4 Signs Your Badly ‘Pulled’ Hamstring Is Actually Torn

Hamstring injuries are a common type of sports injury for runners, dancers, and competitors in any sport that involves a lot of sudden sprints and stops, like soccer, football, basketball, or tennis.

Your three hamstring muscles form a group that runs down the back of your thigh. This group, made up of the semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and biceps femoris muscles, is essential for allowing you to extend your leg backward and bend your knee.

You can injure your hamstring muscles through repetitive stress or sudden trauma. Your injury might be a milder “pulled muscle” or a more severe muscle tear. A muscle can even pull away from your shinbone or pelvis altogether, and may need surgical treatment for complete healing.

If you experience a hamstring injury, your concerns are obvious: How severe is it, how do you know, and what should you do next? At the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, sports medicine expert Dr. Michael L. Blackwell can diagnose and treat your condition.

Dr. Blackwell welcomes patients at locations in Tomball, Kingwood, and The Woodlands, Texas. He advises you to watch out for these four signs of a torn hamstring, and seek the appropriate treatment for your sports injury without undue delay.

1. A ‘popping’ sound at the time of your injury

In addition to sudden thigh pain, a “popping” sound can accompany a hamstring injury. While this sound doesn’t prove you’ve suffered a tear rather than a pulled muscle, it can be a sign of a partial or total muscle tear.

2. Loss of weight-bearing capability

Bruising, swelling, and tenderness can appear after any degree of hamstring injury. But if you find that your injured leg can’t bear weight, it could indicate more severe damage.

3. Pain after just a few steps

Walking after any degree of hamstring injury will be uncomfortable. However, if you can’t take more than a few steps without intense pain, your hamstring muscle may be torn, needing more intensive treatment than just rest and icing.

4. Previous hamstring injuries

After a previous hamstring injury, your risk for a full muscle tear increases. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that hamstring injuries heal completely, and that you support your leg muscles when you’re active.

If you experience a hamstring tear, Dr. Blackwell evaluates your injury and post-recovery expectations, and discusses the right treatment plan to help you heal completely and correctly. Severe tears may need surgical treatment, but many hamstring tears can heal without it.

If you think you could have a hamstring injury, and if you notice extensive bruising and issues with loss of weight-bearing and walking capabilities, get in touch with Dr. Blackwell right away. 

He uses physical examinations and state-of-the-art imaging to determine the nature and severity of your injury.

Contact Dr. Blackwell at the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine by booking online or over the phone to schedule an appointment.