<My son is an international sprinter and has had an injury believed to have been caused by
Creatine loading of 20 gram a day for 4 days.
Although after a scan by a top surgeon and on going treatment by two physio's, there is no
diagnosis given. The problem being swelling at the lower end of hamstring, which is believe
to be shortening the hamstring. The lateral hamstring is not contracting at the same time
as the other two hamstring muscles, causing an overload on this particular muscle.
I am trying to resolve this problem any further information would be appreciated
Regards Morris<
Dear Morris.
My initial reaction is that while the hamstring (I assume it's distal in the Biceps Femoris?)
injury might well be caused by by a 'faulty' neuro conduction in the hamstring complex
possibly caused by an electrolyte imbalance from the rather excessive Creatine use, the
electrolyte imbalance should very quickly resolve itself with the withdrawal of the Creatine.
I therefore assume that the current contractile imbalance (how does this manifest itself?)
has another cause. What is the status of his lumbar spine?
The biceps femoris has an interesting nerve supply. The two heads are supplied by different
parts of the sciatic nerve. The Long head is supplied by the Tibial nerve and the Short head
by the Common Peroneal nerve. Have you checked the possibility of a Piriformis syndrome as
a cause of the problem? A fairly common anatomical variation is the penetration of the
Piriformis by the Common Peroneal part of the Sciatic nerve; if the Piriformis is 'tight',
it might lead to minor irritation of the Common Peroneal nerve and subsequent conductive
'problems' in the Short Head of Biceps Femoris.
Keep us posted on the developments.
Best wishes,
Torje Eike, MCSP, PT
London, England
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