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.

Sign and Symptoms

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:

• Sharp pain in the hamstring muscle with activity
• Popping sound in the tendons behind the leg
• Swelling and tenderness in hamstring and surrounding muscle regions
• Bruising and discoloration
• Weakness and difficulty with weight bearing activity
• Possible numbness in the lower leg
• Difficulty with flexing and bending at the knee

Injury Description

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.

Treatment Possibilities

Conservative Treatment

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.

Therapeutic Treatment

• Physical Therapy.
  • Often, with any strain, our bodies initial reaction is to protect the injured area. As a result of our bodies natural compensation, we can begin to develop improper mechanics in our walking and daily activity that may alleviate pain initially, but cause more severe problems in the long run. A physical therapist will be able to implement proper exercises to reduce improper mechanics, and strengthen surrounding muscle tissues for increased protection and prevention of future injury.
  • Application of proper and injury specific stretches are key to recovery
  • Deep ultrasound to the affected area can increase blood flow, break up surrounding scar tissue, and aide in faster recovery
  • Massage can be very beneficial in

Surgery

• While a majority of  people tend to fully recover when the above treatments are applied, the remaining percentage do go through surgery and tend to make a full recovery.

Contact Us!

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.

Causes

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:

• Age. As we get older, often the flexability and elasticity in the muscles surrounding the spine tends to decrease, bone density decreases, and the discs in the back can lose fluid resulting in decreased cushioning between the vertebrae.
• Pain is often a result of a  sprain, strain, or spasm in one of the muscles or ligaments in the back due to heavy lifting or over-stretching. If the spine becomes overly strained or compressed, a disc may rupture and put pressure on one of the many nerves in the spinal cord. When these nerve roots become compressed or irritated, back pain results.
• Most low back pain follows injury or trauma to the back (injury received from a car accident being just one example), but pain may also be caused by degenerative conditions such as arthritis, tendinitis, disc disease, osteoporosis, or other bone diseases.
• Other factors that can be associated with back pain may include obesity, smoking, weight gain during pregnancy, stress, poor physical condition, poor posture, and poor sleeping position.

Signs and Symptoms

• Pain in the low back (sharp or dull ache)
• Pain increases with excessive sitting and/or standing
• Muscle spasms and tightness
• Increase in pain with certain movements (bending forward, twisting, etc.)
• Usually associated with a loss of strength and function in the lower back and trunk secondary to pain

Treatment Possibilities

Conservative Treatment

• Rest. While resting is important, studies have shown that it is even more important to resume modified activity as soon as possible, keeping the flexibly in the back from decreasing.
• Ice. Applying ice to the back at least twice a day for first 2-3 days post-injury will help decrease the inflammation and pain associated with activity.
• Heat. After the initial inflammation caused from the injury has ceased, warm baths and heat packs will increase blood flow and promote more mobility to the muscles in the lower back
• Anti-inflammatory medication. Doing all you can to reduce the inflammation to the muscles surrounding the low back will not only decrease the pain, but it will help prevent further damage to the area and promote faster recovery.
• If pain after conservative treatment persists, often more rigorous treatment is necessary.

Therapeutic Treatment

• Physical Therapy.
  • Studies have shown that exercise is key to low back pain recovery. Physical therapists can help to provide a series of modified stretches and exercises that will  help strengthen, but be careful to not re-injure the surrounding area.
  • Along with modified stretches and exercises to promote healing and strength, physical therapists can instruct the individual in correct technique and provide for a quicker and more effective recovery rate.
  • Deep ultrasound to the affected area can increase blood flow, break up surrounding scar tissue, and aide in faster recovery
  • Massage

Surgery

• In the most serious cases, when the condition does not respond to other therapies, surgery may relieve pain caused by back problems or serious musculoskeletal injuries.
• For additional information regarding the types of surgeries available out there, feel free to refer to http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain/detail_backpain.htm to learn more.

Contact Us!

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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