Hamstring Injury..the GAA mans curse...Any advice

poochie2009

Hey all,

3 weeks ago today at half seven in the evening(how could i forget the pain and time!!)i pulled my hamstring for the first time in my life.since then,i have done physio,strenghtening exercises,swimming,cycling,heat,ice baths,salts baths,jogging,3/4 running and nearly sprinting until last nite i had another tweak in it and its a huge setback due to me been involved in the first round of the championship next saturday.
Now,im at a stage where i need advice from normal joes instead of listening to physios telling me the same stuff..has anyone any help or tips that might help me out?the clock is ticking...

p.s.i play in the full back line so sprinting is everything..

kevpants

Have you tried foam rolling or "the stick"? It's not a miracle cure but it will improve recovery, often quite spectacularly. There are tonnes of instruction vids on youtube and don't concentrate on just your hamstrings, go to town on your IT band, quads and glutes.

I know you can get the in Physioneeds in Ringsend if you are in Dublin or your physio may be able to tell you where to get one if you aren't.

celestial

Are you lifting weights? Lower body work is important for strengthening the glutes, hamstrings - exercises like deadlifts, good mornings etc, are great.

Vamoose Killers

3 weeks? Jesus. When I did mine I wasn't trying to sprint until the 8th or 9th week. Didn't have any problems after that. I think people sometimes underestimate how much rest they actually need. I know from my own experience - used to have a lot of groin trouble and never gave it the proper rest it needed.

Seriously, apart from doing the exercises the physios are telling you to do, rest.

poochie2009

Ya,i have the foam roller and i find it great for my lower back and calfes.
well considering it was a grade 2 tear which they say is 4 -6 weeks but as you well know,time is a bitch.
iv done a lot of weights in the off season but kept my posture in good shape as i was doing the sessions..
i reckon its just a case of rest and grin and bear it if i cant play sat week..

Vamoose Killers

Yep I'm afraid so. I remember doing mine a few years back (lots of bruising on the area a week after) and it was extremely painful I must say. Felt it acting up a little towards the end of the first half. Stupidly decided to continue on and play the second half. Wasn't comfortable at all. Got the first ball kicked in towards me, collected it, proceeded to clear it with a kick and then it went.

I missed a good few games because of it but it didn't really bother me as I knew I couldn't rush back. Hate going to physios but it has to be done sometimes.

Best of luck with it.

poochie2009

ya, thats my fear,that i will feel ok come next sat,play and look like a complete idiot when it tears after the first run...."lied about his fitness"would be sprung from the gaa dictionary..

CatFromHue

you should really be careful with hamstring injurys, they are terrible. You feel fine jogging, fast jogging then try sprinting and it goes worse than before.

I'd just do what the physio says and don't push it, you dont want to tear it badly and miss more of the season.

did the physio give you exercises to do? you will lose fitness but if you can do some cycling that may help reduce the fitness lost.

poochie2009

sounds just what i did..jogging..3/4.. then some sprinting..even that isnt too bad..its when i put the power into the tackle and the weight transfers,all hell breaks.
the physio gave me loads of exercises from stretches to tens machine to fsm machine and back to exercises...
i swear,i honestly dont think iv left anything out but 2 things seem to be hitting me in the head.
its that rest and patience are the best cure.

rebel girl 15

The most popular fitness test for hamstrings is backwards running, so if you can't do that comfortably, I would not risk it. Has the physio looked at your back, quite a few hamstring injuries originate in the back.

If you keep going, you can do worse damage, and be out for longer. I know how frustrating it can be, I have back damage that is going on for months, and it causes my hamstrings to feel tight even though they are not according to my physio.

Good luck with it, but be careful - you really don't want to end up back where u started with the initial injury or worse

poochie2009

hey rebel girl...
ya,back problem ok...i had some problems last year but i worked on my posture situation and im ok now...golf is a nightmare during the year so i even had to curtail that.
Situation is that im feeling fine this morning after 3 ice baths at home over the weekend,which im never ever doing again such was the mental and physical agony...not to bad when there is a gang around in the club telling you to get in but when you are on your own...birr...
anyways,did a nice bit of running yesterday so im training 2mw night and see how it goes but ill only be going at 3/4 pace..

Hanley

Dude, seriously, a pull/tear generally happens for a reason (imbalance, flexibility, strength whatever). Icing it, resting and hoping it will go away is gonna do sweet FA.

You need to find a compotent physio who'll carry out some sort of functional analysis and look for the cause of the problem, and not just give ya a rub down on your hamstring.

Roper

Is that a rehab programme you're on or are you sort of making it up as you go?

Thereare really only two causes of most hamstring injuries- inflexibility or weakness. Mostly it's weakness. What sort of supplemental hamstring work do you do?

poochie2009

WHOOOOO...hold on guys,
i think the wrong message came out in all the posts..
Since the day i got injured which was 3 weeks ago last friday,one hour after the injury i was in a qualified physio getting FSM treatment to reduce the bleeding and swelling..next 3 days i was icing and resting my leg until the swelling went down and slightly stretching to align the muscle.
then the physio starting working on it with the ultrasound and light rub and stretches... and also assessing where the problem could have come from and working on a programme to amend.
I bought a tens machine and started to use that with hot and cold treatment.. along with a stretching session with the physio every second day.
After 9 days i started jogging and started a set of rehab stretches in the gym ever so light.
the as the days went on i upped the running and was doing a programme in the gym of treadmill walking at incline levels,stretches and swiss ball exercises.ie.leg curls,lunges,lower back strenghting.etc.(in case your wondering do i know what im doing in a gym i love gyms and iv been doing core exercises for 2 years now..standing on a swiss ball doing sqauts holding a 20kg weight is the norm for me)

the mistake i made is going back training with the lads last tuesday when i shouldnt have..i got a dart in my leg again and thats why the icebaths had to be done..

sorry if some of you think i did it all wrong but iv seen a hell of a lot of physios since i was 16 and they all have different ideas...

Hanley

poochie2009 wrote: »

WHOOOOO...hold on guys,
i think the wrong message came out in all the posts..
Since the day i got injured which was 3 weeks ago last friday,one hour after the injury i was in a qualified physio getting FSM treatment to reduce the bleeding and swelling..next 3 days i was icing and resting my leg until the swelling went down and slightly stretching to align the muscle.
then the physio starting working on it with the ultrasound and light rub and stretches... and also assessing where the problem could have come from and working on a programme to amend.
I bought a tens machine and started to use that with hot and cold treatment.. along with a stretching session with the physio every second day.
After 9 days i started jogging and started a set of rehab stretches in the gym ever so light.
the as the days went on i upped the running and was doing a programme in the gym of treadmill walking at incline levels,stretches and swiss ball exercises.ie.leg curls,lunges,lower back strenghting.etc.(in case your wondering do i know what im doing in a gym i love gyms and iv been doing core exercises for 2 years now..standing on a swiss ball doing sqauts holding a 20kg weight is the norm for me)

the mistake i made is going back training with the lads last tuesday when i shouldnt have..i got a dart in my leg again and thats why the icebaths had to be done..

sorry if some of you think i did it all wrong but iv seen a hell of a lot of physios since i was 16 and they all have different ideas...

Ok but other than all the rubbing and attention they paid to your hamstring, did they tell you WHY you injured it??

Ya can talk about different schools of thought, but unless you're treating the cause of the injury, you're wasting your time.

poochie2009

well basically,it was a weakness of possibly overtraining and tightness in my lower back(cant rem the correct terms).i was doing the team training and then gym sessions in between as well with feck all rest.The day i pulled it,i went down to the driving range and hit 60 balls...that didnt help..
i wouldnt mind but i did 10 sessions on pilates this preseason as well to give more flexibility and iv always been carefull with warmups..
iv a game sat and im trying to fit a 4-6 week injury into 4.can it be done and is strapping any good in your opinion.respect any ideas or thoughts at this stage

rebel girl 15

I've been out with my back and hip, and my physio has me on a Pilates based approach.

You need to be doing the pilates all the time, as a maintance thing. I have a weakness in my lower back, and my physio told me that I'll be doing some sort of exercise my back in future years. It causes tightness in my hamstrings, so they feel quite tight, but in fact the muscle is not.

Personally, I find strapping very annoying - it can cause you to run differently, and induce another minor injury. I'd say ask your physio about it -

BorderGap

Poochie 2009 - how did you get on? did you manage to play? Did you strap the injury?
I have had the same injury for 6 weeks now and have a big game this weekend, i'm up to 3/4 pace runs but after 45 minutes feel my hamstring tighten up that much that i have to stop running. any advice.........

Ponisi Pilates

Sounds like you tore the hamstring ( do u know which of the 3 the tear occurred in?) Rest and ice which u have followed to initially heal but you seem to need more flexibility work to lengthen as well as strengthen ur hamstrings. They will always suffer within a sport that comprises of slow to sprint running when flexibility is an issue. Pilates is a gr8 way to increase / improve ur flexibility, encourage healing and prevent injury. Please check out ur instructor though before u commence training.