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Saturday, April 03, 2010

47 year old female with chronic hamstring pain


Hi Gary



Five months ago i pulled a hamstring in right leg at the very top of hamstring. Previously i had low back pain and hamstring pain in both legs.Had seen a osteopath for 2 treatments and physio who said i had weak hamstrings but very flexible.

I have tried deep tissue massage,dry needling , anti inflammatories with very little success.Have now got pain in sit bones on both sides, lower back on right side feels tight . Can walk but can do little else.Swimming uncomfortable and cycling but can do both as long as low intensity.Previous to all this i was running half marathons always been active mountain biking,running, walking i am

47years old otherwise healthy reasonable diet,since finding your web site have realised i probably need to eat better as in more healthy fats and more protein in my diet.  Seen GP sending me to muscularskeletal physician

Suggested trying cortisone for hamstring attachment pain. Im really at wits end hoping for some advice.
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Gary responds:
(Please refer to the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Chart above while reading this article.)

Too often the body is treated as a mechanical object, like your car, and treated in the same way with most disappointing outcomes.  Far from being a collection of nuts and bolts, the human body is an incredibly complex electrochemical machine.   The ICL Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis helps us delve into the inner workings of the body.

In the case of an older athlete who has done many years of hard training and competition - and probably had a couple of children along the way - we typically see a profile that smacks of exhaustion.  The chart above, for example, shows a severe depletion of sodium and potassium with severe imbalances between these and calcium and magnesium.  These imbalances are known to cause fatigue, muscle cramps and muscle weakness.

Hamstring muscles are 2nd Class Levers that work in concert with the Quadriceps which are 1st Class Levers.

When the quadriceps muscles contract to extend the leg, the hamstring muscles must relax at a relative rate that is much faster than the  opposing quadriceps.  If for any reason, the hamstrings are in spasm or if they tire, then they may suffer damage by not being able to keep up with the quadriceps.  This is commonly seen in endurance athletes who feel like a hamstring is being "pulled" as a long run progresses.  This pulling may be felt in the belly of the muscle or at where it attaches onto the bony prominences of the the pelvis.

While a cortisone injection may give relief, this is at great risk of later suffering the muscle being pulled completely off its attachment!  See my other articles about the dangers of cortisone injections.

Anything other than gentle stretching is usually a waste of time, if flexibility is already okay.  Flexibility, or the lack of it is not the issue - how quickly and fully the muscle can extend is the issue and the answer is to do with the body's biochemistry.

The solution to this type of injury is to identify and correct any underlying biochemical imbalances such as those in the HTMA chart above.  This requires the person to complete an ICL Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis.

This is combined with weekly deep tissue massage of the affected areas while gradually resuming activity from the following day.  I find this approach gives excellent results with the athlete resuming activity almost immediately and exercising and competing without restriction within three months.

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