hamstring pain won't go away

I'm going through the exact same thing, on about the same timeline as you. I've been trying to follow the good advice from Piedmont Cat on the thread below. Good luck.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3158533

Are you training for The Cup?

I think you got a hamstring. Just stretch it out it'll be ok.

JEO wrote:

I'm going through the exact same thing, on about the same timeline as you. I've been trying to follow the good advice from Piedmont Cat on the thread below. Good luck.

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3158533

Have you noticed any progress? Update us please.

I've had hamstring issues for about 8 months... the longest injury I've ever had that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. For me its kind of a slight strain/nagging pain/tightness that kind of throws off my whole stride. I did PT for 4 months, chiro, etc., time off.. Now I'm just running easy, low mileage.

My suggestions for you, which I do for myself are:

1. foam roller (I've graduated to using a Nalgene bottle)-nothing feels more blissful

and

2. ice

Those are the two things that consistently have helped and keep me running and off the couch.

best of luck

If it's a tear then you need two weeks of no running. If it's a coordination issue, i.e. an imbalance between speed and endurance then you may need lots of slow running to get that coordination back.

I had similar problems in the spring. I would run and my legs would start to cramp and tighten up. By mile 6 or 7 I would have to stop.

Foam roller, massage (graston work and ART), and the biggest thing..I stopped running all hills. I ran on pancake flat ground for 6 weeks and no speed work. Just easy flat runs. The hills seemed to be the issus. Then if finally went away.

Thanks Piedmontcat. I have had improvement. My problem started in mid-July. Before reading your thread, I did a lot of cross-training (elliptical and swimming, primarily) and some very light running on a treadmill (no more than one mile). The symptoms were not going away. In early August I took two weeks off entirely from running. In the second week I started doing some very light hamstring curls (only 15 lbs to start). I've been icing twice a day - the nature of my job prevents doing much more than that.

Yesterday I did a very slow 20 minutes on the TM (at 12:45 pace - practically walking). I didn't feel my hamstring very much. This morning I moved up to 30 minutes at 12:30 pace with no problems. I'm planning on taking tomorrow off so I don't overdo it (although even the 20/30 minute jogs may have been too much).

With fingers crossed, I feel like I'm on the road to recovery. I'm registerd for the Philadelphia Marathon on 11/22. We'll see if I make it.

One more question for you - do you think compression has any value in treating hamstring injuries? I wrapped my thigh in an ACE bandage a few times (not while exercising), but I'm not sure if it did anything.

Thanks again for a very solid contribution to the board.

Shutterfly wrote:

I've had hamstring issues for about 8 months... the longest injury I've ever had that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. For me its kind of a slight strain/nagging pain/tightness that kind of throws off my whole stride.

That is EXACTLY what mine feels like. Eight months, yikes.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try the foam roller and ice. Been trying to massage it w/o a roller, but obviously it's not an easy area to get at. Wish I could afford a real massage!

Shutterfly wrote:a slight strain/nagging pain/tightness that kind of throws off my whole stride.

Yikes, that sounds more like sciatica than a real hamstring muscle issue. Sounds like you've gone down the chiro route, but to the OP (and others), a LOT of runners have had success seeing a chiropractor for nerve problems like sciatica.

The best way to cure sciatica? run more miles. It hurts at first, but eventually the uncoordinated feeling goes away.

If you are trying to get by on less miles than you used to do and trying to make up for this with more 'quality' then that is probably the source of the problem. Most of us have biomechanical issues, but they can be overcome with the right balance of training.

There are plenty of people willing to take money off you by pretending that they can help you with these issues, don't be fooled, you can solve the problem yourself with the right training.

wellnow wrote:

The best way to cure sciatica? run more miles. It hurts at first, but eventually the uncoordinated feeling goes away.

If you are trying to get by on less miles than you used to do and trying to make up for this with more 'quality' then that is probably the source of the problem. Most of us have biomechanical issues, but they can be overcome with the right balance of training.

There are plenty of people willing to take money off you by pretending that they can help you with these issues, don't be fooled, you can solve the problem yourself with the right training.

And what would you know? Just "do more miles"? Sciatica is an inflamed nerve issue, that you can 'numb out' with more miles, only to end up REALLY damaging the root nerves and then subsequently the lower extremeties (e.g., Achilles, ankle etc.) from radiopathic nerve root dysfunction.

The tightness protects the nerve from further damage.

But how to get rid of it? What should I do, sit on my ass and let it get worse?

NO, I start slowly and build up over several weeks.

I don't try to numb the pain. I sort out the loss of coordination and the pain goes away naturally. Without your professional help, thanks but no thanks.

soreness wrote:

Shutterfly wrote:

I've had hamstring issues for about 8 months... the longest injury I've ever had that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. For me its kind of a slight strain/nagging pain/tightness that kind of throws off my whole stride.

That is EXACTLY what mine feels like. Eight months, yikes.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try the foam roller and ice. Been trying to massage it w/o a roller, but obviously it's not an easy area to get at. Wish I could afford a real massage!

I have similar problems. Left untreated I've found it builds up scar tissue and muscle adhesions and breaks down my stride even more.

I believe mine is the case of my hamstring overworking itself. Solution? Work on the muscle that it is overcompensating for. Check the area for weaknesses. Try strengthening your gluts and your lower abs.

clams (the exercise)

I found this site looking for answer to my hamstring pain that has been bothering me for almost two years.

I finally determined the answer (an answer I've been avoiding). It's from sleeping on my stomach with my head / hips facing one direction all the time. Last night I forced myself to sleep the other direction and this morning it feels MUCH better.

I suspected this was the cause as I started getting the pain shortly after starting to share a bed with my now-wife. I started sleeping with my back toward her so I wasn't breathing my morning/sleep breath on her (and vice versa!).

Recently I went on a work trip and noticed that it felt better the next morning. Thinking back on it, I slept on the opposite side that I usually sleep on.

Hope this helps someone!

Roller, stretch, ice probably not going to be enough on its own- go for sports massage

Could also be your glutes which was the case with me after 20 yrs hamstring problems, that was the weakness. Unfortunately rest of legs are shot now anyway!

Roller, stretch, ice probably not going to be enough on its own- go for sports massage

Could also be your glutes which was the case with me after 20 yrs hamstring problems, that was the weakness. Unfortunately rest of legs are shot now anyway!

Check out tigertailusa.com- you can get a foam roller stick. It works great. Seriously. I bought one from MF at a cross-country meet.