Why hamstring injuries occur

Not overdoing things is key when it comes to this type of injury. Many people have a hamstring strain come back because they returned to play too quickly. So follow your doctor's advice and don't push yourself or feel pressure to get back into sports or other activities too soon. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is a Hamstring Strain?

What Are the Symptoms of a Hamstring Strain? Other symptoms of a hamstring strain include: pain in the back of your thigh when you bend or straighten your leg tenderness, swelling, and bruising in the back of the thigh weakness in your leg that lasts for a long time after the injury Page 1 How Is a Hamstring Strain Diagnosed?

The examination will help figure out what grade of strain you have: Grade 1; this is a mild strain. You may experience some pain when you use your leg, but it will be minor and there will be minimal swelling.

Grade 2; this is a partial tear of one or more of the hamstring muscles. This may cause you to limp when you walk and feel some pain during activity. You might see some swelling and bruising, and you might not be able to straighten your leg all the way. Grade 3; this is a complete tear of one or more of the hamstring muscles. You'll feel pain and not be able to straighten your leg all the way, and you'll notice swelling right away. Walking will be very difficult and may require crutches.

What Causes a Hamstring Strain? Some of the more common things that can contribute to a hamstring strain include: Not warming up properly before exercising. Tight muscles are much more likely to strain than muscles that are kept strong and flexible. Being out of shape or overdoing it.

Med Sci Sports Exerc ; Garrett W. Muscle strain injuries. Longitudinal study comparing sonographic and MRI assessments of acute and healing hamstring injuries. Puranen J, Orava S.

The hamstring syndrome--a new gluteal sciatica. Ann Chir Gynaecol ; Neuromusculoskeletal models provide insights into the mechanisms and rehabilitation of hamstring strains. Exerc Sport Sci Rev ; Ali K, Leland J. Hamstring strains and tears in the athlete. Clin Sports Med ; Orchard J. It is possible that these injuries are subtle muscle injuries and below the sensitivity of MRI detection Another explanation is that these athletes in pain may have an alternative diagnosis such as back-related problem, neural tension or muscle spasm Complete avulsions are more common with sports such as water-skiing, dancing, weight lifting, and ice-skating.

In this case, the mechanism of injury is commonly through an eccentric contraction with the hip flexed and the knee extended 10, More than half of the observed muscle strains are located in the hamstrings. This difference is due to the fact that the total injury incidence in Qatar is lower than in Europe, both in training 3. The deeper we have delved into hamstring injury over the last few decades, the more we have learnt as clinicians.

However, we are clearly still some distance away from being able to say that we have solved this problem. Maybe therefore this is an injury we need to prevent rather than treat. The first step in a systematic approach needed to build an evidence base for prevention of sports injury is valid and reliable injury surveillance methods No doubt more dead ends await us, but we can hope that this information is feeding back into management and resulting in reducing the burden of this complex and difficult injury.

PDF Version. Sports Medicine. Cristiano Eirale M. Hamstring muscle injuries in professional football: the correlation of MRI findings with return to play. Br J Sports Med ; Orchard JW. Intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for muscle strains in Australian football. Am J Sports Med ; Epidemiology of football injuries in Asia: a prospective study in Qatar. J Sci Med Sport ; Hamstring strain injuries: recommendations for diagnosis, rehabilitation, and injury prevention. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther ; Hamstring exercises for track and field athletes: injury and exercise biomechanics, and possible implications for exercise selection and primary prevention.

Orchard JW, Seward H. Epidemiology of injuries in the Australian Football League, seasons Hamstring muscle strains in professional football players: a year review. Epidemiology of muscle injuries in professional football soccer. Waterskiing injury.

Aust Fam Physician ; As part of an overall physical conditioning program, regular stretching and strengthening exercises can help minimize your risk of hamstring injury. Try to be in shape to play your sport; don't play your sport to get in shape. If you have a physically demanding occupation, regular conditioning can help prevent injuries. Ask your doctor about appropriate conditioning exercises.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview A hamstring injury occurs when you strain or pull one of your hamstring muscles — the group of three muscles that run along the back of your thigh. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic.