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Should I be stretching an injured hamstring?

MattAaronsonMattAaronson
in General Training Discussions

Hi folks.

I have reviewed some hamstring injury posts, and in particular the one that resonates is an article on "chronic hamstring tear" that J.T. Thompson posted back on 11/6/10 in this thread.

I'm at the stage where this thing is not getting better and not getting worse. It doesn't hurt to run, but afterwards it is worse than before. My strategy this point is to shut down all running for a week or so, and eliminate all speedwork until it feels much better. I am also icing it on and off all day.

The question I have is about stretching. I have been doing the following twice a day or so: (a) warm the muscle up (via my morning shower or after a bike workout), (b) do some foam roll (which to be honest doesn't hurt that much since the injury is so deep), (c) stretching (pretty heavy), (d) icing.

My flexibility on this hamstring is incredibly minimal. Unbelievably tight, and very painful to even try to stretch it. And after each stretching session it feels a lot worse...even painful to the touch. Like the hamstring has been traumatized. Am I re-tearing it badly when I stretch? Should I just leave it, let it heal, then stretch it once it is healed to increase my flexibility? Or is stretching it critical to the healing process?

Thanks much for any thoughts you might have,

Matt

Comments

  • J.T. ThompsonJ.T. Thompson
    Matt, I'm certainly not the expert as I continue to rehab my hammy, but my guess is that if it really hurts after stretching, you may be stretching too hard. What I'd also highly recommend is the Mobilization exercises found on Leigh's ATA website - they have been very helpful on my end and should help your tightness. Interested to read what the experts say....
  • jwpicciottojwpicciotto
    I have always been taught that stretching that causes discomfort with an injury like this is counter productive. You can do light stretching, but stop at the point that you feel yourself going above mild discomfort.
  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    Thanks for the advice. I'm going to stop the stretching, foam-rolling, etc for a little while until I can be sure this thing is getting better. I have a feeling I'm re-injuring on the stretching. Also looks like time for an appointment with the doctor to have a look. By the time I get an appointment I'll have a pretty good idea of what direction this thing is going in. I'm also going to shut down running for a week starting now to see if that makes substantial improvement.
  • Leigh BoyleLeigh Boyle

    @ Matt- super tight and painful to stretch = time to have a pro look at it. The hammmies are 3 muscles crisscrossing back there and when injured they can lock up and stay that way regardless of whatever you're doing at home or what race is on the schedule.

    As long as you didn't have any swelling or crazy bruising, a PCP/ortho will likely diagnose a hamstring strain. If you know your PCP well you can bypass that part and give them a ring to see if you can get a script to go see a PT who can dig it all out and give you a program to follow (re stretches, strengthening etc). Another option to PT is to see a chiro who is ART/graston certified. Either will be able to help you out.

  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    Hi Leigh, thanks so much for the reply.

    All the reading I've done suggests this won't just go away with a week's rest or a couple of weeks dialing way back on volume and intensity (which is what typically works for me). I have an appointment with my "running doc" on Monday. I'm likewise almost positive the treatment will be "PT evaluate and treat". And so then another set of treks to the ART/Graston PT folks...last time I was there was 18 months ago so I guess not too bad.

    In the meantime I've been trying to do some self-administered deep tissue work, trying to find any hard spots and work them a bit. I doubt I'm making anyting worse with that...at least the hamstrings don't feel any worse.

    I also wonder about running...I have no pain when running and 24 hours later it doesn't feel worse than before I ran. So I wonder if some z2/z3 running is actually ok. And of course resting it for 4+ days hasn't made it feel any better, so psychologically I'm having a super-hard time rationalizing a running ban.
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