For those of you who are old enough, I want you to think back to 1992 Summer Olympics; more specifically, think back to world renowned sprinter Derek Redmond. On the brink of overcoming the first place runner durning , Derek Redmond ruptured his hamstring mid-stride, eventually falling to the back of the pack unable to carry his own weight . . . but he never gave up. With the help of his father, he finished his race. While the majority of us may not be Olympic athletes, Hamstring tears can happen to us when we least expect it. But just like Derek’s case, help is out there, and we too can hope for a full recovery.
Hamstring strains can come in a variety of different ways, with a variety of different levels of severity; however, hamstring injuries tend to be much more common in activities that involve sudden acceleration and/or jumping. Often, such symptoms associated with hamstring strains are:
Most often, hamstring injuries tend to occur with rapid lunging, running, and/or jumping, resulting in instant muscle trauma and injury. With the hamstring muscle covering a very large portion of the back of our thigh, this sudden jerking can cause a pull in a variety of different portions of our hamstring, causing pain to span up and down the entire back side of our leg. Because the injury is literally caused by extensive pulling of the hamstring muscle, injury is often referred to as a “pulled hamstring.” Oftentimes, a “pop” is heard or felt by the injured athlete, a variable amount of pain is experienced immediately, and the athlete is usually unable to continue and oftentimes cannot even stand. In most cases, however, these large muscles are not very active with our normal walking and standing, and it isn’t until we try to perform activities that involve quick running or jumping that the hamstring muscle really plays an important role.
Luckily, most hamstring injuries can be healed within a few weeks on their own with the proper amounts of stretching, rest, ice, compression wrapping, and anti-inflammatory medication. However, with more severe ruptures of the hamstring, further medical advise is highly recommended.
If you are suffering from any of the following signs or symptoms, and feel like you may be suffering from the pain and discomfort associated with a pulled hamstring, feel free to contact us via email, or call us at any one of our three locations to receive a FREE consultation from one of our licensed physical therapists!
Our ability to avoid low back pain can be compared to our ability to avoid red stop lights on our way to work. No matter how hard we try, or how much faith we may have, the restriction brought about by red lights during our morning commute is practically inevitable. With lower back pain being the second-most common reason for people visiting the doctor these days (flus and colds being first), it is statistically safe to say that almost all of us will experience it’s iron grip someday soon, and no doubt, a better understanding of the nature of this beast could be very helpful in the future.
With low back pain being so common in our lives today, its causes can stem from a variety of different reasons. The following is a list of possible causes associated with back pain:
If you are suffering from any of the following signs or symptoms associated with low back pain, and feel like physcial therapy could aide in your recovery, feel free to contact us via email, or call us at any one of our three locations to receive a FREE consultation from one of our licensed physical therapists!
March is here, the weather is finally starting to warm back up, and our desire to get off the treadmill and back on the streets increases. With the sudden transition from indoor to outdoor, our susceptibility of getting shin splints during our morning activity may increase as well. So, as a guide and ‘voice of warning,’ the following post is meant to aide anyone who may feel like they, too, have succumbed to the grip of that awful, shin splint terror.
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