Stretch and Strengthen Hamstrings to Reduce Pain, Improve Function
The hamstrings are made up of three muscles that start at a common point in the hip, travel down the back of the thigh, and attach just below the knee. Their function is to flex the knee and extend the hip joint, which make them especially important for activities such as walking, running, and jumping, says Jaclyn Bonder, MD, Medical Director of Women’s Health Rehabilitation at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
“In terms of daily activities, the hamstrings are involved in anything that requires bending and straightening of the knee, such as standing up from a seated position or squatting to pick something up from the floor,” explains Dr. Bonder.
Back and knee pain. Many women naturally have short hamstrings that tend to pull on the pelvis. If the hamstrings are also tight and inflexible, “they can be a source of lower back pain that is often misdiagnosed as either sacroiliac pain or sciatica,” Dr. Bonder explains.
A study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science in June 2014 linked strengthening and stretching of the hamstrings to reduced knee pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The researchers compared a group of knee OA patients ages 50 to 65 who did strengthening exercises for the quadriceps and hamstrings, as well as stretching exercises for the hamstrings, with a group that stretched the hamstrings but strengthened only the quadriceps.
The authors found that strengthening and stretching the hamstrings, together with strengthening the quadriceps, improved participants’ perception of knee pain, increased range of motion, and decreased functional limitations.
Dealing with injury. Anatomically, the hamstrings help counteract the quadriceps (thigh muscles), and so the two should balance each other out, according to Dr. Bonder. “Yet, in many cases, the quadriceps are more powerful and stronger than the hamstrings. Regularly conditioning the hamstrings to make them strong and flexible can help prevent injury, as well as back pain that can be caused by an imbalance between the hamstrings and the quadriceps.”
If your hamstrings feel sore after exercising, applying ice for about 20 minutes a few times a day can help relieve the pain. If pain persists, or if you have sudden onset of pain in the back of your leg during an activity, and the pain doesn’t resolve within a couple of hours, see your doctor for an evaluation, Dr. Bonder advises.
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