I have left hamstring pain when sitting in the chair or in the car. I can feel it where my left glut attaches to the hamstring or in that area. I don’t think it is muscular since I cannot pint point the exact spot and it doesn’t hurt when I touch it. In fact I can foam roll that area and it feels normal, without pain. Could it be something neurological, maybe tight muscle pinching on the nerve? I can swim and bike. It does get worse during longer runs, 4 miles plus. I just don’t want to have a big problem with IM training this year.
Anyone had a similar issue and wants to share the experience?
i’ve had something like that only when sitting in a chair or in the car. I tried to sit less or for less time in one go.
It doesn’t bother me during training though. Just sitting in a chair.
I have left hamstring pain when sitting in the chair or in the car. I can feel it where my left glut attaches to the hamstring or in that area. I don’t think it is muscular since I cannot pint point the exact spot and it doesn’t hurt when I touch it. In fact I can foam roll that area and it feels normal, without pain. Could it be something neurological, maybe tight muscle pinching on the nerve? I can swim and bike. It does get worse during longer runs, 4 miles plus. I just don’t want to have a big problem with IM training this year.
Anyone had a similar issue and wants to share the experience?
You should sit less and run more
My advice, as a coach, is to go to a sports rehab place (NOT a doctor who will tell you to rest for 4-6 weeks to cover his own rear end) as soon as possible. You don’t want to screw around with anything near your back.
I have left hamstring pain when sitting in the chair or in the car. I can feel it where my left glut attaches to the hamstring or in that area. I don’t think it is muscular since I cannot pint point the exact spot and it doesn’t hurt when I touch it. In fact I can foam roll that area and it feels normal, without pain. Could it be something neurological, maybe tight muscle pinching on the nerve? I can swim and bike. It does get worse during longer runs, 4 miles plus. I just don’t want to have a big problem with IM training this year.
Anyone had a similar issue and wants to share the experience?
It is a lack of strength and flexibility in your hips. I dealt with it for years and finally found a PT who knew what they were doing. I have been pain free for a 1 year now. I could not sit in a car for longer than 30 minutes.
This is a symptom of proximal hamstring tendinopathy. After several years of hamstring tendon damage mine was so bad I couldn’t sit in a chair for more than 15 minutes. I quit running for 6 months and cycling for almost 5 months. I underwent extensive physical therapy, Graston type therapy, and EPAT. I had some serious muscle imbalances that led to continual damage to the tendon and eventually it was not functional. After the 6 months off of running I returned to careful easy running for an additional year. It is about 95% now and probably as good as it will get but first track session this week in over 1.5 years went well, not fast but no irritation.
If you seach the web on this you will find the boards full of people who have had little or no success getting the issue resolved. Extensive time off for severe cases like mine and multiple therapies seems to be the only thing that works well.
I am not saying this is what your problem is but I would suggest an MRI as it is really the only way to know. I went 3 years thinking it was piriformis syndrome and continued to do damage that could have been stopped early on with the correct diagnosis. Had I not had a dork of an ortho doc the first time I had a minor hamstring tendon tear and the doc and PT I have now it would have saved me three years of running misery. Go see a good physical therapist and have him/her evaluate you. If this progresses it only gets worse and can result in a frustratingly long recovery period most people haven’t the patience for.
Hopefully in your case it is something as simple as piriformis syndrome which is often more easily resolved.
I have had the same thing for 2 weeks! Sitting is tough, but sitting on a bike is not. What I did was roll up a towel tightly and sit on it in the car, as if it was a bike saddle.
Thanks- that sounds right especially since it is very sporadic rather then consistent discomfort. I did some rolling and stretching and that helped a little. My left side indeed is a lot more tight. I think I am on a good track, thanks!
Could be either prox ham tendinopathy or piriformis. Doing exercises & stretches for both will help either.
Thanks- that sounds right especially since it is very sporadic rather then consistent discomfort. I did some rolling and stretching and that helped a little. My left side indeed is a lot more tight. I think I am on a good track, thanks!
Summer of 2007 as I was driving up to Penticton to race IMC and I started experiencing hamstring pain while sitting in the car. The pain wasn’t there when I trained or raced at this point in time. The pain was just an annoying dull ache I would feel when I would sit. I noticed over the next several years that when I took time off the pain seemed to get worse. Like you I could not pinpoint an exact spot and there were times when it felt fine. Fast forward to 2009 , I started having the pain on the bike, the first time it happened I was racing, needless to say my bike split at that race was my slowest ever. THis pattern continued over the next couple years. As the years went on I couldn’t sit more than 15-20 min without being in so much pain I would have to get up move around change my position. I dreaded rides in the car or having to sit for long periods of time. In training it would still ache but if I changed my position and moved around it seemed to go away for a while. I had many different diagnosis , tests x-rays MRI…you name it I tried it over the years…nothing helped or got rid of it. I did IM St George in 2010, I was in so much pain in the car on the drive down I had to lay down flat in the back of the car for 80% of the ride. The race went fine I managed to get through the bike by standing up every 10-15 min. By fall of 2010 I couldn’t sit more than 5 min without pain . My last race of that year was hell, 10 min in to the bike the hamstring was killing me and in this race it hurt on the run as well. After that race I told my coach I was done. I did not want to train and race and have to deal with this pain anymore,at this point the Drs believed it was a nerve issue . I took a couple months off to decide what I wanted to do. It was during that time that I was FINALLY able to figure out what the problem was.
I bring this up because my first symptoms in those early years were pain in the hamstring only when sitting. Four years later in Jan 2011 I went in to see a vascular surgeon and told him I believed I had Iliac artery endofibrosis. The first thing he did was an ultrasound of the iliac artery and other arteries in the leg ,everything looked great because I was laying flat. He seriously doubted that I had Iliac artery endofibrosis but I convinced him to do an ABI test on the bike. The test showed a drop in blood pressure in that left leg, an angiogram then confirmed the diagnosis.
Could be ischial bursitis. Seeing a physician who does musculoskeletal ultrasound could help to evaluate for this versus proximal hamstring tendinopathy.
Jill- you are very persistent, kudos to you for not giving up. I suspect it is my piriformis that came back with a vengeance. I had it last year a little and didn’t take care of it right away. Now I have learned my lesson.
Does it hurt more when you extend you leg straight out it front of you while sitting? You know it’s your nerve if it hurt to drive a car (reach for the gas pedal with your foot).
No it actually doesn’t hurt when I extend my leg. I do feel sore spot when I roll. In fact once I find tender spot on the roller and sit on it I can feel the same tingle feeling multiplied. It doesn’t go lower then mid hamstring.
Hi I was reading this and thought I’m reading exactly my situation. It is effecting both my hamstrings but the pain when sitting is crazy bad in my right. Is it safe to run? I sit at a desk for my job and wow is it making my life awful. I’m missing running and cycling something terribly and wonder what steps to take. Appreciate any advice!!
