Typically a rather debilitating and painful injury that occurs in many athletes and overly active people each year, patients suffering from a torn hamstring can still benefit from exercises aimed at regaining strength and maintaining limb range of motion (ROM) during the healing process. While best performed under the supervision of a medical professional, most exercises are rather simple and can be completed at home.
RICE Method
According to eOrthopod.com, a leading source of anatomical information based on specific injuries pulled from numerous medical professionals, one of the most important factors a patient must implement while exercising with a torn hamstring is the RICE method. This method, which is an acronym for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation, is essential to the healing process and must be completed following exercise early in the treatment process. Since hamstring tears can differ in severity, the length of time needed to completely heal from such an injury can range anywhere between two to six months. If surgical intervention is needed to help the treatment process, patients will typically need to focus much more on the RICE method before and after rehabilitative exercise.
Isometric Exercises
Early in the exercise regimen for a torn hamstring, eOrthopod.com states that strengthening exercises will typically start with isometric movements. These exercises involve the contraction of the surrounding leg muscles without moving the leg joints, such as quadriceps squeezing. As the muscles surrounding the hamstrings get stronger, light weights may be introduced to the isomeric process for added resistance. During these and any exercises, patients should remain aware of their level of discomfort or pain in order to prevent further injury.
Concentric Exercises
The opposite of isometric strengthening, concentric muscle and joint movements focus on maintaining and promoting ROM within a particular limb or joint and is critical to the long-term healing of a torn hamstring. According to William C. Shiel Jr., MD, a contributor to MedicineNet.com, most hamstring injuries as severe as a complete tear may require surgical repair. However, for those more-fortunate patients that do not require surgery, later strengthening exercises can include leg curls with little to no resistance other than gravity in order to combat the onset of atrophy in the muscle (otherwise known as the gradual weakening of the muscle that commonly occurs following trauma). As strength improves within the patient, light weights can be added to the exercise.
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