Hamstring pain is the discomfort that results because of the tear in one or more of the hamstring muscles which may be the semitendinosus, semimembranosus and the biceps femoris.
This pain is sometimes referred to as the hamstring strain or pulled hamstring.
How to relieve the hamstring pain: This process should start immediately after the injury has occurred that is the first twenty four hours after the injury.
These methods of relieving pain can be administered by the athlete himself/herself or be carried out by a professional/specialist.
Athlete themselves: a.
Application of cold therapy which is commonly referred to as RICE (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate) technique.
The athlete should rest while resting then ice should be applied on the injured area experiencing pain followed by compression and raising the area.
b.
Application of a compression bandage, this is used in minimizing intra muscular bleeding.
c.
Mobilization of the lower injured limb.
This is important in taking the muscles back to where they were before the injury.
This can be done by stretching and strengthening exercises.
This helps to decrease the level of swelling of the injured area and it is also important in orientation of muscles.
A sports specialist can do the following in relieving hamstring pain: a.
Sports massage: these are techniques that are employed in order to speed up the recovery and most importantly relieve the pain.
Sports massage also goes along way in rehabilitating the affected area or muscles.
The massage will help in breaking down collagen network thus allowing for the realignment of muscle fibers and finally minimize scar tissue.
Massage done immediately enhances blood flow in the injured area as this will help in decreasing or relieving the pain.
b.
Ultrasound therapy: this is a therapeutic ultrasound treatment of hamstring pain/injury.
The ultrasonic waves are generated by a mechanical vibrator and these waves are directed on the surface of the skin region where the injury occurred.
This leads into production of heat within the tissue thus extensibility of ligaments, tendons and scar tissue hence reducing the pain and muscle spasm thus healing.
c.
Rehabilitation: This is used to relief pain depending on the grade of the injury and can take days before the pain goes away.
Grade one injury may involve resting from activities which cause pain, cold therapy application, use heat later, stretch sports massage and other activities that will help to clear the pain.
Grade two may include activities in grade one with slight variations depending on the extent of the injury.
Others are grade three.
d.
Static stretching: this can either be done by internal rotation or external rotation.
Internal rotation include sitting with one leg bent while the other is straight, rotate the straight leg and stretch the thigh, hold the stretch and repeat this for five minutes.
External rotation is the same as external but here the leg is to be rotated outwards.
e.
Other things that can be done to relief the Hamstring Pain include provision of mobility through aids such as crutches and in severe cases surgery may be administered to repair the damage.