When dealing with a strained hamstring it's hard to know what treatment will work best for you. You might be wondering if ice and heat will work for you. ...or maybe even which will work better - ice OR heat.
Icing and heating are 2 of the most natural treatment options available. Compared to medications, surgery and other treatment methods - icing and heating have been around for centuries and have always been used for hamstring injury healing as a means to soothe and heal.
We understand that it can get pretty confusing to figure out what conservative treatment method will work best with all of the treatment options available to you today. To get started, you should think about the benefits you'll get from using these therapies.
Ice and heat are the best treatment combination for you if:
Combining cold and warmth is a simple yet effective way to get immediate pain relief and promote long-term healing. In your lifetime you've probably had your mom, family doctor, nurse, surgeon or PT tell you to use ice right after you're injured and something warm from time to time once the swelling's gone down. It's a simple yet very effective way to relieve pain and promote healing in your hamstring.
Hamstring injuries can happen to anyone, right now there are thousands of doctors and PTs dealing with patients that require a solution to treat their hamstring injury fast and get rid of it. This is especially true for sufferers of chronic (long term or recurring) hamstring injuries as they know the true costs that long term injuries can bring in nearly all aspects of their life.
If you want to be proactive about properly dealing with your hamstring injury, speak to your doctor about adding conservative temperature treatments to your recovery with AidYourHamstring's system using a Cold Compress or Ice Pack and Circulation Boost with a Leg TShellz Wrap®.
Your doctor knows that the sooner cold is applied, the quicker you can reduce inflammation and achieve real pain relief. This will help reduce the chance of a much longer lasting chronic injury. Heat and inflammation are a bad mix and should not be used together. Heat is good at the spa - it will help your body relax, but when it comes to a swollen injury it is not a good idea.
A Cold Compress or Ice Pack work best to relieve pain, swelling and inflammation for new injuries, re-injury and during immediate post surgery recovery. Cold should also be used during the first 24 - 72 hours of treatment, combined with resting your injury.
You're having a pain free day so far and decide to walk the dog on a longer route. You realize afterwards that was a bad idea because your hamstring is throbbing and the pain is continuing on throughout the rest of the day.
Use COLD on your hamstring to stop further damage to the micro-tearing in your hamstring muscles and help ease the pain.
A couple days later, after the pain has abated somewhat, start regular treatments with the Leg TShellz Wrap® to deal with the persistent condition and try not to do any movements that would put strain on the hamstring. Over a couple weeks, the chronic condition should improve due to the heat effect and the secondary effect of increased blood flow.
You forgot about your injury but realize it's there when you try carry, push or pull the vacuum up the stairs with you... Flexing and putting weight on your hamstring just reminded you of the cramping you've felt, and you now feel your hamstring muscle spasming.
The pain was temporary and if there is no inflammation, NO cold compression is needed. In this case heat (TShellz Wrap) should be used to relieve the cramp or spasm in your hamstring and encourage healing of your damaged tissue.
TShellz Wrap® treatments work best to increase blood flow circulation and relieve pain for older (chronic) injuries, re-injuries (after swelling has been reduced) and during long-term post surgery recovery.
Circulatory Boost should not be used directly after an injury, as you must wait for swelling to drop. Circulatory Boost treatments should not be started for a least 6 weeks after surgery because inflammation levels will be very high as the healing process starts over again. Any use of a TShellz Wrap® should also be combined with gradual movement to stretch out your hamstring muscles and increase range of motion.
If you have a chronic hamstring (or quadriceps) injury that keeps getting re-injured use a Leg TShellz Wrap before activity to loosen up your tissue (making it more flexible). For dealing with hamstring tendons, you may find the Knee TShellz Wrap to be more comfortable. The T•Shellz treatment is shown to increase the elasticity (flexibility) of the soft tissue in and around the treatment area, making it more pliable for activity and less likely to re-injure.
Sometimes we feel pain while doing a certain activity - should you still use Circulatory Boost? Using a TShellz Wrap in the morning before you start your day or before activity can help to boost blood-flow and reduce risk of further strain or injury. Use cold part-way through your day after you have been active so you can decrease pain and inflammation from the flare up.
The use of the TShellz Wrap® is a good long-term plan because it will help stimulate blood flow (vasodilation) and can also be used on a preventive basis to relax constricted soft tissue. The use of a TShellz Wrap® indirectly enhances the local blood circulatory system, increasing the supply of oxygen and nutrients - the energy your tissue needs to heal.
With regular use of the Leg TShellz Wrap:
Our high quality wraps are registered with the FDA as medical devices which meet high manufacturing standards.
The main symptoms of a hamstring injury are:
When it comes to using ice and heat for treating hamstring injuries, it's important to keep in mind that both ice AND heat are very effective ways to relieve pain and heal. Most people will think one is better over the other from their own experience or what a doctor or health professional has previously told them.
The only difference between using ice and heat is that 1 is better for you at a specific time in your healing cycle. Ice is used first, right when you get your injury, to decrease pain / swelling and inflammation. Once swelling has reduced, we then focus on heat based treatments to increase blood flow circulation in deep tissue which will stimulate the body's healing response.
Each temperature treatment has its own unique benefits for healing hamstring muscle spasms & strains, tendinitis ...or any soft tissue, really. When used together, they provide a powerful advantage to long-term healing. You may already know that ice or heat feels better on your hamstring or knee, and this could influence your decision too.
The bottom line is that ice and heat are exceptional, natural, pain relievers and healers for your hamstring injury.
There are cases where some hamstring injuries will respond better to 1 temperature over the other.
COLD (ice) is used to treat injuries or conditions that are red, hot, inflamed, swollen and suffering from tissue damage (a tear or recovering from surgery). Cold is a natural / organic pain reliever that numbs pain right at the source of your injury. While doing this, the cold also stops tissue break-down and reduces the amount of scar tissue forming (this is very important after surgery).
When cold is applied to a hamstring injury, all of the soft tissue in the treatment area will squeeze on the veins to slow down blood flow. This in turn clamps down on the amount of fluid leaking into your injured tissue, decreasing your swelling. This is why cold is used immediately to treat newer soft tissue injuries or re-injuries. The cold slows down your body to stop the amount of damage happening to your tissue and decrease your swelling. This cold also has a nice side benefit of numbing the nerves in and around your hamstring thereby decreasing your pain.
In the medical world this is something called 'Vasoconstriction'.
Cold can Make Your Hamstring Injury Worse - How?
Applying cold can restrict blood flow and stiffen / tighten soft tissue. Cold is NOT a good treatment method for your hamstring when the tissue is already tight and constricted, because the cold will just stiffen the tissue further. This is especially true if you're suffering from any cramping or spasming in your hamstring muscle. Cold applied on a hamstring muscle cramp or spasm will only make the muscle cramp or spasm even more.
If you feel you have contricted or tight muscles/tendons, you should use a heat treatment that will increase blood flow - like the Leg TShellz Wrap® (Circulatory Boost). Increasing blood flow at this time will help to relieve any tightness, cramping or spasms in your hamstring. Circulatory Boost used at this time will help relax / elongate your tissue making it much more pliable for activity and resistant to reinjury.
Cold compression works best to relieve pain, swelling and inflammation for new injuries, re-injury and during immediate post surgery recovery. Cold should also be used during the first 24 - 72 hours of treatment, combined with resting your injury.
If you've been suffering for some time with a chronic hamstring injury you should only use cold after activity causes you more pain or triggers more inflammatory response symptoms (red, hot, inflamed, swollen). This would be when your hamstring starts to hurt at the end of the day after you've been on your feet, active in athletics, or performing any other tasks that has put a lot of weight or stress on your hamstring. When used at this time cold compression becomes a natural / organic pain reliever, treating the site where you feel the pain.
Sometimes we feel pain while doing a certain activity - should you still use cold? Too much cold can reduce your ability to heal correctly, because cold is a short term pain reliever not a deep tissue healer.
This is important because once blood vessels are blocked or damaged, they can no longer carry oxygenated blood through soft tissue - as such, these tissues begin to break-down. Without cold, tissues continue to break-down as they don't get the oxygen they need to survive. By limiting the amount of damage done to your hamstring, you also limit the amount of healing that needs to occur. This is a very important step to heal hamstring injuries faster and with less pain!
HEAT (warmth) is used after you've reduced your swelling / inflammation and the sharp pain is less intense (you have more of a dull / nagging ache and soft tissue tightness in your hamstring). Warming up your tissue is a natural way to encourage healing. Increasing the temperature of your tissue will result in increased blood flow circulation. It's the blood in your body that will bring oxygen, nutrients and water (basically energy) to your injured hamstring to help with healing.
When heat is applied to the body, veins will expand to allow more blood flow through to your damaged or torn soft tissue. The heat relaxes your hamstring, making the tissue more flexible and elastic. This is why heat is used on older (chronic) injuries, to loosen tissue and bring in the blood flow needed for healing. Your body will begin to heal itself after it is injured. Increasing your blood flow with heat will actually speed up this natural process.
Doctors usually call this process 'Vasodilation'.
When we injure ourselves, we start healing right away. The body will naturally raise the temperature at the site of the injury resulting in the inflammatory response (redness, heat sensation, inflammation and swelling). This 'fake fever' leaks blood flow to the area to cool it down and start the healing process.
Adding 'heat' to your hamstring when it's already inflamed and tender may make your body think there's a new threat to your tissue and increase the pain in order to get you to stop. For some people applying heat on inflamed / swollen tissue will cause the injury to swell-up even more (as much as 3 times larger than normal). You'll feel even more pain as the pressure builds in your hamstring.
Heat is NOT a good treatment method for inflamed hamstring injuries, new injuries (within the first 24 to 72 hours), right after surgery or right after a re-injury (over-use and/or sharp, throbbing pain). In these cases, heat should be applied later on in the healing cycle. In the meantime, use a Cold Compress or Ice Pack to help decrease any inflammation induced pain.
The primary intent of a heat based soft tissue treatment is to increase blood flow circulation and, as such, stimulate healing for older (chronic) injuries, recent (acute) injuries and for long-term post surgery recovery. Warmer temperatures should be used approximately 3 to 5 days after you first have the injury. Heat should not be started for a least 6 weeks after surgery (on approval from your physician) as inflammation levels will be very high as the healing process starts over again. Any use of heat should also be combined with gradual movement to stretch out your hamstring and increase range of motion.
If you have a chronic hamstring injury that keeps getting re-injured you should use heat before activity to loosen up your tissue (making it more flexible). When used at this time the warm temperatures naturally extend the elasticity (elastic-nature) of the soft tissue in your hamstring, making it more movable / pliable for activity.
Sometimes we feel pain while doing a certain activity - should you still use heat? Using heat in the morning before you start your day or before activity can help to boost the healing process and reduce your risk of re-injury. Too much heat (especially when you suffer a set-back with swelling / inflammation) can make your inflammation worse. Cold compression with a Cold Compress or Ice Pack should be used part-way through your day when you suffer from on-going pain and inflammation as a natural pain-reliever.
Using heat is a good long-term plan because it will help to stimulate healing and can also be used on a preventive basis to relax constricted soft tissue. We use warm temperatures / heat to speed up the process of baking something in the oven or melting the snow outside, your injury is no different. Heat will speed up the natural healing rate in your hamstring by increasing your blood flow circulation. This in turn brings all the components your tissue needs to heal - oxygen, nutrients and energy.
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You just went to a new fitness / aerobics class and notice your hamstring feels stiff the day after your first class. There's no pain, inflammation or swelling in your hamstring, just stiffness / soreness where your old injury was.
You should use HEAT (Circulation Boost) on your hamstring before you work out to loosen up your hamstring.
Heat can be used again the next day if you notice any residual stiffness. If the stiffness remains, you should continue to use heat to make sure your old hamstring injury doesn't get worse.
You're not sure if you have an injury, but the pain seems to come and go only when you're on your feet for an extended period of time or walking, jogging or running. Typically, the pain is a sharp pain, and continues to radiate along the hamstring. Afterwards your hamstring feels weak or unstable.
The pain is probably a signal that you are reinjuring your hamstring, and this means cold is needed initially..
Use a Cold Compress or Ice Pack as a natural pain-reliever and for inflammation reduction. The cold compression will also decrease the amount of damage being done to your hamstring. If you have not seen a physician, then do so to determine the problem. Once pain and inflammation have reduced significantly, use the Leg TShellz Wrap® to continue the healing process and help reduce the risk of worsening the re-injury.
For many people, the treatment won't just end there. Stretching is also an important part of hamstring healing - and it's the final step needed when healing your hamstring muscle injury with conservative treatment methods.
You would be suprised by how many people there are that don't understand the importance of stretching a hamstring injury. Before returning to full activity after a hamstring injury, PTs prescribe gentle stretching... This is because stretching is the secret of healing any muscle injury. Consistent stretching is one of few solutions available to help break up scar tissue that forms on your hamstring as it heals.
Read more about hamstring stretching here.
It may seem hard to believe, but our TShellz Wraps® home treatment devices & accessory products will assist you in recovering from your injury by reducing your swelling and inflammation induced pain and maximizing blood flow where it's needed most.
Here at AidYourHamstring we pride ourselves in helping you with your healing and recovery process. Everyone at AidYourHamstring has tested and used the products, finding solutions to conditions that do not fit into the norm. This dedication to our customers and our products goes hand-in-hand with our guarantees to you as a customer:
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The TShellz Wraps® are FDA Registered Medical Devices, are completely safe for patients to use themselves as instructed, at home.
Once treatment is complete, you also have the option of tightening the straps to provide light compression support for your injured joint. You can also unplug the device from the power supply enabling you to move around the home, office or clinic freely and still use the wrap for support and comfort.
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Living with pain is never easy and we encourage you to call us with any questions you have related to your hamstring injury. We will do our best to help.
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During your recovery, you will probably have to modify and/or eliminate any activities that cause pain or discomfort at the location of your soft tissue injury until the pain and inflammation settle. The more diligent you are with your treatment and rehabilitation, the faster you will see successful results!
Please be aware that this information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider before using any of our outstanding products to make sure they are right for you and your condition or if you have any questions regarding a medical condition. Always see your doctor for a proper diagnosis as there are often many injuries and conditions (some very serious) that could be the cause of your pain.
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