Dear Drew
I am a Physiotherapist with some experience of treating the sort of injury
you describe to your Hamstrings. I usually look at the back before I examine
the damaged muscle as I have noticed that a so-called Ham injury may actually
be the result of low back dysfunction. I am fortunate that in my practice I
can see such patients within a day or so of injury; after that time the
picture can become very confused and you may well have shortening of you Hams
which will undoubtably require stretching.
The questions I would ask would include: did you have any bruising at the
time of the original injury; how much tenderness could you elicit(was it as
painful to press as it was painful to move).
Many Therapists believe that !/2 inch shortening is within "normal" limits.
Your height has some bearing here: if you are 6 foot+ forget it! I you are
under, say, 5foot there might be a case made to correct it......
Get someone to check your spine. A test you might apply now is to lie on the
floor face down, thighs together with knees bent to 90 Degrees. Get your
wife/ girlfriend/mate to kneel at your foot end and ease your feet apart. Do
the feet fall outwards equally on both sides? If you have a low back / SI
joint problem you may find that the affected side will not go as far as on
the unaffected side and some corrective manipulation or muscle energy
technique may well be indicated.
If you are still having problems with you Hams this length of time after
injury you really should get this looked at asap!
Hope this helps, regards Tony Windsor
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