barbe705 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 any advice on how to help a high hamstring strain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwwm Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Only thing I can say is the usually rest, ice, anti-inflammatorys. After resting it for a week or two, I would work it back slowly with frequent, light single leg deadlifts. May take weeks or months till it feels normal again if it's a bad strain. If the muscle is not releasing and still painful even with the Advil,etc, then some muscle relaxants from the MD might help. My $0.02 - I'm sure others will have good/better input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrickmeniru Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I'm just coming to the end (hopefully) of recovery from a hamstring tear so can give some advice. Firstly rest the leg, use ice and ibuprofen to control swelling, even if it isn't visible, ideally wrap a tubi-grip (not sure what you call them in the US) around the leg, although this may be hard if you have large t tubigrip highs. DON'T stretch the injured hamstring, for the first couple of days in particular. When it starts to feel less painful begin very gently stretching, by which I mean lean into the stretch to the point where you just start to feel the muscle tighten slightly - hold for a few seconds and relax. Repeat this a few times each day, there should be no pain at all. What this does is encourage the muscle fibres to realign themselves properly during the healing process. Make sure you take in enough protein etc. Once you are starting rehab, I would be sure to stretch regularly, Pavel Tsatsouine has a great book, 'Relax into stretch', which may be helpful. In terms of rehab, once you are able to walk and jog without pain, the best exercises IMO to regain strength are glute-ham bridges, standing hamstring curls only doing the top 90 degrees of the ROM for say 30 reps as fast as you feel comfortable - working up to full speed. Glute-Ham raises are good, although to begin with I would just work eccentrics and use arms to decrease load. Still legged deadlifts can also be used to load up the hamstring. Sprinting properly with correct technique can also be very helpful in rehabilitating hamstring injuries, although be sure to warm up properly and start at say 60% effort and build up over a couple of weeks to 100%. Hopping in all four directions on the injured leg is also helpful, although if you aren't used to plyometric training or have a history of lower body problems, the impact can cause other injuries. I'm not sure how helpful this stuff will be, given that I'm coming at it from a track and field perspective rather than a strongman type outlook, but I'm guessing that it's pretty transferable. Main thing is to stop the swelling and go back into exercise VERY carefully and gradually. After a light rehab workout you won't feel tired or sore, so can be tempting to overdo it. Hope that something from the above is helpful and best of luck with the recovery, I know how frustrating it can be!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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