Hamstring Injuries

Hamstring Injuries
These are the muscles on the back of the leg. The most common injury is a strain (an injury to a muscle or a tendon that tears due to overstretching) or usually called a "pulled hamstring." (Sprains are what happen to ligament)

There are three muscles that make up the hamstrings:
1. Biceps Femoris
2. Semitendinosus
3. Semimembranosus

The injury occurs in sports that require sprinting with quick stopping and starting movements, such as, basketball, football, tennis, soccer, hockey, etc.
Signs and symptoms of a hamstring injury include:

• A sudden, sharp pain in the back of your thigh during an activity
• A popping or tearing sensation in the muscle
• Swelling and tenderness within a few hours of the injury
• Bruising or discoloration along the back of your leg
• Muscle weakness or inability to put weight on your injured leg

What to do first:

1. "Use crutches or some form of support to assist walking, immediately apply ice to the area, using some form of compression, such as an ACE bandage to hold the ice in place, for at least 20-30 minutes.
2. Do not apply ice directly to the skin. Avoid further injury to the muscle. You should be seen by a doctor or trainer within the first 24-48 hours after a severe injury of this type.
3. Avoid aspirin and the aspirin-like anti-inflammatory medications during the very early stage of injury (6-12 hours), as there is often a moderate amount of bleeding around the injured/tom muscle and this may be worsened by taking these medicines immediately after the injury.
4. Continue to use cyclic ice therapy, every 2-4 hours for the first 3-7 days after the injury.
5. Continue to use the crutches and allow the injured muscle to begin healing for at least one week.
6. Even if the pain is much better within that first week, avoid any recurrent stress, such as running, to the muscle, as the muscle is greatly weakened and relapse is very common."

--- http://www.algj.com/hamstring-injuries.html

How Sports Medicine Acupuncture Treats Hamstring Imbalances:

*Note - we still treat you even during the acute phase of injury..... please see your orthopedic doctor, ER treatment or your team doctor first.

1. Assessment: We conduct full postural deviation tests, manual muscle testing, orthopedic testing and traditional Chinese tongue and pulse diagnosis.

2. Treat using the SMAC (Sports Medicine Acupuncture Certification - Matt Callison) acupuncture protocol. The treatment will be acupuncture, soft tissue release, external Chinese herbal treatment and rehabilitative exercises.

3. This allows us to make sure that the entire kinetic chain (the body's nerves, muscles, and skeleton that are connected by joints so that the segments operate together) is in proper alignment.

4. Acupuncture is based on how each individual "presents" with their signs and symptoms. The idea is to not only work on the hamstring muscle imbalances and/or postural deviations, but also on the channels or meridians that are affected and correcting those.

Call for a postural evaluation - (623) 581-3300.
We're located at the N.E. Corner of 7th St. & Union Hills.
Phoenix, AZ 85024

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Disclaimer: This blog and information herein is provided for informational purposes only. It is not designed to diagnose, treat, or cure any problem. You should contact your physician for further information, diagnosis,and/or testing discussed in this blog. Sports Medicine Acupuncture will then treat after these steps are taken.