Find care at Nemours Children's Health Doctors Locations

for Parents for Kids for Teens For Educators

KidsHealth / For Teens / Hamstring Strain

MORE ON THIS TOPIC FOR:

Hamstring Strain Teens

Dealing With Sports Injuries

Reviewed by: Timothy Duer, PT, CSCS, SCS
What Happens If You Keep Playing Sports


When You're Injured?

Strength Training
Frank was trying to beat an opposing player to a loose ball en español
during a soccer game when he felt a sharp pain at the back Achilles Tendonitis
Distensión de isquiotibiales
of his left leg. He dropped to the ground, but when he tried to
Safety Tips: Running
get up and walk, he fell down again and had to be helped off the field.
View more
The next day, Frank went to see a doctor. The doctor asked him a few questions,
examined his leg, and told him he had a grade 2 strain — a partial tear — of one of the
muscles in his hamstring.

What Is a Hamstring Strain?

Three muscles run down the back of your leg, from your thigh to your knee — the
biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus — and help you bend your
knee and extend your hip. As a group, they are known as the hamstring. A hamstring
strain, sometimes called a pulled hamstring, happens when one or more of these
muscles gets stretched too far and starts to tear.

Hamstring strains can be mild, with little pain and a short recovery time. Or, they can be
severe and need surgery and crutches for weeks.

What Are the

Symptoms of a
Hamstring
Strain?
Chances are that if you
strain your hamstring
while running, you'll
know it immediately.
You'll feel a sharp pain
and possibly a popping
sensation at the back of
your leg. You won't be
able to keep running
and you may fall.

Other symptoms of a
hamstring strain
include:

pain in the back

of your thigh
when you bend or straighten your leg
 tenderness, swelling, and bruising in the back of the thigh
weakness in your leg that lasts for a long time after the injury

How Is a Hamstring Strain Diagnosed?

for on
A hamstring strain might be diagnosed Parents for Kids
the sidelines by a trainer
for Teens
or when you see a For Educators
physical therapist. Often, you'll also see the doctor for a hamstring strain. The doctor will
examine your leg and ask you questions about how the injury happened and how much
pain you have.

The examination will help figure out what grade of strain you have:

Grade 1; this is a mild strain. You may experience some pain when you use
your leg, but it will be minor and there will be minimal swelling.

Grade 2; this is a partial tear of one or more of the hamstring muscles. This
may cause you to limp when you walk and feel some pain during activity. You
might see some swelling and bruising, and you might not be able to straighten
your leg all the way.

Grade 3; this is a complete tear of one or more of the hamstring muscles.

You'll feel pain and not be able to straighten your leg all the way, and you'll notice
swelling right away. Walking will be very difficult and may require crutches.

What Causes a Hamstring Strain?

A hamstring strain generally occurs as a result of muscle overload, such as when you
are running and your leg is fully stretched out just before your foot strikes the ground.
When your foot strikes the ground and all your weight is on it, the muscles can get
stretched too far and they may start to tear.

People who take part in certain activities that involve sprinting or jumping (like track and
field, soccer, football, lacrosse, basketball, and dance) are more at risk of getting
hamstring strains. These kinds of injuries are also more common in teens who are going
through growth spurts. That's because the leg bones may grow faster than a person's
muscles, pulling the muscles tight and leaving them more susceptible to getting
stretched too far.

Some of the more common things that can contribute to a hamstring strain include:

Not warming up properly before exercising. Tight muscles are much more
likely to strain than muscles that are kept strong and flexible.

Being out of shape or overdoing it. Weak muscles are less able to handle the
stress of exercise, and muscles that are tired lose some of their ability to absorb
energy, making them more likely to get injured.

An imbalance in the size of your leg muscles. The quadriceps, the muscles at
the front of your legs, is often larger and more powerful than your hamstring
muscles. When you do an activity that involves running, the hamstring muscles
can get tired more quickly than the quadriceps, putting them at greater risk of a
strain.

Poor technique. If you don't have a good running technique, it can increase the
stress on your hamstring muscles.

Returning to activities too quickly after an injury. Hamstring strains need

plenty of time and rest to heal completely. Trying to come back from a strain too
soon will make you more likely to injure your hamstring again.

How Can You Prevent a Hamstring Strain?

Keeping your muscles in good shape is the best way to prevent hamstring injuries. Here
are some ways to help protect yourself against them (and other sports injuries!):

Warm up properly before exercise or intense physical activity. Jog in place

forjumping
for a minute or two, or do some Parents formuscles
jacks to get your Kids going. Then fordoTeens For Educators
some dynamic stretching
— ask your coach or an athletic trainer to show you how.
After you play, do some static stretches where you gently stretch your muscles,
holding each stretch for 30 seconds or more. 

Keep your muscles strong and flexible year-round. Get regular exercise and
adopt a good stretching program so your muscles don't get a shock when you do
an intense workout.

Increase the duration and intensity of your exercise slowly. A good rule of
thumb is to make sure you add no more than 10% each week to the miles you run
or the time you spend playing a sport.

If you feel pain in your thigh, stop your activity immediately. If you're worried
that you might have strained your hamstring, give it time to rest and don't go back
to your activity until your leg feels strong, you have no pain, and you can move
your injured leg as freely as the other one.

What's the Treatment for a Hamstring Strain?

The good news is that only the most severe muscle tears require surgery. Most
hamstring strains will heal on their own or with some physical therapy.

To treat a hamstring strain, follow these tips:

Use the RICE formula as soon as possible after the injury:

Rest. Limit the amount of walking you do, and try to avoid putting weight on
your leg if your doctor recommends this.

Ice. Use a bag of ice or a cold compress to help reduce swelling for the first
48 hours after the injury. This should begin as soon as possible after the
injury and then every 3 to 4 hours for 20 to 30 minutes at a time until the
swelling is gone. Wrap the ice or ice pack in a towel. Don't put ice or ice
packs directly on the skin because it can cause tissue damage.

Compress. Use elastic bandages or sports wraps to help support your leg
and keep the swelling down if your doctor recommends doing so. Doctors
recommend using elastic compression bandages instead of compression
shorts because you can adjust the bandages as needed.

Elevate. When you are sitting or lying down, keep your leg elevated.

Take pain medicine. Ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

(NSAIDs) can help relieve pain and reduce swelling in the leg. Some doctors
prefer other medicines like acetaminophen. Talk with your doctor about what you
should take.

Do stretching and strengthening exercises. Slowly adding some exercises can

help to improve your leg's strength and flexibility (and, perhaps, prevent the injury
from happening again). A doctor, athletic trainer, or physical therapist can help
determine when your hamstring is ready for these exercises.

If you have a complete tear of one of your hamstring muscles or tendons, your doctor
might want you to have surgery to reattach the tendon to the bone or fix the tendon.

Not overdoing things is key when it comes to this type of injury. Many people have a
hamstring strain come back because they returned to play too quickly. So follow your
 doctor's advice and don't push yourself or feel pressure to get back into sports or other
activities too soon.

Reviewed by: Timothy Duer, PT, CSCS, SCS

Date reviewed: June 2016 for Parents for Kids for Teens For Educators

About Us Contact Us
Partners
Editorial Policy
Permissions Guidelines
Privacy Policy & Terms of Use
Notice of
Nondiscrimination

Note: All information on KidsHealth® is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.

© 1995-2022 The Nemours Foundation. All rights reserved.

Images provided by The Nemours Foundation, iStock, Getty Images, Veer, Shutterstock, and Clipart.com.