Hamstring Injuries
Medical treatment of hamstring injuries depends on the damage’s severity and the problem’s location. It won’t be the same if you have an injury near the muscle’s insertion or outside this area. The usual treatment usually includes rest and activity modifications, compression, ice therapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and physical therapy. In some cases, massage can be useful to reduce pain, and electrical stimulation and ultrasound are helpful in some patients.
In some cases, hamstring injuries are very severe and require intramuscular corticosteroid injections. Such injections improve pain, but they should be guided and monitored by a doctor because of side effects such as tendon rupture, infections, and recurrent injuries.
Despite having so many treatment options, traditional management of these injuries can sometimes be unpredictable and disappointing. There is a very high reinjury rate, and once the hamstring muscle is torn, it is difficult to bring it back to what it was before. Still, some patients have significantly improved with new biological therapies such as tissue engineering, growth factor administration, and platelet-rich plasma treatment.