Starting back after a hamstring tear

[Ben42]

I tore my hamstring in an on-court fall three weeks ago. The orthopedic surgeon examined it and said it was a clean tear in the middle of the muscle. He told me to rest it for three weeks and after that I was free to start back to my normal physical activity.

It feels pretty good, but definitely not 100%. I had a HUGE bruise on the back of my thigh, which was very painful. That bruise has migrated down to behind my knee now and is almost gone. The site of the injury is still a little tender, but not too bad.

What’s the best way for me to get back to tennis? I’m thinking I’ll just do a couple of minutes on my elliptical trainer to start. See if I can go 5 minutes or so without much pain. Then stretch it a gently and ice it and see how it responds. Then go from there. I’ll try to start back to tennis when it’s pain free.

Does this sound reasonable? I don’t want to push it and re-injure the muscle but I’ve never been out with an injury this long before.

 

[Marius_Hancu]

talk to your physio

I would do slow biking sessions, until you reach say 20 min at a reasonable braking tension

After that, same in walking; towards the end, use some incline

After that, start light weight exercises

Only after that, should you start running

Increase load only in absence of pain during and the 2nd day

 

[Ben42]

What about stretching and icing after?

 

[Marius_Hancu]

What about stretching and icing after?

VERY carefully with stretching ... start very slowly ...

 

[Ben42]

Absolutely. Last thing I want to do is re-injure.

thanks for the help, btw.

Ben

 

[OLYMPICLEGEND]

delete post

 

[larry10s]

i pulled (tore) my hamstring 2 months ago
heres my 2 cents
in the beginning you need to ice massage and gentily stretch
not past where you start to feel it
if you stretch too far you make more micro tears

when you are not too sore you need to start to try and stregthen
again not to the point you feel pain

after awhile you can try the cardio stuff
again not to where you feel pain
see a physical therapist for guidance

 

[heycal]

If you've been resting it all this time, Ben, I think you are good to go!