Strained Hamstring - How long??

Like Kiprop just use some Hgh and rest. If its only a stain, it should be fine in a week. look for swelling and color. If there is some, not good. watch out for RICE, not sure thats the best thing. i have not been sticking to RICE for over a year, since the study came out and the guy that "invented" RICE now has second thoughts.

Take this from an expert, sadly.

When I first strained my hamstring it was a result of cumulative stress from training, not from a specific hard workout or event. I had done too much speed in too short a time, and on an easy 4-miler it just "went." I babied it along for a while and it was OK, flaring up now and then after some initial time off.

That was the problem. The fact that I could baby it along meant I went on it for a while without fixing the root problem—muscle weakness and inflexibility in my hamstring. Finally, after I strained it for the 3rd time (it took less and less to do it each time), I went to a specialty doctor (a runner himself) who recommended physical therapy and A-STYM massage.

I would highly recommend physical therapy if it is indeed strained. My PT was stretching and strengthening work that gradually got more difficult, accompanied by A-STYM massage to break up the scar tissue from my many mild strains I tried to self-treat. BY the time I got to PT, I had a big muscle imbalance along my whole posterior muscle chain on my right leg. My glute was often as sore as my hamstring because it was so used to working differently to compensate for my weak hamstring.

Lastly, once you get feeling better, DO NOT get lazy with your stretching and strengthening. Your imbalances will return, and so will opportunities for injury (I know. Been there).

If it really is mild, you could probably be OK with self treatment. In the short term, use ice and rest to recover as quickly as possible. Then, as soon as it starts feeling better, use vigorous massage or foam rolling. Lastly, to avoid long-term issues, make sure you add specific hamstring flexibility and strengthening exercises to get that muscle strong and lithe. My PT, a former college track athlete, taught me specific exercises to use, which I felt was very helpful.

Good luck.

Crap... A small bruise. I don't mind running slow & long. What does it look like??

Olympic Truth wrote:

Like Kiprop just use some Hgh and rest. If its only a stain, it should be fine in a week. look for swelling and color. If there is some, not good. watch out for RICE, not sure thats the best thing. i have not been sticking to RICE for over a year, since the study came out and the guy that "invented" RICE now has second thoughts.

Do you know what the doubts about RICE are? It has always worked for me

this happens to me once a year or so lately because of imbalance. i'm almost positive it happens because one of my hips gets weak and tight, and makes me change my gait. Check your calves, one of them is probably very tight, no?the most important thing is to resist the urge to do anything the first 3-4 days. just relax, ice, and start hip strengthening. Do some serious calf rolling, stretching, and perhaps some calf strengthening. for me, tight calves equal lots of other problems (hamstring, achilles) loosen your ankles as much as you can too. tight ankles screw up your gaitno running. get a massage but don't mess with the hammy too much. What you should be aware of is swelling or bruising. don't start doing anything until that's gone. this is super importantwhen you are ready to run, i'd recommend going to a fitness club and doing an easy 10-15 minute warmup on a bike to loosen up. like 85-100 rpm. then begin with a walk and eventually a jog on the treadmill. It'll feel tight and it's up to you to decide what is too much. You can always step off. What I've realized is that the first 1-2 miles might feel tight but it loosens up some. i've started and felt like it wasn't going to be good and ended running 6 miles with the last 3 at 5:50 pace and loosening up. i've also rushed in and pushed too hard,setting myself back more. be careful. hip strength/stretch and ice hammy after. use your best judgement and don't rush into it.when i am 75-85% back, i alternate ice and heating pad 3-5 times a day for 15 minute increments, and usually do a lot of stretching and hot bath before icing then going to sleep. calf/quad/hip strengthening. monitor your quads, they could be tight.basically, i never stretch my hamstring until it's almost all better. lots of foam rolling it though (it'll likely be sensitive, but slowly work the knots out)do some hamstring stretches with a strap if you must. be careful and warmed up when you do.i've actually been to a great yoga teacher/Physical therapist and his rec. is to do active recovery. you could sit on the couch for 4 months and go for a run and it wouldn't have healed. the muscle fibers scar and bind to themselves. you've got to work it out.i'm usually back in 6-10 days, and use an upper keg compression sleeve for the first hard effort or two. usually i do about 10 days of easy runs with fartlek and tempo miles (5:40-600) to stay in shape. also, this might be the cause but just speculation. It's usually my left hammy and it acts up the most when i run track workouts. if i run clockwise (right leg inside lane) the problem doesn't act up. just a thought if you are doing track wart's...good luck

hurt... wrote:

Crap... A small bruise. I don't mind running slow & long. What does it look like??

TAKE IT SLOW! I strained mine badly and tried to keep pushing for a few weeks. Did not do myself any favors as I caused small micro tears to the muscle as well as straining it much more severely, and I was out of commission for 6 months. If you treat it right, it can be as little as 2-3 weeks until you can start getting back out there.

Get to a PT as soon as you can, and really don't do anything on it. You may feel pain up your glutes not into your lower back as another poster said, but it can also travel down to just above your knee and out to your hip.

Electrical stimulation and working the area with deep massages will help break up scar tissue. Some VERY light stretching is OK, but you must be very very cautious about it.

Avoid any activities like basketball, football, soccer, anything like that. Swimming can be helpful to strengthen the muscles and avoid an imbalance.