What makes up hamstrings muscle

Chances are that if you strain your hamstring while running, you'll know it immediately. You'll feel a sharp pain and possibly a popping sensation at the back of your leg. You won't be able to keep running and you may fall. A hamstring strain might be diagnosed on the sidelines by a trainer or when you see a physical therapist. Often, you'll also see the doctor for a hamstring strain.

The doctor will examine your leg and ask you questions about how the injury happened and how much pain you have. A hamstring strain generally occurs as a result of muscle overload, such as when you are running and your leg is fully stretched out just before your foot strikes the ground.

When your foot strikes the ground and all your weight is on it, the muscles can get stretched too far and they may start to tear. People who take part in certain activities that involve sprinting or jumping like track and field, soccer, football, lacrosse, basketball, and dance are more at risk of getting hamstring strains.

These kinds of injuries are also more common in teens who are going through growth spurts. That's because the leg bones may grow faster than a person's muscles, pulling the muscles tight and leaving them more susceptible to getting stretched too far.

Keeping your muscles in good shape is the best way to prevent hamstring injuries. Here are some ways to help protect yourself against them and other sports injuries! The good news is that only the most severe muscle tears require surgery. Most hamstring strains will heal on their own or with some physical therapy. If you have a complete tear of one of your hamstring muscles or tendons, your doctor might want you to have surgery to reattach the tendon to the bone or fix the tendon.

Not overdoing things is key when it comes to this type of injury. Many people have a hamstring strain come back because they returned to play too quickly. So follow your doctor's advice and don't push yourself or feel pressure to get back into sports or other activities too soon.

Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is a Hamstring Strain? What Are the Symptoms of a Hamstring Strain? Other symptoms of a hamstring strain include: 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 Page 1 How Is a Hamstring Strain Diagnosed? The examination will help figure out what grade of strain you have: Grade 1; this is a mild strain.

You may experience some pain when you use your leg, but it will be minor and there will be minimal swelling. Grade 2; this is a partial tear of one or more of the hamstring muscles. Use precise geolocation data.

Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Hamstrings are the big muscles located at the back of your thigh.

At the hip, the hamstrings play a role in a posture condition known as flat low back. Tight hamstrings may also play a role in sacroiliac dysfunction. Become acquainted with each of the hamstring muscles , including where they attach and what they do. The hamstrings are a group of four muscles: long head of the biceps femoris, short head of the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. Each hamstring crosses two joints—the hip and the knee.

This means when they contract they can either take your lower extremity back behind you called hip extension or bend the knee called knee flexion. The biceps femoris muscle is one of the big, long muscles at the back of your thigh.

The other one is the semitendinosis; the biceps femoris is lateral, or toward the outside relative to the semitendinosis. The biceps femoris has two heads—a long and a short. At the hip, both the long and short heads rotate the thigh outwardly and extend it backward.

At the knee, they flex and laterally rotate the joint. Contusions are characterized by:. Hamstring muscle injuries are common and range from mild to severe damage. The onset is often sudden. You can treat mild strains at home with rest and over-the-counter pain medication. If you have continuing hamstring pain or injury symptoms, see your doctor for a diagnosis and treatment. Full rehabilitation before a return to a sport or other activity is necessary for preventing a relapse. Research estimates the recurrence rate of hamstring injuries is between 12 and 33 percent.

People who participate in sports that involve sprinting such as soccer, football, tennis, or track most commonly injure the long head of the biceps femoris muscle. The long head of the biceps femoris is particularly prone to injury. People who dance or kick most commonly injure the semimembranosus muscle.

These movements involve extreme hip flexion and knee extension. Prevention is better than cure, according to a review of hamstring injuries. The subject is well studied because of the high hamstring injury rate in sports. You can find more hamstring stretches here. You might also try rolling your hamstrings with a foam roller. Strengthening your hamstrings is also important for daily activities as well as sports.

Stronger hamstrings mean better knee stability. Here are some exercises to help strengthen your hamstrings, quads, and knees. With proper strengthening exercises, you can avoid having a more serious hamstring injury.