One of the most common injuries in sport, hamstring strains are suffered not only by athletes, but by adults who sport an active lifestyle and can take weeks to heal. Worse, if not allowed to repair properly, the hamstring will remain more likely to sustain further injury should it undergo stress or strain.

First, some background on function. Your hamstring is the tendon connecting the muscles operating your back and hips. A significantly broader range of functions that the Achilles, Hamstrings keep things like your knees and your hips in motion, and empower you with the mobility to sprint, jump, and squat.

HOW DOES ONE DAMAGE A HAMSTRING?

Similar to the Achilles, subjecting your hamstrings to a sudden load of strain can cause catastrophic damage. When the hamstring is pulled extensively, the muscle’s response to contractions will ultimately yield an injury. Orthoinfo provides an excellent example:

“During sprinting, the hamstring muscles contract eccentrically as the back leg is straightened and the toes are used to push off and move forward. The hamstring muscles are not only lengthened at this point in the stride, but they are also loaded — with body weight as well as the force required for forward motion.”

TREATING HAMSTRING INJURIES WITH INJECTIONS

Pain killers and anti-inflammatories are standardly recommended, but contribute to the complicated background of tendon recovery. Half-measure solutions that simply aren’t designed to hasten recovery, these remedies do little more than provide a brief reprieve. In some cases this lends itself to the misconception that the injury can be exposed to stress resulting in further damage; in every case these treatments are still subjecting the tendon to an inherently slow recovery process.

Alternatively, injection therapies propose giving the injury what it needs, providing support where it wouldn’t exist otherwise. This enhances and expedites a natural recovery, without jeopardizing the patient’s goal of a repair that will stand the test of time.

KEEP THIS IN MIND

There are several considerations in play when it comes to muscle and tendon injuries, and they go beyond how active a lifestyle you lead. The state your muscles are in, both from a stress and a conditioning perspective will contribute to your wellness, and resilience when injury presents itself. Additionally, rehabilitation is a recommended component in any recovery and will yield superior results, whether you consider injections or otherwise.

 

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