Hamstring tendon repair surgery

Sorry you had to resort to surgery. Did you try any other treatments? I had the same high hamstring tendon issues (horrible to sit) the better part of 4 years. I had a few prolotherapy injections and it cured my hamstring 100 percent. My injury was very close to the sit bone. I was back up and running in about 10 days. I was up to my old mileage in about 5 weeks.

Hi,

I was able to rest and rehab it and come back over the years using only a conservative approach. I did not want cortisone. Glad to hear you had success with pro therapy. I went ahead with an MRI because I was considering PRP even though the outcomes are only about 50% effective .

Once the MRI showed a tendon tear of 1.9cm we realized no amount of prp or rehab was going to reattach the tendon.

I decided on surgery because I still enjoy running fast. I could keep living with it if I was ok with exercising at a slow pace, but I still want to run fast.

Wow -- are tears like the common? I'm sorry you had that much damage and hoping for a good recovery.

Hi,

Thank you for your concern. From what I have read an acute tear is more common in the muscle and less common is a partial tear at the ishial tuberosity. ( my situation)

I’m 2nd day post op and just resting. I have been using the pain meds at night, but did not need them yesterday. My post op is scheduled for next Friday and I will learn more about the quality of the tendon that was reattached and what my post operative recovery plan will look like. I am preparing mentally for 4 weeks in a brace and crutches. I’m able to drive since it is my left leg, but won’t try that until Sunday.

This article explains the issue pretty well. My biggest concern going into surgery was the heath of the tendon given my the chronic nature of my injury.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5442402/

Hi, I'm a few years older than you but battling the same problem for 2 years now. MRI showed fluid indicating a tear, but no further detail regarding the size of the tear.

The local surgeon does not want to operate because of his lack of experience with the injury. Do you mind sharing the name and location of your surgeon?

Thanks and best of luck in your recovery!

Hi,

Thank you and I’m sorry about your injury. I live in San Jose, CA . Once I feel positive that I’m going to have a good outcome I will share his name. I have 3 friends that have had successful operations with him. They are all athletes as is the surgeon.

My MRI did show fluid as well as the tear. I would get a few opinions from Sports Orthopedic and Sports Med...

I will report back after my post op a week from today..

I read through the info you posted on the surgery. Frankly, it's somewhat difficult to comprehend. Was your injury at the bone or in the belly of the hamstring? What material was used to repair the tear?

I did try PRP and it did not work for me. I had results with prolotherapy because my tear was at the bone. It was truly an amazing result. I had asked an orthopedist about surgery and he said it was problematic. The resulting scar tissue caused by the surgery could shorten the tendon and therefore, permanently reduce my range of motion. I was in pain nearly all time and was willing to try anything.

I'm 54 and live at mile high altitude. I don't worry about running fast anymore. Most of my training runs are at 8 min/mile pace and the few intervals I do are 6:30 pace. I lost my speed through all the years of injury and will never get it back. I hope you post on your progress. I admire your dedication to getting back to being competitive again! Your rehab process will be interesting. I'm guessing you will do some walking, maybe some elliptical or some form of exercise to get the blood flowing to the area.

Hi,

My injury was at the sit bone not muscular or in the belly of the hamstring, but the tendon. It was chronic. I used conservative methods over the years, but I was tiring of the cycle.

About the repair: basically the surgeon removes any scar tissue build up and roughens the sit bone to enact a wound healing response, makes sure the sciatic nerve is out of the way, places metal anchors into my sit bone, and then laces sutures through my hamstring tendon and pulls it up onto the anchors.

I did not mention that it was causing other issues due to compensation, like lower back pain, hip pain. I have a sitting job and a longish commute so it was never far from weighing on my mind.

Re: recovery: The recovery will be long and difficult. A progression like you mentioned. Walking, swimming etc, PT...Mentally I’m prepared to wait until 2019 to begin running again. Since I can’t use my left leg for awhile I will also be dealing with some atrophy.

I hope this response is more clear. On another note- I have no used pain meds during the day since day 1 only Motrin and aspirin (precaution against blood clots) I decided to skip the Motrin today to see how I feel.

Today is day 3 and I get to remove the outer bandage and have a shower.

All for now and thanks for reading. I hope I’m bringing some value to the forum.

Thanks! Please keep the updates coming!

Hi There,

I am new to posting but suffer from hamstring tendinosis. I had an MRI done last week and it showed a partial tear - was yours partial or a full tear? How is your recovery going?

I decided to run on it this week on Tuesday (just 2 miles) and it felt good so went out again Wednesday (just 2.5 miles) and right at end of run felt a radiating pain down back of leg and now it hurts to even bring my knee to my chest or do a deep squat to pick up my daughter right at where the tendon inserts in to hamstring muscle. Running at a 10 minute pace or 7 minute pace I still had the achy pain, but now I can't run at all after the inicident Wednesday...I'm worried I have caused even more damage. Did you have pain stretching or say when you would "scoot" your chair forward at work? What type of pain did you experience?

I have been doing PT since April/May and nothing has worked. I did get a cortisone shot back in August and that provided major relief but the moment I started running again, the pain returned.

Thanks for posting - this was helpful. I am 35 year old female and would like to think I have a lot of years of running ahead of me.

I hope your recover is going well.

Any updates from Vmarzorini or JGT31 on your hamstring injuries/recovery? Thanks.