Charlie Help hamstring pull!

Hi Charlie,

One of my athletes pulled a Hamstring at training yesterday. Was hoping you could help. I’ve sent you an email.

Cheers,

TC

Havn’t got the e-mail yet. In the meantime keep him off the leg for 72 hrs with ice for 15 min each hour if possible. Elevate whenever possible. how bad was it? can you feel a defecit at the injury site? (you’d need to check soon after the injury to get a real read as any deficit might fill with blood and not be palpable after a few hrs. can you see any bruising?

Somehow it happened during the warmdown after training (9x60m). I wasn’t watching the warmdown as i was stretching another athlete.

He was only running at about 65% (so i hope it isn’t too bad) but may have been overstriding as he is prone to this and i have to keep reminding him just to run relaxed while going slow.

We iced it immediately. He took ibupofen and i told him to stop creatine.

In terms of resources we have massage (me) + compex ems + a pretty god physio who does contemporary medical accupuncture but not ART (though he uses some kind of active assisted soft tissue work - looks like art).

He was in agony at the time but 24 hours later the pain was less. I’ll get the rest of the info asap and reply later.

I’ve resent the email - hopefully you have it this time.

Thanks,

TC

What about the creatine. I’m against it as it leads to tightness and potential issues. Great pain isn’t a good sign but you’ll know more in a day or two.

Creatine: I have been preaching the gospal to all those who will listen. My 2 best sprinters are on the Musashi but this lad was using creatine before he joined my group 2 months ago and was using up what he still had - he is only on 2g a day - and will switch once he has finished with it (that was the deal). Apparently Malcolm Arnold doesn’t know about the problems of creatine and thinks i am over exagerating them, which is undermining my position on the matter with a few people. Still those on your recommendations are getting great results, we will have to wait till the Commonwealth games to if it translates into better performance on the track/field.

OK Injury update:

The injury site is on the left leg, 2-3cm (1 inches) from the gluteal crease on the lateral side probably on the biceps femoris.

After 48 hours there is no bruising and no apparent deficit at the injury site.

The groin area is pretty tight (adductors). General pain is easing off but increases when you press on the injury site. He can walk with a bit of a limp but it isn’t major and is getting better all the time.

I would say a minor pull with probably cramp in the surrounding muscles. My aim is now to get him back to training as quickly as possible so we can run indoors in January.

What should i be doing next?

Thanks again.

TC

Get an assessment by a good physio next to grade the injury. Get him drinking tons of water to dilute the creatine and help reduce its contribution to swelling - stay away from aspirin as it can cause bleeding into the injury site. A good therapist may do some hands on work, as long as the work is towards the injury site from both directions and not directly on it.
After 3 days, you may be able to start a light jog, but that is individual, especially as there was quite a bit of pain initially. Look to see if any bruising starts to appear. the bruising is usually found below the actual injury site and sometimes takes a day or two to start to appear when the injury is deeper. Keep me posted and if things are feeling ok, he can start one-leg drills in a day or two (raising the good leg during modified Askips and As, etc.

Still no sign of bruising.
He has physio tomorrow - 5 days after problems. Tonight he could jog lightly but i am cautious. We have been in the gym doing upper body weights to keep his CNS stimulated.

Will ems above the injury site potetially help as I have read on other posts?

Cheers

TC

Pulsed EMS above the injury site will help remove waste products and thus improve the conditions for transport of nutrients essential to repair, as well as lowering the general tonus of the whole muscle length. We are (slowly) working on a hamstring rehab video which we hope to finish soon.