The what, why and how these muscles work
Your hamstrings are a set of leg muscles – if you run your hand along the back of your leg from the back of your knee up to your buttocks, you’ll feel your hamstrings there.
The hamstrings is actually comprised of three muscles working together – the Semitendinosus, the Semimembranosus, and the Biceps Femoris.
Together the muscles of the hamstrings are responsible for controlling the flexion of the lower leg and the extension of the thigh (as well some some minor internal and external rotation that we’ll not talk about just yet). They prevent over-extension of the lower leg during walking, running and other movement.
Try it for yourself! Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Now raise one of your lower legs at the knee. The raising motion is created by your quadriceps muscle. Raise your lower leg as far as it will comfortably go, keeping your toes towards the ceiling, and you should feel a pull down the back of your thigh. This is your hamstrings at work, preventing your lower leg from extending too far. Now slowly bring your leg back down – this is the action of flexion that your hamstrings control.
When to seek help for muscular pain
Generally speaking, if you’re feeling pain in your hamstrings, and you’ve ruled out any underlying medical cause, the pain is likely because the muscles are either tight or weak, and depending on which it is will affect what type of pain you feel.
Because the hamstrings work to inhibit the quadriceps during locomotion, they are susceptible to general wear and tear over time – especially if you do a lot of walking, jogging or running. It all puts stress on those hamstrings.
You might also feel pain if you spend a lot of time sitting down (i.e. at a desk job, or long-distance driving) without moving, because this can compress the muscles and the blood vessels and restrict the flow of blood (and therefore, oxygen and nutrients) to the back of the thighs.
If you’ve woken up with pain in your hamstrings (especially in just one leg) for no clear reason (that is to say, you haven’t over-exercised, you haven’t banged your leg, and you haven’t tripped or fallen), then see a doctor. If you’ve been experiencing gradually increasing pain in your hamstrings for a period of weeks or months, or if you experience pain (often referred to as DOMS – Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) shortly after intensive exercise, then it might be time to book an appointment with a massage therapist.
It’s not just athletes who are at risk from hamstring pain and injury – anybody can suffer from this. Most people will adopt a “wait and see” approach, often using over-the-counter painkillers to reduce pain. Sometimes the pain will disappear because you’re “taking it easy”, only to return with a vengeance when you resume your regular activities.
The steps we take to aid recovery
• Massage
If your hamstrings are tight, we massage them to relax the muscles and reduce some of the tension before moving onto the next steps.
If your hamstrings are weak, it’s slightly different. Muscles that control movement work in pairs – an agonist and antagonist. A flexor and extensor. One inhibits the other to prevent over-extension and damage of the joints and muscles. In the case of hamstrings, they work in opposition to quadriceps. If your hamstrings are weak, it could be because your quadriceps are tight, forcing your hamstrings to over-stretch to compensate. In this case we’d massage the quadriceps to relax and stretch them, which in turn helps to reduce the fatigue in your hamstrings.
• Dry Cupping / Myofascial Release
Sometimes muscular pain is caused by ‘knots’ in the fascia of your muscles. Fascia is a continuous sheet of connective tissue that surrounds all structures within your body. If you have a ‘knot’ or ‘trigger point’ within the fascia, then no amount of massaging the muscle will help, because tightness in fascia means the muscle beneath is restricted and can’t move as it should.
• Stretching
After warming and relaxing the muscle, we stretch it out to restore normal function. Stretching can be active (you participate in moving the muscle/joint) or passive (your therapist performs movement for you by physically manipulating the limb/area that requires movement)
What we can do to protect them from further damage
A personalised stretching and strengthening plan will ensure you get the maximum benefit from your treatment sessions. As they say, the best cure is prevention, so your post-treatment plan will be tailored to your specific musculoskeletal issues. You should expect to spend a few minutes each day working through exercises designed to promote your recovery. Otherwise you’ll find that you come away from your treatments feeling fine, but quickly revert back to being in pain because your muscles haven’t had chance to adapt and strengthen.
Ready to take the first steps to happier hamstrings? Get in touch with us at the details below.
https://www.facebook.com/WillowtreeDarwen
willowtreedarwen@hotmail.com
07592 123253
Willowtree Therapies 