Learning to walk before I run

Suffolk_lass

When you say it popped, what was the level of pain? And at what point in the session? and what were you doing?  - In medical terms there are three grades with a strain the lowest (1) through to complete separation of the tendon from the bone, which is extremely painful on an ongoing basis and associated with swelling.

Most commonly tears (G1 & 2) are behind the knee when running but in the lower buttock if it was an explosive start (for example). When I tore mine I was playing hockey and had not warmed up properly. Mine was minor and took four weeks out, but if it is the most serious tear, they certainly used to consider surgery to reattach,  but these are not that common. The Americans refer to G3 as popping 

Suffolk_lass

Just to add, although my degree in Sports Science is 1984 anatomy has not changed, but treatment sure has - speaking as the woman with a superglued repair to my posterior meniscus (right knee cartilage to you and me)

edinburgher

@Suffolk_lass

It was at the very end of the session, after approximately 50 minutes of jogging, stretching and sprinting. What made it particularly galling was that it was the very last sprint of the day.

Specifically, it was midway through an 80m sprint. Pain level was pretty excruciating, instantly limped to a halt, swearing. At the back of the thigh c. 1/2 way up. Drove home, but luckily only 3 miles as using the clutch a nightmare. If I don't move it there's no pain, but it hurts like a bleep to get out of bed/walk/do anything other than an awkward shuffle landing on the ball of the foot.

Minor injuries were very supportive, but didn't really do anything. Said that scans were only if referred by a doctor (they appeared to be nurse led) and that all I could do was RICE with good painkillers. Back on my bed feeling like an old fart 

savingholmes

Double ouch. Really hope it resolves soon. 

South_coast

edinburgher said:

....feeling like an old fart 

That's just your approaching birthday, Ed - nothing to do with the leg 🤣! Hope it gets better soon

edinburgher

South_coast said:

edinburgher said:

....feeling like an old fart 

That's just your approaching birthday, Ed - nothing to do with the leg 🤣! Hope it gets better soon

Haha - very true - less than a week to go! 

I have promised Mrs E a "do over" for Mother's Day, seemed the least I could do 

badmemory

I hope Mrs E's do over for Mother's day doesn't take as long as my sister's 70 has taken so far.  It was supposed to be just after the first lockdown started.

Alchemilla

Hoping the pain goes quickly. X

edinburgher

Thanks Al, ibuprofen and soluble cocodamol doing their thang 

Suffolk_lass

That does sound like a tear within the hamstring, not the worst kind where the tendon detaches from the bone (so no surgery, normally). That said, it sounds like a tear rather than a strain so when the bruising has come out and the swelling reduces, you should see a physio (preferably a sports physio on my experience) so that you take steps to reduce the shortening of the tissue as it begins to heal with gentle exercises. If you can bear to sleep with your knee extended rather than bent it will help a little as a starting point. 

You do need to take it seriously and prevent the knotty bunching of scar tissue as much as possible. Here we have a self referral to NHS Physiotherapists but Sports Physios are all private. Oh, and if you have a vision of a footballer on their front having their hamstrings stretched and manipulated, it is often because their quadriceps have developed out of balance with the hamstring which has become proportionately weaker over time, lending it to tearing and then they did not treat the original tear with respect and tried to resume too quickly, tearing more of the tendon fibres and as a result they have hamstring "knots" of scar tissue that make it worse over time. This happens because the foreshortening of the fibres into scar tissue is shorter than the healthy part, and so it tears again (micro tears sometimes) and the little ball part grows each time, getting progressively worse.

My first back injury (sacroiliac muscles, not bone) was like that. It ended up with a golf ball sized knot that I can genuinely say made me cry, years later, when the sports physio noticed my back problem while I was getting my knee injury treated and she then broke it up through deep massage over a number of weeks. Think the bruising a squash ball hitting you and that was the repeated surface bruising. It worked though!

It all sounds doom and gloom but isn't - see a Sports Physio and get it treated to come back - you will likely need some maintenance stretches specifically for this for whenever you exercise going forward. And it will in all likelihood take a couple of months minimum as you are not a professional sports person.

Happy Mothers Day