Identifying a hamstring injury typically involves recognising symptoms and physical sensations. Firstly, one of the most common signs is a sudden, sharp pain in the back of the thigh. This pain often occurs during activities that involve running, sprinting, or sudden changes in direction, which put significant stress on the hamstring muscles. You might also feel or hear a popping sensation during injury. Immediately after the incident, swelling and tenderness in the hamstring area may become noticeable, with some individuals experiencing bruising around the injured site.

Secondly, you might notice functional limitations in the affected leg. Hamstring injuries often lead to weakness, making extending your leg or bending your knee difficult, involving running, sprinting, or sudden changes in direction, which stress the hamstring muscles significantly. This can result in a reduced range of motion and difficulty with everyday activities like walking, running, or climbing stairs. As the injury progresses, you may find it challenging to engage in physical activities involving the hamstring muscles, such as kicking a ball or standing on one leg.

Lastly, it's essential to listen to your body. If you experience persistent pain, discomfort, or limitations in your leg's mobility after a potential hamstring injury, seeking a professional medical evaluation is crucial. Healthcare providers can conduct physical exams and imaging tests like MRI or ultrasound to diagnose the damage’s extent accurately. Remember that early diagnosis and appropriate treatment can help prevent long-term complications and promote a quicker recovery.

Can you tear your hamstring and still walk?

Yes, it is possible to tear your hamstring and still be able to walk, depending on the severity of the tear. Hamstring tears can range from mild strains to more severe injuries, including partial or complete tears. The ability to walk after a hamstring tear depends on several factors:

1. Severity of the Tear: A mild hamstring strain or partial tear may allow you to bear weight on the affected leg and walk with discomfort. However, a complete tear or a more severe injury may make walking difficult or impossible.

2. Pain Tolerance: Individual pain tolerance varies. Some people can bear the pain associated with a hamstring tear and still walk to some extent, while others may find it too painful to walk at all.

3. Location of the Tear: The location of the tear within the hamstring muscle can also impact your ability to walk. Tears closer to the muscle's attachment points at the hip or knee joint may affect mobility more severely.

4. Immediate Treatment: How you manage the injury immediately after it occurs can influence your ability to walk. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) can help reduce pain and swelling, making walking easier with a mild tear.

It's crucial to remember that walking on a torn hamstring can potentially worsen the injury or delay the healing process. If you suspect a hamstring tear, it's advisable to consult a healthcare professional for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate guidance on managing the injury and promoting recovery safely. In some cases, more severe hamstring tears may require crutches or other assistive devices to aid in walking while the muscle heals.

The hamstrings are also the most commonly injured muscle group in sports that involve high-speed running. Every local footy club has an old stalwart with tissue paper hamstrings, but the issue is not limited to the amateurs. Hamstring strains account for up to 26% of the total injuries in the AFL each year, and there are 4.9 new incidences of hamstring injuries per club each season. This is a pretty considerable statistic, highlighting the need for high-speed athletes to train smarter, not harder.

There are two rules for avoiding injury – be strong, be extended. Maybe you have been told before that size and length don’t matter, but it does when it comes to the hamstrings.

Four tips for preventing hamstring tears

1      . Throw your stretching exercises in the bin

I don’t mean this, but I am sure many of you out there have been stretching your hamstrings for years and years,s but they still feel tight, am I right? Stretching does not increase the length of your muscles. You will gain more range of motion but this is due to becoming more tolerant of the uncomfortable stretch sensation, not actual muscle lengthening. Your power will still reach its yield point (the point it goes twang) if enough load is placed on it under tension. So stretch if you like it and it feels good, but there is better bang for your buck elsewhere.

2       Add some eccentric hamstring loading into your program

It is pretty appropriate to preach that strength is essential to prevent injuries, but sitting on a hamstring curl machine and smashing concentric contractions is not necessarily helping. Performing only concentric muscle contractions of the hamstrings has been shown to shorten muscle fibre length – the inverse is true for eccentric contractions. Focusing on eccentric contractions of the hamstrings, the gym will strengthen your muscles and improve your strength. Tick, tick for strength and length.

3       Maintain eccentric load in season

when you stop loading your hamstrings eccentrically the muscle will eventually revert back to its previous length. Don’t neglect the gym in season, you just have to be smarter about how you do it!

4       Not every session needs to be at 100%

if you’re training a lot, not every session needs to be bull at a gate. Having a regular sprinting load is important for injury prevention but it does not need to be everyday or every session. Olympic level 100m sprinters might be lucky to hit top speed 1x per week in training.

 So have a crack at implementing some of these things to bulletproof your hamstrings for the upcoming winter sports season. Or if you want more specifics about an individualised program for yourself or just to come in and hear about my detailed football career (peaked in under 14s) then give us a call to book an appointment here at our Physiotherapy Clinic in Richmond, Melbourne