9 Answers
Massage, Proper Stretching, Good water intake and a Balanced diet. It sounds like an old nagging injury and inflammation of that area on your Hamstring muscles or your Hamstring tendon is inflamed from inadequate nutrition. Sugar is the cause of this and I had the same issue. When I balanced my diet and cut sugars out the pains disappeared quickly. Plus I do get regular massages too. I suggest proper diet and massage therapy!
I think regarding muscular health it's important to (1) find a balance between strength and stretch work and (2) see how the muscles of the body are in relationship to each other. If you haven't strengthened the hamstring muscle for quite sometime and are interested in something non-jarring to joints but encourages circulation, movement in water can be very helpful. Also, even though the discomfort shows up in the hamstring, recognize there are other muscle groups that attach to your thigh bone that can affect how the hamstring behaves. Psoas weakness and tension is a common issue after sitting for long periods and can affect the position of the pelvis which in turn can affect the behavior of the hamstring muscle. Aquatic yoga can be helpful with regards to (1) and (2) mentioned above. In the water environment, movements are slowed down so you can actually better perceive the effect on your musculoskeletal system.
Use the Acoustic wave therapy the very best for many injuries.
Dawn, I work with a group of ladies who are Rossiters and are so very knowledgable, helpful and wonderfully affordable. They have helped so so many people become pain free. I have sent my daughter, husband and mom to them and have quite seen remarkable results.
http://www.treasurevalleyrossiter.com/
Hi Dawn - I was wondering if you ever tried using essential oils on your hamstrings- the one I recommend most for muscle and joint pain is PanAway from Young Living. I use it almost daily for chronic back pain and it works for me. Others that help to relax the muscles are peppermint and wintergreen. They also have a warming effect when you apply them. Just make sure whatever you put on your body is pure and doesn't have any additives or harmful chemicals. All the best.
When I treat patients with hamstring pain, I always address a few things. Tightness and shortness due to sitting needs to be balanced with massage and stretching (like the folks above mentioned), utilizing yoga to get fully healed. The sacroiliac (SI), hip, low back, and knee joints need to be restored to their proper alignment to ensure future functioning. This is done via chiropractic adjustments and myofascial release in the office. Foam rolling can help quite a bit, but can't always get to small, tight places (piriformis), and is often overdone, creating more inflammation. Best of luck to you!
As Jany said, stretching is an important help with this sort of thing. You can do much yourself: lie on your back, use a belt around the foot to assist raising your entire leg--until you don't want to go further; then back off a hair, push your leg toward the ceiling as you re-approach your first limit again. Should take 15-20 seconds. On your third or fourth attempt, again using the belt's assistance, slowly reach your leg to the outside, while in your stretched position. Go again to an edge, and after a bit relax everything. Do the same opening your leg to the opposite side, actually crossing over your leg extended on the floor. Seek an edge, and play with it a bit. It make take days of stretching, always seeking an 'edge.'
We medical massage therapists treat this. It involves a lot of stretching, which is always good. I think that running is hard on the body, too jarring, but some deep tissue would most likely help, depending on how your body is balanced and the type of shoes and orthotics you use.
