Recovery from a hamstring tear or strain Mild to moderate (grade 1 or 2) tears or strains can heal within three to eight weeks with diligent home therapy. For a grade 3 hamstring tear or strain, recovery may be as long as three months.

What’s the Treatment for a Hamstring Strain?

1. Rest the leg.
2. Ice your leg to reduce pain and swelling.
3. Compress your leg.
4. Elevate your leg on a pillow when you’re sitting or lying down.
5. Take anti-inflammatory painkillers.
6. Practice stretching and strengthening exercises if your doctor/physical therapist recommends them.

What Are the Symptoms of a Hamstring Strain?

• pain in the back of your thigh when you bend or straighten your leg.
• tenderness, swelling, and bruising in the back of the thigh.
• weakness in your leg that lasts for a long time after the injury.

A hamstring injury typically causes a sudden, sharp pain in the back of your thigh. You might also feel a “popping” or tearing sensation. Swelling and tenderness usually develop within a few hours.

Hamstring cramps may result from improperly warming up for an activity or doing too much activity. Muscle strain is the most common cause of cramps. When you don’t warm up or stretch before exercise, the muscles may feel stressed, making them vulnerable to cramping and other injury.

The three grades of hamstring injury are: Grade I: a mild muscle strain – likely to recover in a few days. Grade II: a partial muscle tear. Grade III: a complete muscle tear or tear of an attachment – may take weeks or months to heal.

It may hurt to sit down or stretch the hamstrings. You may have less pain when you lie on your back. Hamstring syndrome may be the result of wear and tear to the back and hamstrings. It is most often seen in people who play sports that involve running, kicking, or jumping.

Before you hit the road again see if you can do the following pain free;

1. Walk briskly for 30 minutes.
2. Balance on one leg for 30 seconds.
3. Perform 15-20 controlled single knee dips.
4. Do 20-30 single leg calf raises.
5. Try the 100 up and 100 up “major” – this is a great introduction to impact and practicing running form.

Depending on the severity of the strain, expect a healing time of anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks. As the pain recedes, ease yourself back into activity, particularly speed and hill work. Severe hamstring strains generally heal after 8 weeks.

A limited range of motion, or ROM, will cause tight hamstrings. Most everyday activities like sitting at a desk or walking don’t take the hamstrings through their full range of motion.

“When the glutes are weak, which is common in the age of sitting too much, the hamstrings are continually overworked and overloaded,” says Matt Natanson, a physical therapist with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

A common cause of tight hamstrings is exercise or another form of intense activity. Exercises that put substantial strain on the hamstrings can lead to tightness. For example, performing hamstring curl exercises or playing sports such as soccer will target the hamstring muscles.

Leg Curl With Exercise Ball Lie faceup with your heels on top of an exercise ball. Lift your pelvis so that your body forms a straight line from head to knees, exhale, and then use your heels to roll the ball toward your glutes. Reverse the movement to roll ball back out and lower hips. Do 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps.

Hamstring-Targeted Exercises

• Stiff-Leg Dumbbell Deadlift.
• Single-Leg Dumbbell Deadlift.
• Air Squat.
• Single-Arm Kettlebell Swing.
• Hamstring Curl with Resistance Band.
• Partner Hamstring Curls.