Pulled Hamstring Symptoms

In order for the hip joint to extend and for the knee joint to flex, the hamstring is an important muscle. An excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers is what occurs in a pulled hamstring, also known as a hamstring strain. Sports such as soccer, football, baseball, softball, basketball, rugby, tennis or track & field activities that involve a lot of jumping, kicking, running and fast stop/start motions with your legs (sprints, hurdles, long jump) are the ones wherein, the players often come across this condition. Minor strains or more severe pull of the muscles along the back of the thighs, are usually the outcome of a pulled hamstring.

What Symptoms Does Pulled Hamstring Exhibit?
Bleeding and subsequent bruising usually occurs at an event of small tear within the muscle. The back of the thigh is the initial point where, the bruise and discoloration (black/blue) begins from. Gradually, it progresses down to the knee and often to the foot. Swelling of the thigh is one prominent symptom which occurs in a pulled hamstring, due to the accumulation of blood. Before the swelling occurs, there might be an onset of a sharp localized pain. Thereafter, the affected person may feel stiffness or tenderness in the hamstring, which might make contraction difficult and painful.

What follows is the hamstring muscle spasm which is one of the common and painful pulled hamstring symptoms. This usually results in an inability to flex the knee or extend the thigh and the signals of contraction are often confused. The strain also makes putting any weight on the leg, extremely painful.

More severe symptoms include contraction of the muscle and internal bleeding, accompanied by the rupture of the hamstring partially or completely. This may keep the patient from walking, as the pulled hamstring may cause weakness or complete loss of function of the hamstring muscle.

Causes
Pulled hamstring is likely to occur when the hamstring muscles are over-used or over-stretched and when there is muscle exhaustion and fatigue. Use of improper technique or equipment in carrying out the exercises and even hard and uneven surfaces usually lead to this condition. Other causes include muscle imbalances or weakness in your muscles, alignment issues, leg length discrepancies, overpronation or supination, shortened and tightened muscles, spine stiffness, poor nutrition, obesity, posture irregularities (lumbar lordosis), meniscal injuries and neural tension (scar tissue around the nerves).

Treatment
The best initial and immediate treatment for a hamstring pull should be rest, using an ice pack , compression and elevation. The ice must be placed over the affected area and this treatment should be repeated with a break of 15-20 minutes. However, the ice should not make a direct contact as this may cause a frostbite. So, use a cloth for applying the ice. The compression may be done using a crape bandage and wrapping it right from the knee area till the hip. The wrap must be firm and not too tight, lest it may aggravate the pain. Elevation is about bringing the leg to a position which is above the level of the heart. This helps in decreasing the swelling.

As far as medications are concerned, one should avoid self-medication. In most cases, the above self-care measures are good enough to manage the condition. However, if the pain becomes intolerable and the symptoms prolong, then a medical visit would be necessary.