What is the cause of hamstring pain

The hamstrings are the muscles at the back of our thighs. Many athletes can achieve a certain degree of explosive power by exercising their hamstrings. But many times, if we exercise too much, it is likely to cause some pain in the hamstring muscles. If not relieved in time, tendonitis may occur. Many athletes suffer from hamstring pain caused by tendinitis.

As the name suggests, the hamstring muscles are located on the back of the thigh, also known as the hamstring muscles. It is composed of the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. The origins of the posterior femoral muscles are all on the ischial tuberosity. The two ends of the biceps femoris merge into a long tendon and end at the fibula head; the semitendinosus ends at the medial side of the upper end of the tibia; and the semimembranosus ends at the posterior side of the medial condyle of the tibia.

Main function: When nearly fixed and contracted, the thigh is extended at the hip joint and the calf is flexed at the knee joint. During distal fixation, contraction of both sides causes the pelvis to tilt posteriorly; during proximal fixation, the biceps femoris can externally rotate the knee joint, while the semitendinosus and semimembranosus can internally rotate the knee joint. In many sports, the hamstring muscles are the main force-generating muscle group (such as mid-distance running in track and field events, back kicks in taekwondo, etc.).

During training, we often only focus on improving the strength of the front thigh muscles and ignore the development of the posterior thigh muscles. If things go on like this for a long time, it will lead to an imbalance between the front and back sides. This imbalance in muscle strength may change joint movement and cause phenomena such as knee pain, hamstring muscle strain, and ischial tuberosity pain. There is a lot of scientific evidence that to prevent injuries, the strength of the hamstrings should be increased to 75% to 85% of the front.

Tendonitis precautions and self-care methods:

1. Let your muscles rest, but avoid resting for too long to prevent muscle atrophy

2. Stretch your muscles more often in daily life and before exercise.

3. If tendonitis occurs in the knee area, you can apply a warm and wet towel to it.

4. If tendonitis is caused by exercise, changing the sport is a possible method to consider.

5. Taking a massage bath can help increase body temperature and promote blood circulation.

6. Wearing wrist guards or knee pads can strengthen muscles and tendons.

7. Elevating the affected area can control swelling.

8. Use ice to reduce swelling and relieve pain, but it should not be used by people with heart disease, diabetes or vascular problems.

9. Taking non-steroidal pain relievers can reduce inflammation and swelling.

10. Exercise your muscles to strengthen them.

11. Taking a short break is the best way to relieve muscle tension. Here is the massage method for thigh pain caused by exercise: Post-exercise massage is an important means to eliminate fatigue.

The main massage techniques include shaking, acupressure, kneading, tapping, and pushing. The first step is to shake the limbs, mainly to relax the elbows, knee joints and muscle groups of the limbs; commonly used acupoints for pressing on the upper limbs include Pianli, Quchi, Shouwuli, Biyuexu, etc., which can relieve soreness and swelling in the arms and elbows, as well as various discomfort symptoms caused by exercise such as shoulder and arm pain, neck stiffness, etc. Commonly used acupressure points for the lower limbs include Chengfu, Weiyang, Chengshan, Kunlun, Zusanli, etc., which can relieve symptoms such as pain in the lumbar, sacral, buttocks and thighs, leg and foot cramps, stiffness and pain in the waist and legs, stiff neck, low back pain, and soreness in the knees and shins. When kneading and tapping, massage the large muscles first and then the small muscles. After massaging one side, massage the other side. In this way, you can massage each other's whole body. Most of the Shu points on the back are located 1.5 inches away from the spine. Massage and relaxation are mainly focused on the points 1.5 inches away from the spine and the outer shoulder Shu, Jianjing, and Tianzong points on the shoulder blade. This can relieve back pain and neck stiffness.