A Look At Hamstring Injury

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As a fan of footy you would have heard about players or maybe your favourite player being struck with a hamstring injury.So what exactly is a Hamstring? Is it a combo of a Ham and a string? nah….there’s no string and definitely no ham involved here :P.

I myself ain’t an orthopedic but i did some search here and there and found out a little bit more about this hamstring stuff…

What in the world is Hamstring?

Ok, the killing question, what exactly is a hamstring? Well the hamstring muscle is a group of 3 seperate large, powerful musclesthat span the back of the thigh, from the lower pelvis to the back of the shin bone. The hamstring is the important muscle that functions to extend the hip joint and flex the knee joint.
The technical or anatomical names for the three hamstring muscles are semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris.

So get that..it’s a group, yup a team of muscles.

The picture to the below shows the muscles located at the rear of the upper right leg.

hamstring

What are the symptoms of a pulled hamstring?

The symptoms of a pulled hamstring depend on the severity of the injury. The hamstring injury is usually sudden and painful. Other common symptoms include:

*Bruising:
Small tears within the muscle cause bleeding and subsequent bruising. The bruise begins in the back of the thigh, and as time passes the bruise will pass down below the knee and often into the foot.

* Swelling:
The accumulation of blood from the hamstring injury causes swelling of the thigh. This can make further muscle contraction difficult and painful. Wearing a compressive bandage can help control the swelling.

* Spasm:
Muscle spasm is a common and painful symptom of a hamstring injury. Because of the trauma to the muscle, signals of contraction are confused, and the muscle may be stimulated. If severe, muscle relaxants can help with spasms.

* Difficulty Contracting:
Flexing the knee is often painful after a pulled hamstring, and can even prevent the patient from walking normally. If you are unable to contract the hamstring, the muscle may be completely ruptured.

So there you go, just a little info about Hamstring, so maybe now you are a little bit more informed than you were a few minutes ago, and if you want to know more about this hamstring stuff, than click here.

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By Matt

Matt is the owner and chief-editor of the Footy Blog, one of the UK's leading football news blogs.