High hamstring tendinopathy

I heard someone say you can heal it by using KT tape and avoiding airplane seats.
Don't take my word for it though.

I'm pretty sure you have high hamstring tendinopathy. I have had this problem on and off for years; it comes back when I do too many miles and don't keep up with my exercises. It feels exactly how you describe - a deep ache. But it sounds like you are catching it earlier than I did, so I'm sure you can get back to running before I did. Mine wasn't diagnosed for about 6 months, and I kept running, as we crazy runners always do!

I had stem-cell and PRP, followed by 3 mos of no running. I don't think it did much, albeit it wasn't as bad after the treatment. Then I went to a trainer who just told me to do two-leg RDLs with heavy weight; enough so that I exhausted my hamstrings by the 15th rep. Three sets each day. I also wasn't firing my glutes (I think; I may have the wrong muscle I can't recall...) so I had to do 10 side plank-ups (with knee on the ground, bent) each day, plus before running. It worked! I didn't run for two months, but I was back to my old self. I continue to do 15 reps each day (only 1 set) and just make sure my hamstrings are strong.

Good luck!

I self-diagnosed HHT/PHT a few months back and it felt exactly like that. Stupidly switched to cross training on a bike before I knew what it was and that made things much worse (hip flexion from being bent over on a bike can compress the tendon insertion). Sitting then became excruciating and required numerous pillows.

Best treatment I found was daily isometrics, which both helps with the pain and strengthens the rear chain. Try the 5x 45 second glute bridge shown in the link below (you can progress from double leg bridge, to single leg bridge, from short glute bridge to long hamstring bridge).

If so, you can probably keep running but keep it very light at first (eg light jog every other day), and you can expect your tendon to tell you how it feels about what you did 24 hours later. If it's angry then pay heed, otherwise you can gradually up the load. Stay away from hills and beware exercises where you bend over or flex the hips (eg leg press). Took me a couple of months to get clear of the worst of it.

Good luck!

I am in a similar situation. Deep ache after a few minutes of walking. Is this aggravating it? Not found a cross training method that doesnt seem to irritate it so the walking is quite important

How heavy was the weight you used? I've done a couple of sets of single leg RDL but they were hard. I'm a little worried about tearing the tendon when I do them

I jumped on the bike last week, rode around 100m then decided it was too painful. Right now, I'm just walking and doing weights to cross train. Walking is fine, not aggravating. Sitting and laying down are the worst thing - it's hard to find a comfortable sleeping position.

I'm not going to run until I've seen a physio. I don't have any big races until April so I'd rather get right than worry about losing fitness. The last time I attempted a run, I was limping at the start. It warmed up after a few hundred meters but I decided not to push it and abandoned the run after 1km.

Get a hard massage ball and sit on a chair. Place the massage ball underneath the leg with the hamstring injury. Grind the massage ball into the hamstring until you find the impacted area of the tendon then move the massage ball against the grain of the hamstring at that spot. Do this multiple times per day, Don’t do any other hamstring stretching or strengthening exercises until the symptoms/pain are gone except for simple glute bridge. You can continue to run but avoid hills/unpaved trails/tempo/workouts until healed.

Right, I wouldn't start running until it's quietened down a bit.

Load is what you're trying to manage, and in this tendon's case that's the sum of 1) compressive load (ie hours spent sitting, driving etc, or other activities which involve hip flexion eg gardening.These activities put pressure on the tendon around its insertion point), plus 2) tensile load - that's your walking, running, jumping etc that stress the tendon's primary function to various degrees.

So for a given load on a certain day, you'll understand about 24 hours later whether it was too much. At the moment, if you're having trouble sleeping comfortably (I certainly did), you'll certainly want to rest. As the tendon calms down, you'll want to actively load it in a gradual way over the weeks - eg begin with isometric strength, then eccentric exercises, and eventually with small amounts and then more & more of your desired activity (running), each time checking in with your tendon the day after to get its opinion. Definitely avoid stretching (which is a big compressive load).

In the mean time, I can highly recommend the isometrics protocol, which is very mild but for me at least had a significant and merciful analgesic effect.

Been having similar problems since start of the year but not as severe. Been able to ride bike pain free but usually feel it in glute and high hammy running. Best things that have helped me have been extended warmup and using massage gun but these might be temporary, seems to keep popping up for me.

MoVB

Hamstring curls on a hamstring machine in the gym solved this problem for me. 5 to 10 reps at a fairly heavy weight and slow movements ....

High hopes wrote:

How heavy was the weight you used? I've done a couple of sets of single leg RDL but they were hard. I'm a little worried about tearing the tendon when I do them

I was going to chime in just to second what Fi797 said about the RDLs.

As to weight, I did RDLs as the single-leg version and I either used no weight, or held 10 lbs. Doesn't have to be much, especially at the beginning.

Holy sh!t! Just did this single leg glute bridge set and it's like instant pain relief. Now sitting more comfortably than I have in days. Thanks for the recommendation

Makes Paper wrote:

High hopes wrote:

How heavy was the weight you used? I've done a couple of sets of single leg RDL but they were hard. I'm a little worried about tearing the tendon when I do them

I was going to chime in just to second what Fi797 said about the RDLs.

As to weight, I did RDLs as the single-leg version and I either used no weight, or held 10 lbs. Doesn't have to be much, especially at the beginning.

Ok, that's good. I did my RDLs without weight but I have some I can use, just not a great selection

Hamfister's advice is good. When I dealt with this, self-massage with a lacrosse ball was also very helpful. Sit on the ball on a hard chair or counter and roll back and forth with the leg extended. Long term strengthening should include eccentric exercises. I'd also suggest massaging the hip adductors, as I've found when those get tight my hamstring will flare up. Avoid icing, but do go for heat.

Work on stretching and strengthening your butt muscles and lower back. This injury often occurs when the glutes or lower back is weak or tight & the upper hamstrings take on more of the load.

Try nordic hamstring curls or better hamstring sliders / swiss ball curls

3x8 focusing only on the negative slow and controlled

Ibuprofen + massage

Stretching and single Leg squats as well

I am a 53 yr old woman and I did 60 pounds so adjust accordingly. I also did double-leg bc I found that it’s too much on the tendon to do single leg. You will just exhaust your hamstrings by the 15th rep so don’t go overboard.

Get an MRI. You might have a partial tear in the hamstring tendon.

Agree. Seated hard massage ball under hamstring fixed me almost immediately after 3 weeks of frustration. Stretching/strengthening exercises (with the exception of glute bridge) and bike actually made it worse.