Hamstring injuries

Henry42

I've been getting these all year, and am beginning to think that prevention might be better than cure.
Does anyone know of any dietary reasons that could be contributing to me getting them? I have heard that eating too much red meat would weaken your muscles.
Or any other ways to prevent them?

Thanks in advance.

BJohnson

Hi Henry,

I'm a chiropractor in Galway, and I'm also a marathon runner. I treat a lot of running injuries with deep tissue massage... I find a lot of the time recurring injuries like that are due to a chronic strain of the muscle, and getting the knots out make a huge difference. I'm training for a marathon right now and strained a muscle in my hip a few weeks ago - luckily I work with another guy that does the same sort of muscle stripping technique, and I was able to get back out on the road within a few days. The treatment is a bit uncomfortable, but the results are quick, which is why I do it. Once I get the patient out of pain, I get them to do exercises to strengthen the muscles to prevent further injury. I know a few people around the country that practice the same way that I do - if you let me know where you are, maybe I can put you in contact with someone around you. I'd say it's worth a shot.

dudara

It might be worthwhile to do quad exercises, as strengthening them will take some of the stress off the hamstring while it's recuperating. Deep tissue massage is also a great way to go. It helped me no end when I damaged my knee last year

PJG

Hi Henry42,

magnesium is a very good supp to take for muscle problems.

I was getting the same reoccurring injury a few years back, this was due to some alignment issues. So I took some time off training got my back checked out by a chiropractor, my hips aligned by and osteopath and regularly do low horse stance work ( martial arts training trance). When the stance is done correctly it helps strengthen and correctly align ankles, knees and hips. No I never have any problems with the hammers.

Regular training that consists of ruining (particularly on Irish roads) can cause imbalances and alignment problems, would you agree BJohnson?

Also had the deep tissue message

Henry42

Thanks all.

I've been getting deep tissue massage, which seems to speed recovery up, but not prevent it from happening again after a few weeks!

BJohnson - I live in Dundalk - any contacts would be appreciated.

I'll also try some of the things that have been suggested, will pick up some magnesium after work.