# Strange Hamstring Injury



## woodyak (Jan 20, 2004)

I have this nagging hamstring injury that won't go away. I first got it about a year ago while playing ultimate frisbee in the snow. It was a fairly light tweak that kept me from playing for a week or so. I was able to play at 100% after that but it still bothered me a bit. I could push myself as hard as I wanted and the worst that would happen is that it would bother me a little bit so I pretty much ignored it. Later on I had a pretty serious lower abb/groin pull injury that took about 6 months to fully heal and I recently had lower back strain injury that took about 2 months to fully heal. To heal these other two injuries I did a lot of stretching along w/light workouts. The other 2 injuries ran a normal course of healing while this hamstring remains unchanged.

The weirdest thing about this injury is that it's not that painful or restricting it's just annoying. I can bike and play disc and rock climb to my hearts content but the injury remains. The worst pain is when I'm sitting in the car for longer than 2 hours. It will just start throbbing to a point where it becomes very painful. Once I get out the car and walk for a couple of minutes it resets the "throb counter"

I recently began stretching the hammy before and after all activities being careful not to overdue it. I'm also being careful to work myself into activities to see if that helps. My buddy who is a PT wants to look at it and do all the PT stuff. I plan on doing that shortly but I wanted to see if anyone else has come across this before. Anyone?


----------



## BoiseBoy (Mar 1, 2006)

*PT "stuff"*



woodyak said:


> I have this nagging hamstring injury that won't go away. I first got it about a year ago while playing ultimate frisbee in the snow. It was a fairly light tweak that kept me from playing for a week or so. I was able to play at 100% after that but it still bothered me a bit. I could push myself as hard as I wanted and the worst that would happen is that it would bother me a little bit so I pretty much ignored it. Later on I had a pretty serious lower abb/groin pull injury that took about 6 months to fully heal and I recently had lower back strain injury that took about 2 months to fully heal. To heal these other two injuries I did a lot of stretching along w/light workouts. The other 2 injuries ran a normal course of healing while this hamstring remains unchanged.
> 
> The weirdest thing about this injury is that it's not that painful or restricting it's just annoying. I can bike and play disc and rock climb to my hearts content but the injury remains. The worst pain is when I'm sitting in the car for longer than 2 hours. It will just start throbbing to a point where it becomes very painful. Once I get out the car and walk for a couple of minutes it resets the "throb counter"
> 
> I recently began stretching the hammy before and after all activities being careful not to overdue it. I'm also being careful to work myself into activities to see if that helps. My buddy who is a PT wants to look at it and do all the PT stuff. I plan on doing that shortly but I wanted to see if anyone else has come across this before. Anyone?


I would take your friend up on his offer.
A couple of thoughts are running through my mind, but it is difficult to Dx a person through a forum like this/Telemed.
I would be willing to bet that there are some spinal issues going on that are contributing to all of your sx's.
It is not uncommon for a Labral tear of the hip to refer the pain and exprerss itself in relentless Hamstring tightness/pain and that nagging discomfort on your Ischial Tub (the butt bone that you sit on).
Muscles (hamstrings) are passive devices and do what the nerological system want them to do. Have you ever wondered why people can stretch as often and as much as they like, but never seem to gain in their muscular flexablity or improve their stiffness? This is often because the muscle (hamstring) is not the isseu. Neurologically, we have certain patterns in our bodies that you can see in every person on every corner of the Earth. These have to do with agonist/antagonist relationships. Many people have tight hip flexors, hamstrings and IT bands!
I won't bore you with this whole lecture, we could be here a long while!

Bottom line, it sounds like you have a bit of a spine issue. You need to get looked at by a good manual therapist that can tell you what is happening at the spine, fix any instabilities/facilitated segments, and show you how to really work on your inner core (Transverse Abd and Multifidi). If they have you doing a crunch/sit up or any exercise on a ball the first day or two then they likely don't know what to do properly for your core.
Lower Lumbar instabilities will often cause the Iliolumbar ligament to become tight along with the hamstrings as well. Because of imbalances, the Psoas will most often have issues as well.

All of your issues in the hamstrings, abdominal strain, and back pain are likely related. Every day stretching and exercising will not likely take care of the real problem. It may get bette for a short time, but it will return unless you get the underlying issues taken care of.

Go see your PT and they should get you on the right track.

Good luck


----------



## woodyak (Jan 20, 2004)

Thanks for the response. When I talked to my bud on the phone he thought it might be spine related as well. We'll find out soon enough.


----------



## peterh88 (Apr 6, 2007)

I thought I would share this with you all.
Six weeks ago I was on a normal training ride getting ready for the "Otway Odessey" in Australia.
I was riding a loop and had already rode this slight downhill section three times.
What the fu&$ happened I don't really know, all I remember was the front wheel stopping and me going over the bars.
Landed directly on top of my head, smashed the helmet and fractured 4 bones in my neck and back.
The fractures are at C7, T3, T5 and T4 in what the doctors call a burst fracture where the bone on impact squashes and explodes outwards ( you can see the burst fraction in the pic).
Three weeks in hospital, three months in a upper body cast and a neck brace.
Best thing about this injury, I can still walk and I will be back on the bike in about six months
and should expect full recovery in twelve months.
Please always wear a helmet, my helmet, although destroyed saved my head from massive fractures.

Cheers

Peter


----------



## peterh88 (Apr 6, 2007)

Sorry wrong place to post this one


----------

