sport science

Hamstring injury?

Do you suffer with pain in your hamstring muscle? Did you know that there may be a link to a prior ankle injury?

An observational cohort study over 17 years found that athletes have a higher risk of hamstring injury if there was a previous injury to the ankle. Up until now, literature has not directly suggested this link, even though there is some understanding that a previous calf muscle injury can be predictive of a hamstring muscle injury. Evidence also suggests that a tight hamstring musculature has been associated with plantar fasciitis that causes pain in heel and sole.

The above findings confirm the clinical approach in Montague Chiropractic Clinic and their health care professionals where focus is not only given to the location of pain and injury but the whole limb and other associated areas. Our rehabilitation programmes for hamstring muscle pain are patient centred and can include training of proprioception (a kind of balance feedback), muscle length and strength improvement as well as addressing mechanical issues during gait analysis. 

The above study was published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research on 26th February 2018 by N Malliaropoulos et al. called "Higher frequency of hamstring injuries in elite track and field athletes who had a previous injury to the ankle".