Your quadriceps muscles are on the front of your thigh, just opposite your hammies. Once your hips get stronger and your hamstring has healed, you can start more advanced hip strengthening, like hip hikers. Straight leg raises are a great way to start your hip strengthening exercises. Keeping your hips strong can help alleviate this excessive stress on your hamstring muscles, which may help protect them from further injury after a hamstring strain. If your hips are weak, your lower leg may rotate inwards and place excessive stress on your knee and the muscles around it. Your hip muscles, like the gluteus medius, help control the position of your leg as you are walking and running. Some studies indicate that eccentric contractions may have a protective effect against hamstring injuries. So, if you are doing a hamstring curl, controlling the motion slowly as your knee is straightening is the eccentric portion of the contraction. Eccentric contractions occur as your hamstring is lengthening. Make sure you perform each strengthening exercise slowly and focus on the eccentric portion of the contraction. Remember, start out slowly and then progress by increasing the number of repetitions of each exercise or by adding resistance with cuff weights or resistance bands. Seated hamstring curls with a resistance band.Prone knee curls (start with only gravity as your resistance, and then make things more challenging by adding cuff weights). Your PT can show you the best exercises to strengthen your hamstrings. Hamstring stretches should be continued several weeks during your rehab, and you may wish to keep flexible by stretching your hammies several times a week even after you are fully healed.Īnother part of your rehab should be focused on hamstring strengthening. Start slowly and gently increase the intensity of each stretch over the course of four to six weeks.ĭifferent hamstring stretches that your PT may prescribe for you may include:Įach stretch can be held for 15 to 30 seconds, and you can do three to five repetitions. There are various ways to start to stretch your hamstrings after a hamstring strain. (Your PT may also choose to do scar tissue massage with you to help get rid of that lump of tissue near your injury site.) The best way to remodel this tissue is with gentle, progressive stretching. It is the product of the normal healing process after a hamstring strain. That tissue is collagen and is called scar tissue. Imagine a big clump of balled up slop at the site where your hamstring muscle was torn. The exercise program starts out slow with some gentle stretching and range of motion (ROM) exercises, and it progresses in intensity until your hamstrings (and other neighboring muscles) are able to handle the high loads and stresses that are typically placed upon them. This list is a sample progression of exercises that your PT may give to you during your rehab after a hamstring strain. Your physical therapist can help determine the best exercises for your condition. But which exercises are best after a hamstring strain, and are there exercises to help you get back to your normal activity? Are there exercises to possibly prevent future problems with your hamstring? There are. While these treatments may be beneficial, they should not be the only treatment you get for your hamstring condition.Įxercise is the most important component of your hamstring tear rehabilitation. Your physical therapist can assess your condition and prescribe treatments and exercises to help decrease your pain and improve your overall mobility.ĭuring physical therapy for a hamstring strain, your PT may use various modalities to help increase circulation, improve the way your muscles contract, and decrease pain. If you have a hamstring strain or tear, you may benefit from the skilled services of a physical therapist to help you recover.
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