A day watching a cricket match would involve the batsman scurrying to the other end with a sudden start, rapid acceleration of every movement of running and finally lunge forward to scrape his bat against the crease. Well, every such motion is enough to cause a hamstring injury. Hamstrings are thick, bulky muscles in the back of the upper leg which run the course from the buttocks or th hips where they are and along the leg into almost the back of the knee. These are attached to the bone with a thick, ropy structures called as the tendons. Any part of these muscles - right from the attachment of the tendon and along the course of the muscle - is prone to injury in athletes where there is involvement of running etc. When there is a sudden lunging, running or jumping, it puts a pressure on the tissues of the muscle causing a spasm or even worse a tear.
There is a spasm of the muscles in the back of the thigh which completely immobilises the sportsman then and there. If there is a sudden pop-like-sound during such activities, it could be due a tear in one of the fibres. Against that is at the site where the tendon is attached to the soft, bulky muscle. But in the athletically active, there could be a Grade III tear too. More often than not if the sportsman begins his job for the day without enough warm up or conditioning, or under circumstances like batting for a prolonged period of time especially in a humid environment that only saps away the electrolytes from the system; the hamstring muscles are more prone to injury. As such the diagnosis of such an injury does not involve any investigations because if the injury has happened during the course of play with a grab in the thigh completely immobilising him for a few minutes and there is a limp in the gait; it has to be construed as a hamstring injury. If there is a bluish swelling underneath the site it could be due to more than a spasm - it could be a muscle tear.
To start with, rest, ice, compression and elevation of the affected area go a long way in giving some relief to the person. But pressure with ice over the muscles for minutes after the injury would help him get back on the field, if its is only a spasm. If there is a tear rest of about four to six weeks period, away from action is required. During this phase as the tear heals, there could be a formation of a thick band of tissue at the site that may actually limit the movement in the long run and care with proper physiotherapy needs to be taken during the recovery. Homeopathic medicine has good remedies like Mag. Phos. which when given during an acute phase would relieve the spasm at the earliest and remedies like Arnica, Rhus tox, Cimcifuga, Caulophyllum, Ruta, Ac. Sulph., etc. can help the fibres heal at the earliest so that the sportsman is back on the field to the best of his ability only.
-Challapalli Srinivas Chakravarthy-
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