Hamstring Injury: Episode 42
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In this episode: We discuss hamstring injuries. Typical causes, predisposition factors, treatment and prevention.
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Chip Review: Ikea – Potatischips Saltade (Aidan Bosman)
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Trivia question of the week: What is the driest place on Earth?
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Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional episode specific information throughout the week.
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Thanks for listening!!
Hamstring injury. Lets discuss our pet peeve right off the bat. If I hear one more announcer on TV say “ That looks like a hamstring” or “He’s got a hamstring”, i’m going to loose it. We all have hamstrings in fact each of use has 3 on both legs. It is so interesting that this way of talking about it has basically gotten a life of it’s own. Ok I feel better now.
The hamstring has three main parts. The biceps femoris which makes up the lateral portion and the semitendinosus and semimembranosus which make up the medial portion. When you bend your knee you will feel the tendons, almost like guitar strings. One on the outside, biceps femoris one on the inside, semitendinosus and semimembranosus.
The biggest injury you will see here is pull or strain. These are both names for some form of tear. The tear is typically small but you can have large tears. At times there can be a lot of black and blue (ecchymosis) as well swelling. The discoloration is not always indicative of the extent of the injury.
This is one of the tougher injuries because it is difficult to rest. The biggest risk factor for having a hamstring injury is a prior hamstring injury. So that means if you have injuried the hamstring before you are more likely to do it again.
Make sure you don’t try to race back. Once these become chronic they tend to stick with people for a long time. You see it in the professional athlete world. They return in a few weeks, their first real big movement back and they injury it again.
In most cases running is the number one cause. This is often a change in speed accelerating or decelerating. Kicking is not as often the cause but when it is there is typically a much more damaging injury and takes longer to come back from.
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