I’ve been dealing with hamstring tendonitos on the back left side of right knee when I run.
Just want to know how can you tell which tendon is the main culprit: Semitendinosus or Semimembranosus
They’re close to each other. I’ve been doing like ice, hot, rest, stretch, light weights on the legs.
I can swim and bike on trainer no problems. Only hurts after 1 mile or so when I run on treadmill.
Semi mem and semi ten are so close in form and function. Distinguising would be very keen palpating. But when it comes to rehabbing them, you wouldn’t do anything different so i wouldn’t really worry about which is the culprit. Limit or remove aggravating factor, check form when running, stretching and eccentric loading. Any good rehab will revolve around that recipe.
Semi mem and semi ten are so close in form and function. Distinguishing would be very keen palpating. But when it comes to rehabbing them, you wouldn’t do anything different so i wouldn’t really worry about which is the culprit. Limit or remove aggravating factor, check form when running, stretching and eccentric loading. Any good rehab will revolve around that recipe.
The above is good stuff… You may be able to distinguish if you have some distal Symptoms as the Tendinosus will insert into the Pes Anserine which is the front of the “shin” bone. The way I always get my students to remember which one is which is by saying Tendinosus has a “T” in it “T” for top… through palpation you may get a sense of if it is superficial or deep.
If you are looking for specifics I have my Kendall MMT book in my office and will pull it to reference the exact protocol for you tomorrow. Let me know.
Semi mem and semi ten are so close in form and function. Distinguising would be very keen palpating. But when it comes to rehabbing them, you wouldn’t do anything different so i wouldn’t really worry about which is the culprit. Limit or remove aggravating factor, check form when running, stretching and eccentric loading. Any good rehab will revolve around that recipe.
+1. Look up “Nordic Curl” eccentric exercise training for hamstrings.
Have you gone to the doctor? I thought I had tendonitis a few years ago and it turned out to be a small tear in my semimembranosus tendon. If you haven’t seen a doctor, you should so you know exactly what you’re dealing with.
I second the nordic hamstring curls.
I haven’t seen a doc yet. I’ve been doing weights on the hamstrings and they’re up the task.
No problems with curling up my legs. The only time it hurts is when I extend (flex out) my leg on the run.
I can do the slump test with straight legs and it hurts like 5 out of 10 scale.
It’s getting everyday now so I’m going to rest some more before getting back into running.
I haven’t seen a doc yet. I’ve been doing weights on the hamstrings and they’re up the task.
No problems with curling up my legs. The only time it hurts is when I extend (flex out) my leg on the run.
I can do the slump test with straight legs and it hurts like 5 out of 10 scale.
It’s getting everyday now so I’m going to rest some more before getting back into running.
Slump test if done properly is more for deural tension and nerve/nerve root entrapment.
As mentioned its important to focus on eccentric (lengthening and control) exercises, not concentric hamstring curls. Most hamstring injuries (and all soft tissue injuries for that matter) occur on the control/slow down phase of the motion. For running, the last awing phase (after we advance the leg and straighten out the knee for initial ground contact) is most stressfull for the hamstrings because it has to control the whipping momentum during the stride. This is where most pulls will happen. Also since you mention this is where your hammy is problematic then its more indicative of a lack of strength to control and lengthen under stress. So focus on more eccentric strengthening and don’t worry about curls for now.
Ecc bridges: Up with both legs and slowly (5 sec count) lower yourself with only your involved leg
Ecc curls laying face down with weights: curl up weight with both legs and slowly lower down with only the involved leg
Ecc curls seated: Curl weight bar with both legs as far back as you can under you and slowly control the weight up with only the involved leg
Theme is out with 2 and back with 1. Need to load the leg and strengthen it as the hamstring lengthens. This with GENTLE stretching followed by an ice massage right on the annoying area. Pick up some dixie cups at a dollar store, add water, freeze and do 5-10 min of an ice massage twice a day.
Yeeper. Thanks for the excellent advice.
Actually everyone here as well. Much appreciated.
Cheers.
Get healthy buddy
Hey Supersquid, I just got word from my doctor that I have a small tear in my semimembranosus tendon and I’m struggling to find any info on this injury. Your post came up on a search. I’ve been running through the pain for 2 weeks and its really been going fine. in fact, had a great 25k race on Sunday but pulled up a little in the last few miles because my knee/leg wasn’t feeling quite right. Hence making the doctors appointment on Monday. I’m 52 days out from running my first 50 miler but now with the diagnosis of this tear everything has become a little uncertain. I’m 90% sure that I will just rest it for a few days, let the inflammation go down and get right back at it because I can’t find anything that says that would be really stupid. Any words of advise? How long was your recovery?
My recovery took a while, but I wasn’t completely sidelined. I was able to race long course, but struggled with quality run workouts and short course racing. If I ran hard, my knee would swell up a little and get stiff and sore. Nothing really bad, but enough to know I did some damage.
I don’t think I took enough time off to start with, but I also didn’t stay on top of rehab well enough so my injury lingered and I had a lot of little setbacks. I found that lifting weights was crucial to my recovery. I ended up with a big imbalance between my right and left hamstring (injury was on my right). I noticed it when I tried to do reverse plank leg raises. I couldn’t lift my left leg off the ground because I couldn’t support myself with my right leg. I did single leg hamstring curls, reverse plank leg raises, lunges, nordic hamstring curls, etc.
I would take more than a week off and let it start to heal. Getting back at it too soon could cost you more time off later on. I was able to ride as hard as I wanted so you should be able to ride. I took time off until I had zero pain in my knee throughout the day for about a week and then I started running easy and lifting. As long as I kept the running easy and made sure I didn’t hurt my knee with the lifting, I kept getting stronger.
I had a small tear so it wasn’t a complete tear. I think it was lengthwise. Tendons take forever to heal, but if you’re smart about it you can probably get through this without too much downtime. I would definitely do some hamstring work as you come back. It may have been weak hamstrings that caused this in the first place. That’s what my doctor thinks caused mine. My quads are much stronger than my hamstrings. I’m still working on that, but my knee has been good for while and I focused on short course last year and did a lot of hard running and racing with no issues.
Good luck.
Awesome! That helps a lot in formulating my plan of attack here. My tear is lengthwise as well. Everything seems exactly the same. It was amazing to get advise that wasn’t rest it, ice it and take an nsaid. Thanks!