HAMSTRING INJURY

Hamstrings injury is one of the most common sports injuries; it occurs most often in sprinting, football and rugby players. The hamstrings are the three sets of muscles on the back of the thighs that are used to extend the hip and bend the knee. They cross both hip and knee joints and are vulnerable to injury during rapid muscle contraction and over-stretching.

When the hamstring muscles are stretched excessively or the muscles are contracted vigorously, muscle fibers will be strained. A direct impact on the hamstring can also tear the muscle.

• Athlete with a history of a hamstring strain, getting older or participating in high-level competitive sports.
• Excessive training or sudden increase in training intensity which exceeding the muscle's load capacity. Muscle fatigue increases the chance of strain
• Insufficient hamstring muscle strength. When two nearby muscles contract at the same time, the weaker muscle is more likely to have a muscle strain. For example, the quadriceps muscles are stronger than the hamstrings, thus the hamstrings are more likely to be strained.
• Muscle strain is also prone to occur when muscles lack flexibility, e.g. lack of stretching before or after exercise, or muscle spasm due to nervousness during a sports event.

When knees are bent or the body is lean forward, the back of the thigh is painful with local tenderness and swelling. In addition, straightening the knee joint can pull on the muscles behind the thigh, causing pain. Athletes usually suddenly feel muscle pain and weakness behind their thighs, just like their back of legs were kicked from behind. In the case of serious injuries, you may even hear a "POP" sound.

Most hamstrings strains are tears in muscle fibers and generally, surgery is not required. In the first few days after injury, you should rest completely, apply ice and pressure with elastic bands, and elevating the affected limb to control swelling. Physiotherapy and non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs also help alleviate pain, reduce swelling, and control subcutaneous muscle bleeding. When pain and swelling subside, exercise therapy should start gradually to improve the range of motion and muscle strength. After regaining full hamstring muscle strength and the pain is eliminated, they can return to the playing field. However, due to different degrees of strain, the recovery time is different. Too early return to the sports may aggravate re-injury. Patients may expect this group of muscles to take much longer to recover, and should not overexert.

• Have adequate and proper warm-up exercises
• Do more static stretching can improve the flexibility of the body and hamstrings muscles
• Maintain good balance of muscle strength between quadriceps (muscles in front of thighs) and hamstrings to avoid muscle imbalance
• Exercise regularly to build muscle strength

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