What are the hamstrings?
What about the sciatic nerve?
Why is this important?
At home exercises
Stubborn muscles? How we can help in the office
What and where?
Hamstrings are a large group of 3 muscles on the back side of the leg. They attach at the base of our pelvis and then cross the knee joint to attach on the back side of the lower leg. Their job is to bend the knee and play a role in extending the hip back. They counterbalance forces from the quadricep (thigh) and play a role in walking, squatting, stair climbing and most notably, jogging and sprinting. They tend to be undertrained and feel tight on most people.
They can feel tight for a multitude of reasons. Most commonly, sitting for most of our day with our knees bent and not being targeted in strengthening workouts can leave these muscles feeling tight and stiff. Additionally, without targeted exercises for glute and hamstring strength, they can also feel tight from compensating for weak glutes
What about the sciatic nerve?
The sciatic nerve is another large structure that is present at the back of the thigh. It happens to be our biggest nerve with the diameter being that of one of your fingers. Tension through this nerve can also be disguised as tight hamstrings. Previous episodes of low back pain or soft tissue injuries to the lower body can cause inflammation or scar tissue formation along the nerve’s pathway which can make it difficult for the nerve to glide in it’s canal causing tension through the length of the nerve. However, similarly to the hamstrings, tension in the nerve can also simply be caused by underactivity and prolonged sitting.
What’s it to us?
The problem with tight hamstrings or tension through our sciatic nerve is that they can contribute to poor posture of the pelvis causing increased pressure and pain in the low back or can cause an imbalance of forces at the knee joint causing pain. To manage this, it requires more than just static stretching. Static stretching can be a nice temporary relief, but we want to help you maximize your time with exercises that will give you lasting change and can prevent future episodes of pain.
Try these at home!
A combination of dynamic stretching, sciatic nerve gliding and strengthening are helpful to reduce both the feeling of tightness in the back of the legs and improve mechanics around the knees/hips/pelvis to decrease risk for injury. We do not gauge success by your ability to put your palms to the floor when you bend over, but rather by our ability to reduce pain, improve strength and decrease the feeling of tension in the back of the legs.
As mentioned, the hamstrings seem to be an underserved group of muscles that can have dramatic effects on the mechanics of the hip, knee and low back. Try incorporating 1-2 of these things into your weekly routine to see if you notice a difference in the way you feel!
How we can help!
None of these exercises should produce low back or knee pain. If they do, we would recommend stopping the exercise that is contributing to the pain. If the discomfort persists, come see one of our doctors at Boulder Sports Chiropractic for a more thorough evaluation and the use of our ART, Graston, and/or dry needling techniques to address muscles that don’t seem to respond to the standard mobility and strengthening routine.
Active Release Technique for Hamstring Pain Relief
Active release technique (ART) is a non-invasive, hands-on diagnostic process of evaluating and treating musculoskeletal problems in the body. ART works by releasing tight and inflamed muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia after injury and overuse. ART is a fantastic tool for releasing the tension in your hamstrings to improve pain free range of movement.
Dry Needling for hip flexor pain Relief
Dry Needling is a technique that uses acupuncture needles to release tight, stubborn, muscles quickly. Unlike other hands on techniques, the needle can penetrate deeper into tissues to help manually release the muscle and stimulate a healing response.
Jill Greenfield, DPT, SCS
Sports Clinical Specialist
Boulder Sports Chiropractic
3000 Center Green Dr. #130
Boulder, CO, 80301
ph: 303-444-5105