A common sporting injury is a pulled hamstring muscle, also called hamstring tear or strain. Such as injury is caused by over-stretching one of the three hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh, and is common in sprinting.

Description

  • Grade 1 Tear: Athlete can walk and possibly slow run with very little or no pain. Fast running may cause pain.
  • Grade 2 Tear: Athlete feels pain when walking. Any running causes definite pain.
  • Grade 3 Tear: Athlete can't walk without aid or with definite pain.

Causes

There are several possible causes of a hamstring injury:

  • Due to the relative inflexibility in this area.
  • An over-stretch of the muscle due to the muscle being fatigued and tight, or after inadequate warm-up.
  • Muscle strength imbalance between the strength of quadriceps and hamstring muscles.
  • Overuse, which gradually gets worse as you continue the activity that caused the problem.
Hamstring strainHamstring strain

Treatment

The first and best treatment for any hamstring tear should be RICE — Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Anti-inflammatory medication is also very beneficial. After a period of RICE treatment, rest and followed by very gentle stretching and then gentle strengthening before any more vigorous treatments are undertaken. Care must be taken to avoid re-injury, as it is very common for the injury to reappear. A severe tear may require surgery.

Prevention

The following steps can help ensure a hamstring injury does not occur or reoccur.

  • The hamstring muscles muscles should be developed at the same rate as other legs muscles,
  • Good flexibility should be maintained and adequate warm-up is performed before all sprint type activities.
  • Training should have a progression to build up and gradually transition to harder and faster workouts.