More Hamstring Injury Facts: Oral Medications can mask the pain but do not aid in the healing of a Hamstring muscle injury. Anti-inflammatories and Pain killers can cause Hamstring muscle related injuries to worsen. One out of three athletes who sustain an initial hamstring injury will reinjure their hamstring within a year of returning to play. It is theorized that weakness in the hamstring muscle due to incomplete or improper (scar tissue) healing will often cause a hamstring re-injury. A Grade 1 Hamstring Injury is a mild strain with a few torn muscle fibers in the hamstring. A Grade 2 Hamstring Injury is a moderate strain and the patient shows a definite loss in strength. A Grade 3 Hamstring Injury is a complete tear of the hamstring muscles. 10% to 23% of all acute soccer injuries are typically hamstring tears and hamstring strains (also known as strain injuries of the posterior thigh). A complete tear of the Hamstring will require reattachment surgery. There is no avoidance of this. ![]() Possible Reasons for High Rates of Hamstring Injury: Timing and Coordination problems during a running sprint - specifically during the time the back leg is off the ground and pulled forward (to place on ground in front of you). Running stride is too long (overstride), or the sway in the run is significant (causing more stress on the hamstring). An Improperly healed hamstring injury will predispose you to another hamstring injury. Lack of stiffness in the hamstring muscle will increase your chance of a strain when your feet are contacting the ground in a run. (inability to absorb enough shock) Improper warm-up before exercise. A slippery playing surface increase your odds of a hamstring strain due to slipping. Certain Lower Back Issues may potentially cause weakened muscles; weak hamstring muscles are more prone to strain than stronger hamstring muscles. |
Ice vs Heat for Treating Hamstring Strains, Spasms & Tears![]() When dealing with a strained hamstring it's hard to know what treatment will work best for you. You might be wondering if ice and heat will work for you. Or maybe even which will work better - ice OR heat. Icing and heating are 2 of the most natural treatment options available. Compared to medications, surgery and other treatment methods - icing and heating have been around for centuries and have always been used for hamstring injury healing as a means to soothe and heal. We understand that it can get pretty confusing to figure out what conservative treatment method will work best with all of the treatment options available to you today. To get started, you should think about the benefits you'll get from using these therapies. What's Better to Treat Your Hamstring: Ice or Heat?Ice and heat are the best treatment combination for you if: ![]()
Combining cold and warmth is a simple yet effective way to get immediate pain relief and promote long-term healing. In your lifetime you've probably had your mom, family doctor, nurse, surgeon or physical therapist tell you to use ice right after you're injured and something warm from time to time once the swelling's gone down. It's a simple yet very effective way to relieve pain and promote healing in your hamstring. Hamstring injuries can happen to anyone, right now there are thousands of doctors and physical therapists dealing with patients that require a solution to treat their hamstring injury fast and heal it (where possible). If you want to be proactive about properly dealing with your hamstring injury, speak to your doctor about adding conservative temperature treatments to your recovery with AidYourHamstring's system using a Cold Compress or Ice Pack, MendMeShop Arnica Pain Cream, and Deep Tissue Therapy via a Leg T•Shellz Wrap®. Superior TechnologyWhen It Comes to Soft Tissue Injury Treatment, a T•Shellz Wrap® is Superior to Heat; so instead of talking about heat, lets talk about the T•Shellz Wrap® Use a T•Shellz Wrap®, NOT HeatThe idea of using heat was to try and get your body to circulate more blood into your injured tissue. The problem is that most heat doesn't get down below the sub-dermal skin layer - as such it is largely ineffective. This is why our DTR Therapy wraps are superior to heat. Each DTR Therapy Wrap emits a uniform wave of healing electromagnetic energy over the entire treatment area. This energy travels deep inside the soft tissue in your joint where it is absorbed. Once this energy is absorbed, some of the energy is converted to heat, wherby the body responds to this heat by increasing blood flow in the treatment area to dissipate this heat. It is just the same as a heat application was intended to do - only the T•Shellz Wrap® does it better. The electromagnetic energy is CRUCIAL to the healing process as this how heat is generated in deep tissue - exactly where you need it. ![]() Electromagnetic energy waves (EMR) are not Heat Waves. When they are emitted from the T•Shellz Wrap® they penetrate right through your skin and fat layers until they get to denser soft tissue such as your ligaments, muscles, and tendons. EMR waves are absorbed by this dense soft tissue and this absorption of energy results in increased bloodflow .... that's Enhanced Healing Power (EHP) -right at the location of the injury. The use of ElectroMagnetic Energy is the only way that will provide the DTR Therapy effect deep in the body where it is needed. The TShellz Wrap is a flexible, therapeutic wrap that can significantly increase bloodflow at the source of your injury! The Deep Tissue Repair process is something you will find nowhere else. Electromagnetic Energy => Increased Blood Flow => More Oxygen, More Nutrients and Less Toxins => Faster HealingUsing heat when the energy is only pushing into the top layers of the skin won't give you deep tissue healing. In this case, the blood is actually rushing AWAY from your hamstring to the surface of your skin - exactly the opposite of what we want. If you try and heat deep tissue from the surface, you will find that little, if any, heat will reach there. The skin and fat layer below the skin are very efficient insultaors - they protect extreme temperatures from penetrating. There's even a condition for overuse of a skin-level heat source called toasted skin syndrome, hot water bottle rash, fire stains, laptop thigh, or granny's tartan. Click HERE to Go To Our Online Store We take all major credit cards and Paypal. Note: If you have an Acute (recent, inflamed) Soft Tissue Injury, Do Not Use Heat.Your doctor knows that the sooner cold is applied, the quicker you can reduce inflammation and achieve real pain relief. This will help reduce the chance of a much longer lasting chronic injury. Heat and inflammation are a bad mix and should not be used together. Heat is good at the spa - it will help your body relax, but when it comes to a swollen injury it is not a good idea. When To Use Cold:A Cold Compress or Ice Pack work best to relieve pain, swelling and inflammation for new injuries, re-injury and during immediate post surgery recovery. Cold therapy should also be used during the first 24 - 72 hours of treatment, combined with resting your injury.
When to use a Leg TShellz Wrap (HEAT):
Here Are A Couple Of Examples For When To Use Cold (Ice) Or Heat:You Have Mild Pain In Your Hamstring That Has Been Around for Months & Is Not Going AwayYou're having a pain free day so far and decide to walk the dog on a longer route. You realize afterwards that was a bad idea because your hamstring is throbbing and the pain is continuing on throughout the rest of the day. Use COLD on your hamstring to stop further damage to the micro-tearing in your hamstring muscles and help ease the pain. A couple days later, after the pain has abated somewhat, start regular treatments with the Leg T•Shellz Wrap® to deal with the persistent condition and try not to do any movements that would put strain on the hamstring. Over a couple weeks, the chronic condition should improve due to the heat effect and the secondary effect of increased blood flow. You've Suffered From Cramping In Your Hamstring Before. Now You're Trying To Bring Your Vaccum Cleaner Up A Set Of Stairs In Your House To Clean Your Bedroom.You forgot about your injury but realize it's there when you try carry, push or pull the vacuum up the stairs with you... Flexing and putting weight on your hamstring just reminded you of the cramping you've felt, and you now feel your hamstring muscle spasming. The pain was temporary and if there is no inflammation, NO cold compression is needed. In this case heat (Deep Tissue Regeneration Therapy) should be used to relieve the cramp or spasm in your hamstring and encourage healing of your damaged tissue. Use cold after any sort of activity causes you on-going pain.When Should You Use Heat (via a Leg T•Shellz Wrap® To Treat Your Hamstring?![]() DTR Therapy treatments work best to increase blood flow circulation and stimulate healing for older (chronic) injuries, re-injuries (after swelling has been reduced) and during long-term post surgery recovery. DTR Therapy should not be used directly after an injury, as you must wait for swelling to drop. DTR Therapy treatments should not be started for a least 2 weeks after surgery because inflammation levels will be very high as the healing process starts over again. Any use of DTR Therapy should also be combined with gradual movement to stretch out your leg and increase range of motion. If you have a chronic hamstring (or quadriceps) injury that keeps getting re-injured you should use a Leg TShellz Wrap before activity to loosen up your tissue (making it more flexible). This treatment is shown to increase the elasticity (flexibility) of the soft tissue in and around the treatment area; further to this, heat will also lengthen soft tissue. The benefits of increased length and flexibility of soft tissue mean it will be more pliable for activity and less likely to re-injure (important). Sometimes we feel pain while doing a certain activity - should you still use a deep heat treatment? (TShellz Wrap)? Applying a heat treatment in the morning before you start your day or before activity can help to boost blood-flow and reduce risk of further strain or injury. Use cold part-way through your day after you have been active so you can decrease pain and inflammation from the flare up. The application of deep heat via the Leg T•Shellz Wrap® is a good long-term plan as you will find it to be a highly beneficial tool for soft tissue injuries - both in the recovery process as well as for long term re-injury prevention healing. It can also be used on a preventive basis to relax constricted soft tissue. DTR Therapy enhances the local blood circulatory system, increasing the flow of nutrients your tissue needs to heal - oxygen, nutrients, anti-bodies and energy. What Makes the Leg TShellz Wrap Different?![]() The TShellz Wrap is a wholesome healer! Instead of having the heat energy force itself into your body by heating up the skin first, the Leg TShellz Wrap emits an electromagnetic energy (EMR) that penetrates deep into your tissue creating the heat right down in your injured tissue. This means that instead of trying to heat from the outside in, you're using another method to to get the energy straight inside; EMR energy passes right through the skin and is absorbed by deep dense tissue - exactly where it is needed. The only way to get Deep Tissue Rehab is through use of a TShellz Wrap. The TShellz Wrap is the only treatment method available for use at home that improves blood flow and circulation on a deep tissue level. As we mentioned before, other methods (like hot water bottles, hot baths, etc) will only ever increase blood flow on a surface / skin level. These methods need a LOT of time to even reach your deep tissue. And even if you were to use them this long, your skin would heat up to an uncomfortable level and you might even get burned! What exactly has changed the way heat therapy works? With modern medical advancements, electromagnetic energy is used to generate deep tissue heat for healing with Deep Tissue Regeneration Therapy (DTR Therapy). With regular use of the Leg TShellz Wrap:
Our high quality wraps are registered with the FDA as medical devices which meet high manufacturing standards. How to Use Ice and Heat to Relieve & Treat Your Hamstring![]() The main symptoms of a hamstring injury are:
When it comes to using ice and heat for treating hamstring injuries, it's important to keep in mind that both ice AND heat are very effective ways to relieve pain and heal. Most people will think one is better over the other from their own experience or what a doctor / physical therapist has previously told them. The only difference between using ice and heat is that 1 is better for you at a specific time in your healing cycle. Ice is used first, right when you get your injury, to decrease pain / swelling and inflammation. Once swelling has reduced, we then focus on heat based treatments to increase blood flow circulation in deep tissue which will stimulate the body's healing response. ![]() Each temperature therapy has its own unique benefits for hamstring healing, and when used together they provide a powerful advantage to long-term healing. You may already know that ice or heat feels better on your leg, and this could influence your decision too. The bottom line is that ice and heat are exceptional, natural, pain relievers and healers for your hamstring injury. There are cases where some hamstring injuries will respond better to 1 temperature over the other. We want to help clear up the confusion so you know which is better (icy cold or gentle heat) and how to get the most from your treatment at home. Part 1: Cold | ![]() Hamstring Injury Facts: Hamstring Muscles cross both your hip and knee, and help extend (straighten) the hip or bend the knee. A Hamstring injury is an injury to one of the three different hamstring muscles in the back of the thigh. The three Hamstring muscles name are: Biceps Femoris, Semitendinousus, Semimembranosus muscles. Continually using your Hamstring muscles while injured will lead to a worse injury; and yes, it is difficult to avoid using the Hamstring. Most Hamstring injuries happen while playing sports, such as soccer or football. Once you have suffered one Hamstring injury, there is a very good chance you will suffer another Hamstring injury. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |