Hawkes Physiotherapy Blog

This blog article is going to help you to understand more about your dodgy hamstring. It will look at the evidence that is out there, to hopefully reduce the risk of injuring it in the first place and to help you to recover and get back your sport faster. Firstly what are the hamstrings? They are group of muscle at the back of your upper leg. Semitendinosus:  Attaches from the Ischial tuberosity to superomedial aspect of tibia. Its principle actions are Hip extension, knee flexion and medial rotation of knee in knee flexion. Semimembranosus:  Attaches from the Ischial tuberosity to posterior aspect of medial condyle of tibia. Its principle actions are Hip extension, knee flexion and medial rotation of knee in knee flexion. Biceps Femoris:  There are two parts, The long head and the short head. The Long head attaches from the ischial tuberosity and short head from the linea aspera and lateral supracondylar line of femur to lateral aspect of...

Okay so the chance of injury should now be low if you have followed all the advice within this blog series but sometimes there’s not much you can do and bang, you’re injured. So what do you do then, if you are unlucky? Obviously this will depend on the type of injury that you have. However most injuries are either from trauma (one of event that causes damage) or from cumulative micro trauma overload. So what do I do if I get injured from a one off trauma? An example of this would be treading on a stone and twisting your ankle. So if you cause trauma then the advice to follow is as follows: First 48-72 hours of injury: Use: P.O.L.I.C.E. No don’t call the police (unless your trauma is being punched lol). This is the latest acronym that replaces the old R.I.C.E. P: Protect the injury from further harm: This can be stopping the activity, using crutches, strapping it up, etc. O.L: Optimal loading: This means load it but don’t overload it! This was put ...

Working as a Physiotherapist I get to see first-hand, the implications of poor recovery. The amount of runners who develop a cumulative injury due to the build-up of micro-trauma that they didn't allow the chance to repair between sessions. It is common place for runners to come in and say that “I run nearly everyday”. Well hopefully this blog series up to now should already be making you think differently about your training.  Remember it’s not all about running! So why shouldn't I run so often? Well I remember reading a blog that was written by the first female winner of the marathon and she basically said one of the most important things to prevent injury is to not run more than 3 times per week. Interestingly she has found this from experience but truthfully I was already advising this to patients and telling them to cross train on the other days (we all know the benefits of this by now!). Why should I do this then? It’s all about healing time...