What Is The Best Hamstring Tendinopathy Treatment?
2 Steps To A Successful Recovery
Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment is made very simple and effective in 2 easy steps. As reported in our previous blog What Is Hamstring Tendinopathy?, it is a very common place, overuse condition seen among runners. Particularly those in Sheffield!
Buttock pain when running, especially uphill, and buttock pain when sitting for prolonged periods are all classic characteristics and can easily stop people returning to sport. The diagnosis is the easy part – the key question then is how do we treat it?
Stretching alone will not cure Hamstring Tendinopathy.
Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment should follow 2 simple steps in order for a successful recovery as part of a gold standard, evidence based approach. Stretching alone will not cure Hamstring Tendinopathy.
In the acute, ‘reactive’ phase or initial 3-6 weeks of symptoms occurring it is best to go straight to step 2 of treatment. Strengthening!
However, due to it’s chronic nature, symptoms can usually build over months. A ‘disrepair’ of the natural healing process occurs. Often people will first present at our clinic having had symptoms for well over 6 weeks. In order to reverse these changes we advice following steps 1 & 2 over a period of 12 weeks.
Hamstring Tendinopathy Treatment
Step 1 | Reset
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy is a relatively new intervention that has scientifically proven, excellent results with specific conditions. These include Plantar Fasciitis, Tennis Elbow, Achilles Tendinopathy and Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment. Shockwave Therapy owes its heritage to lithotripsy. This is when focused shockwaves break apart gall stones so they could be passed. A number of years later, a bit of lateral thinking and a strong evidence base now presents SWT as the ‘gold standard’ treatment.
As noted in our previous blog, ‘opathy‘ rather than ‘itis‘ is used to define the issue. This characterises the stalling healing process and disrepair (more commonly called scar tissue). SWT in Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment aims to agitate or shock the injury back to its acute phase of healing. It uses acoustic energy – almost like pressing the reset button. SWT ‘resets’ the stalled healing process. It expedites a return to activity and has a noticeable reduction in pain. It is then vital to introduce progressive load to the tissues to ensure an optimum recovery.
Step 2 | Strengthen
As we know the Hamstring Tendon plays a crucial role in absorbing and producing force when walking, running and jumping. As a result, part of the Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment should focus on regaining localised strength of the hamstring muscles, as well as improving any weak links in the kinetic chain.
A study published in 2016 showed that a tailored, progressive strengthening programme provided significant improvement as part of Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment.
Research has shown Shockwave Therapy, in combination with a tailored strengthening programme, gives the most significant improvements in Hamstring Tendinopathy treatment for chronic issues.
Check out our next blog on the ‘Best Exercises For Hamstring Tendinopathy’
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