Hamstring Tendinopathy
What is it?
The Hamstring group is made up of 3 muscles which attach from behind the knee to a bony prominence in the buttock and thigh bone. This group of muscles helps to bend your knee and to move your leg behind you.
Pain arising from the hamstring tendons is usually due to an overuse injury and is commonly seen in runners, or those who participate in kicking or jumping sports.
Typical Symptoms/features:
- Pain deep in the buttock or the back of the thigh. Sometimes this can radiate to knee
- Pain typically increases with repetitive activity e.g. long-distance running
- Pain with prolonged sitting or driving
- Pain with increased speed or sprinting
- Pain when bending at the hip e.g. putting on shoes or bending to pick something up from the floor
Management:
- Activity modification
- When you first start noticing hip pain, it may help to reduce your activity for a short amount of time to allow the pain to settle
- However, there is strong evidence that says keeping active and slowly returning to your normal levels of activity can actually help the pain to settle quicker
- Ice or heat
- Pain relief
- Physiotherapy including range of movement exercises and a graded strengthening programme
Do I need imaging?
Imaging (X-rays or scans) are rarely required to diagnose hip adductor pain.
Many people, even without hip pain, will have findings on imaging such as joint space changes, and osteoarthritic changes.
These findings are unlikely to change how your hip pain is initially managed.
X-rays and scans are most appropriately used after a serious injury.
