Pulled Hamstring?

Billy_Brummel · 04-12-2007, 05:36 PM

Last Friday night I think I pulled my hamstring playing softball. I was chasing down a fly ball and -pop- I felt something in my hammy and was lame the rest of the night. I've been doing ice massages (the thing with ice in a styrofoam cup) nightly and trying to keep moving the leg around w/ some scattered sets of air squats. HOWEVER, last night I helped my buddy move and was forced (OK, volunteered) to lift some heavy stuff. Now this morning I woke up with a gnarly bruise right behind my knee. The pain has migrated from the upper hamstring area to right behind my knee. Could this be an extension of the original injury or does it sound like something else entirely different from the first injury?
Any suggestions for recovery activities?
Oh, and I've been IF'ing this week in hopes my body can shift it's focus to the hammy.

Rick Deckart · 04-12-2007, 11:09 PM

I would go to a doc and get a diagnosis. First aid would be rest, ice and compression. If it is pulled you should be able to feel a small gap/hole were it hurts most. If that is indeed the case it will take a while to heal up and will leave scar tissue. If it is strained it should be much better after 2--3 days rest, icing (lots of icing throughout the days!) and compression. Whatever it is it would be good to get the muscle as relaxed as possible. Here is something you can try. Lying on the back pull your knee to your chest or as far as it goes,which might not be much, don't pull till it's hurts stay well below that range. now open the knee actively again only as far before it hurts, place one or two hands on the shin and very lightly press the shin against the hand for 10--20 seconds. rest and repeat. this will lead to some relaxation in the hamstring if done right. Taping the hamstring might help as it offers support and compression, but you need somebody how knows how to tape a pulled hamstring...

Allen Yeh · 04-13-2007, 06:14 AM

I can't offer too much more onto what Peter said in terms of right now.

But as an eye to the future type things I've been reading a lot recently from different T-nation authors Cressey, Poliquin, Robertson saying that a pulled hamstring is typically caused by other things such as postural issues with pelvic tilt or lack of glute activation so your hamstrings shoulder more load than they should. There was a bit of mention of this in the Flexibility section - Lordotic Arch thread.

Robb Wolf · 04-13-2007, 06:30 AM

Definitely get a Dx on that. Bruising means a tear...you DO NOT want one of those muscles to snap from the tendon (or a mid body tear) and roll up like a window shade. It may necessitate an MRI to get a definitive Dx...keep us posted!

Billy_Brummel · 04-13-2007, 07:41 AM

Peter, Allen, Rob-

Thanks for the input guys. To the dr. I go (if Kaiser can get me in any time soon). I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

Rick Deckart · 04-13-2007, 07:53 AM

Take care, a pulled hamstring is no fun. I had two muscle pulls, first my hamstring, this took months to recover from and I can still feel the scar. Then my right biceps (torn in halve, a visible dent the size of one of my middle fingers, no I am not kidding) this was mostly taken care of through rest and while painfull nowhere near as painfull as the hamstring and within a month or so more or less okay for everyday use.

The hamstrig is much fasciae and tendons with little blood supply and naturally lots of tension, due to it's function=it takes longto heal. Whatever you do, abstain from any stretching unless you do it under the supervision of a skilled physiotherapist. It can get worse, much worse after stretching.

Billy_Brummel · 04-13-2007, 08:26 AM

Yeah, I'm really trying to be careful with this one. It's the first muscle-related injury I've ever dealt with and I want to do everything in my power to keep it from becoming a recurring issue down the road.

Probably a good sign that-like Allen mentioned-I need to direct my focus toward some unaddressed mobility/postural/muscle imbalance issues.

Mike ODonnell · 04-13-2007, 11:56 AM

When you are able to....do some mobility work for the hips and surrounding areas.....Chek was one to say that it is not the hamstring that is too tight...but the lack of pelvic stability due to tight hip flexors and weak lower abdominals that cause excessive force by pelvis instability and excessive movements that usually finds it's breaking point on the hamstrings.....that and quad dominance/tightness of the rectus femoris.