key stretches to activate the entire interconnected chain of core muscles (hamstrings, lower back, hips, piriformis, and glutes) in order to alleviate muscle compensation and further injury. The CoreStretch delivers optimal stretching for 3 levels of fitness that can be used in seated, standing, or floor positions.
StretchRite® – The key to StretchRite’s effectiveness is in the ergonomically designed handgrips that allow you to stretch comfortably, increase your range of motion in stages and visually monitor your progress.

Massage

Nonagon Foam Roller - The textured 9-sided foam roller design with a solid EVA foam core connects with the fascia with precision and allows for a deeper, stable, and secure roll without lifting your entire body weight.
Knot Bad Massage Cane - It has five massage knobs on the shaft and is the ideal tool for releasing myofascial trigger points for a deep tissue massage.

NOTE: Consult your doctor before starting any exercise program. It's important to resume your usual activities gradually. If your body isn't completely healed, returning to your usual activities too quickly may only cause continued pain.