At ServiceYourBody.ie we see a lot of Hamstring Injuries and as a result get asked a lot about Hamstring Injury Treatment and Prevention.

While there is a lot known about Hamstring Injury Treatment and Prevention, unfortunately the incidence has not diminished. Research has shown that not all hamstring injuries are the same and that certain types of Hamstring injuries require prolonged rehabilitation and return to play programs.

We are often asked how long will it take to recover, again the research is quite inconclusive on this, while it is believed the main tendon (Bicep Femoris) takes longer to recover, there is no one answer, each hamstring injury is different and needs to be treated as such.

Similarly we are often asked how can you prevent a hamstring injury and re injury, various tests have been proposed as predictors of hamstring injury but the evidence is conflicting.

Unfortunately re-injury rates remain high but it is now thought that strength deficits may be an important factor, also strengthening exercise should be performed with the hamstrings in a lengthened position. 

Research has shown that hamstring rehabilitation programs that does not include eccentric loading can leave the muscle to be weak, again these exercises should be done with the muscle in a lengthen position, some exercises that are good examples of this are the Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE), the Romanian Dead Lift and Askling’s ‘extender’, ‘diver’ and ‘glider’ exercises, these are now becoming the main post injury rehabilitation.

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Nordic exercise is an eccentric exercise and research has shown that  the hamstring is best served to be rehabbed in a lengthen position, again the Nordic exercise is lengthening the muscle while under load. This exercise has shown to reduce hamstring injuries by up to 2/3, this was based on a small study of professional footballers.

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It would be good to include these exercises as part of your Hamstring Injury Treatment and Prevention protocol, consider them as part of your training sessions.

If you would like to learn more or book in for a treatment please contact us.