• 5500 Merrick Road, Massapequa, New York 11758
  • 111 Grand Avenue, Massapequa, New York 11758
Physical Therapy in Massapequa

Preventing Hamstring Strains

A pulled hamstring is a strain or tear in the muscles and tendons that are along the back part of your leg. If you have pulled a hamstring, there are four common symptoms that you may experience:

  • Sharp or sudden pain located in the back of the leg
  • Muscle will spasm
  • Swelling or bruising may occur
  • If it’s bad enough, you may also feel a split in your muscle

The injury usually happens when performing fast or relatively sharp movements. Some factors that usually cause a strained hamstring include:

  • Poor hamstring strength.
    • Many times your quadriceps are stronger than your hamstrings, which could result in a strain.
  • Not stretching or warming up the right way.
  • Being too tired from past training
  • Large amount of force

When dealing with hamstring strains, most incidents are preventable. Some people may falsely believe a hamstring strain just happens, but that’s not the case. Some ways of preventing hamstring strains involve stretching, strength and recovery time. Top five tips would be loosening your back, releasing your glutes, getting your nerves working properly, keeping up with your strength, and recovery time.

There are three main movement prep exercises that can be performed in your warm-up sessions.

  1. Inverted hamstring
  2. Glute Bridge
  3. Straight Leg March

Most importantly, other than stretching, increasing your strength in your hamstrings is needed to prevent hamstring strains. If you are in need of strengthening your hamstrings to prevent hamstring strains, be sure to take a visit to Park Physical Therapy located in Massapequa to help those who want to prevent strains. They will provide excellent treatment involving orthopedic injuries, work-related injuries, total joint replacement rehab, accident rehab, post-surgery rehab, sports injuries and much more!

Park Physical Therapy will be sure to treat your hamstring and provide more information about how important stretching, strength, and recovery is for your own personal benefit. They will give you very professional guidelines on how to prevent hamstring strains, and give you the best experience throughout the process.