I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard this statement – “I just tweaked my hammy again, but it’ll be fine tomorrow.”  Although a pulled hamstring is a very common injury and often will resolve quickly on its own, doesn’t mean we want to ignore it!

There are many factors which leave someone predisposed to a hamstring injury, such as:

• Muscle weakness
• Lack of flexibility
• Increased muscle stiffness
• Poor lumbar spine posture
• Poor warm up
• Muscle fatigue leading to biomechanical technique breakdown
• Previous injury
• Increasing age

One thing on that list sticks out to me – previous hamstring injury. Once you’ve had one “pulled hammy,” you’re increasing your risk for further strains. In my mind, this is even more reason to deal with all the underlying reasons that your hamstring is taking so much force that it is getting injured.

Contrary to popular belief, stretching your hamstrings is not the only prevention for hamstring injuries. While maintaining adequate muscle length and flexibility reduces the likelihood of a muscle strain, there are many other biomechanical factors that can be addressed by your physiotherapist to prevent hamstring injuries. For example:

• Pelvic Rotation: forward rotation of your pelvis will put your hamstring on “pre-stretch” at rest which increases the risk of over-stretching or straining your hamstring
• Weak Gluteal Muscles: a positive Trendelenburg sign for weak gluteus medius decreases the stability at the pelvis and this translates to increase risk at the hamstring
• Poor lumbo-pelvic control: weak core muscles put increase strain on your low back and increase the curvature which tilts the pelvis, similar to a structural pelvic rotation, this puts the hamstrings on “pre-stretch” at rest
• Poor running technique: over-striding puts the hamstrings in a vulnerable position at ground contact
• Inappropriate training loads: too much weight, or too much too fast without adequate warm up

As you can see, many things lead to predisposition to hamstring injuries. If you have had hamstring strains in the past, book in to see your physiotherapist who will use a combination of manual therapy, exercise prescription, modalities and possibly a running gait analysis in order to help you prevent future injures.

– Lesley Cuddington, Registered Physiotherapist