Hamstring Pain from riding

fix said:

Recently I've been experiencing sharp pain in my hamstring muscle - the muscle on the back of the thigh from the knee to the butt. The doctor says that it is probably agitated and due to my cycling. I'm not certain what has specifically caused this.

It doesn't seem to hurt so much when I am riding, but the pain is unbearable the rest of the day, especially when sitting. The muscle gets very tight and I can't stretch it out due to the severe pain.

The doctor recommends stretching as often as possible as one resolution.

This is my third year of cycling. I usually do 40 mile rides on the weekends and occassionally use my trainor on weekdays.

I have not adjusted my seat or changed my handle bar positions.
Has anyone had the same problem and found how to solve it?

where exactly is the pain (upper, lower, medial, lateral, etc)?

thirdeye73 said:

where exactly is the pain (upper, lower, medial, lateral, etc)?

It seems to be in the entire muscle, but the most severe pain is concentrated in the middle of the muscle extending towards the butt.

refrain from stretching that muscle if there is any pain, at all. do not do anything that causes pain, that includes cycling, for a few days. ice 3-4 times a day for the next week, and go see a massage therapist. if you have torn it in any way, stretching during the acute phase can just re-tear fibers which should be repairing.

Since my last posting my symptoms have chaned dramatically.

I began feeling numbness in the bottom of my foot along with a pain radiating down the length of the back of my leg. I saw my doctor and he said that it may be Sciatica and I scheduled an MRI. I'm also on a new prescription of pain killers and muscle relaxants. These are helping the pain, but I know that it is only a treatment of the symptoms. I will await the review of the MRI and hope for recommendations to recovery that will get me back on the road soon.

Thanks for your input on the hamstring healing. Any thoughts on Sciatica healing?

Also, anything to check regarding my cycling that may have led to this injury? I can't pinpoint the cause to any one event and suspect that my position and technique may have caused the problem.

i was just about to start a thread called "sore hams" but will tag it onto this.

i dont have an injury or acute pain, but lately my hams have been feeling really tight after riding, far more than my quads.

is this symptomatic of somethign such as having saddle too high/low/forward/back or am i just getting old?!

fix said:

Since my last posting my symptoms have chaned dramatically.

I began feeling numbness in the bottom of my foot along with a pain radiating down the length of the back of my leg. I saw my doctor and he said that it may be Sciatica and I scheduled an MRI. I'm also on a new prescription of pain killers and muscle relaxants. These are helping the pain, but I know that it is only a treatment of the symptoms. I will await the review of the MRI and hope for recommendations to recovery that will get me back on the road soon.

Thanks for your input on the hamstring healing. Any thoughts on Sciatica healing?

Also, anything to check regarding my cycling that may have led to this injury? I can't pinpoint the cause to any one event and suspect that my position and technique may have caused the problem.

find out from the MRI if the interference on the sciatic nerve is in the lumbar spine or elsewhere. if it's actually being pinched between the vertebrae, then you may need chirporactic or surgery, depending on how bad it is.....however, you may have whats called Piriformis Syndrome, where the nerve is being pinched in the hip rotators (deep to the glutes). if this is the case, regular massage over the course of a few weeks should help alleviate the problem, along with stretching.

thirdeye73 said:

find out from the MRI if the interference on the sciatic nerve is in the lumbar spine or elsewhere. if it's actually being pinched between the vertebrae, then you may need chirporactic or surgery, depending on how bad it is.....however, you may have whats called Piriformis Syndrome, where the nerve is being pinched in the hip rotators (deep to the glutes). if this is the case, regular massage over the course of a few weeks should help alleviate the problem, along with stretching.

Following Thirdeye73's post, Fix I'm curious what stretching you do and don't do. particularly whether you do Piriformis stretching regularly. Here is a link to a technical document on Piriformis Syndrome and it does sound like what you describe and is more common in cyclists.

http://www.emedicine.com/sports/topic102.htm

fix said:

I began feeling numbness in the bottom of my foot along with a pain radiating down the length of the back of my leg. I saw my doctor and he said that it may be Sciatica and I scheduled an MRI. I'm also on a new prescription of pain killers and muscle relaxants. These are helping the pain, but I know that it is only a treatment of the symptoms. I will await the review of the MRI and hope for recommendations to recovery that will get me back on the road soon.

Thanks for your input on the hamstring healing. Any thoughts on Sciatica healing?

Also, anything to check regarding my cycling that may have led to this injury? I can't pinpoint the cause to any one event and suspect that my position and technique may have caused the problem.

I went through the exact same thing a year ago. Began experiencing pain in the left hamstring area and later it spread below the knee and eventually resulted in numbness in the foot. My doctor and then physiotherapist immediately suspected a bulging disc in the lower back and that's exactly what the MRI indicated (although I had 2 disc herniations - L4/L5 and L5/S1). Keep in mind that sciatica is a symptom of something impinging upon the nerve and not a condition in of itself, although you probably have realized this by now.

It is also entirely possible that your condition may have presented itself while riding but that riding is not the actual cause. In my case, I've had bad posture my whole life (never listened to my mother!) and have worked in front of a computer for 17 years. Over the years this has placed increased stress on the discs and eventually they herniated and pressed against the sciatic nerve. True, cycling didn't help matters, but it was not the cause of the problem - 40 years of bad posture had finally caught up with me.

Anyways that's my story and I sympathize with your situation. I went through 2 months of chronic pain in which the only comfortable position was standing up. But following the meds (yuck!), physio, a few lifestyle changes, and plenty of patience, things have improved tremendously. I recently installed a hardwood floor and am back on the bike regularly.

I still feel the occasional twang in that damn nerve when I'm on the bike, but can usually control it by sitting up straight in the saddle and rolling my shoulders back.

And don't worry about nerve healing until you've located the cause of the impingement and have a game plan for alleviating it, because the nerve will only start to heal when the kink it gone.

Hang in there and don't despair. There will be good days followed by bad days but stay the course and you'll be back in the saddle again one day!

Brad

It sounds like the cyclists asking here are experienced enough that my only comment isn't appropriate, but in case anyone else sees this thread because they are searching on hamstring.

I used to have extreme pain on the lower hamstring right behind the knee, and it was usually OK, but if I kicked something it made me stop in my tracks (I mean kick ANYTHING, I once kicked a twig on a driveway and it stopped me.

After a little rest, some easy stretching and riding in a lower gear, it all disappeared. The answer is watch your cadence... Don't push too tall a gear, even if it seems like you can.

brad63 said:

In my case, I've had bad posture my whole life (never listened to my mother!) and have worked in front of a computer for 17 years. Over the years this has placed increased stress on the discs and eventually they herniated and pressed against the sciatic nerve. True, cycling didn't help matters, but it was not the cause of the problem - 40 years of bad posture had finally caught up with me. Brad

The slouching, work environment (computers), time frame (17 years) and age (I'm 41) all are the same for me.

brad63 said:

And don't worry about nerve healing until you've located the cause of the impingement and have a game plan for alleviating it, because the nerve will only start to heal when the kink it gone.

Hang in there and don't despair. There will be good days followed by bad days but stay the course and you'll be back in the saddle again one day!

Brad

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I hope to report my recovery in a few weeks. For now, I'm waiting for the MRI results.

davidbod said:

Following Thirdeye73's post, Fix I'm curious what stretching you do and don't do. particularly whether you do Piriformis stretching regularly. Here is a link to a technical document on Piriformis Syndrome and it does sound like what you describe and is more common in cyclists.

http://www.emedicine.com/sports/topic102.htm

That is part of the problem. I forgot that I'm 41 and never stretched. It finally has caught up with me. :o

Thanks for the link.

I think after this episode, I will become a real advocate for stretching.

Just wondering if you have actually begun to recover from this injury.

I've been experiencing almost exactly what you described for about 1 1/2 years. The pain is never that bad while cycling, but sitting at my computer or driving in the car really seems to bring it on. I've tried just about everything from a regular stretching\strengthening routine, to PT with all the modalities, to prescription Ibuprofen, to massage, etc. I've even taken 3 months off from cycling to no avail. I finally had an MRI this week and am awaiting the results.

This has been the most frustrating injury because no one really seems to know what to tell me.

JC

JCloute said:

Just wondering if you have actually begun to recover from this injury.

No recovery yet. After spending a few days on my back, there was little progress and the pain remained the same after a few minutes of standing and walking. The next recommended treatment I will be getting tomorrow. It is an epidural steroid injection. see this site for info http://www.spine-health.com/topics/conserv/epidural/feature/ep02.html

No great guarantees that it will work, but basically, it is intended to reduce the swelling that is causig the pain. If this works, I can begin physical therapy to hopefully ward off future occurences. Once again, no guarantees. Hence this is frustrating

JCloute said:

This has been the most frustrating injury because no one really seems to know what to tell me.

If you get a definitive diagnosis on your MRI, that is a big step to identifying what the next treatment may be. Hopefully you'll get some answers and a quick resolution. In my case, it was twinges of pain that I managed for about 2 months and then it turned into being disabling for the past 2 weeks.

I understand that my recovery could easily span another month. Doctors and other vicitms all give the same story.

Hope you do better than I. I miss the cycling, but have read that stationary cycling is one of the therapies to strengthen the muscles leading to this injury. So maybe one of my loves will also be one of my remedies.

Let me know how you do and I'll surely share any news and experiences on my end.

I foresee a back surgery somewhere along the way.

Join the club!

I feel 90 percent better since then ... I am 100 percent operational

I have had the same pain in my left hamstring I did a few things that I thought would help and it has gone away but I'm not sure which thing it was that helped the most.

1) Limit interval training to once a week instead of twice a week. High cadence medium resistance hard steady in place of it.

2) Lower my seat a little.

3) Take 20mg Hyaluronic acid daily and have a potato the night before my long ride. http://www.puritan.com/pages/file.asp?xs=C782A760C5E54DEC8DA54D3E93F4A16F&PID=5191&np=1

fix said:

Recently I've been experiencing sharp pain in my hamstring muscle - the muscle on the back of the thigh from the knee to the butt. The doctor says that it is probably agitated and due to my cycling. I'm not certain what has specifically caused this.

It doesn't seem to hurt so much when I am riding, but the pain is unbearable the rest of the day, especially when sitting. The muscle gets very tight and I can't stretch it out due to the severe pain.

The doctor recommends stretching as often as possible as one resolution.

This is my third year of cycling. I usually do 40 mile rides on the weekends and occassionally use my trainor on weekdays.

I have not adjusted my seat or changed my handle bar positions.
Has anyone had the same problem and found how to solve it?

Sciatica down which leg left or right?

fix said:

Since my last posting my symptoms have chaned dramatically.

I began feeling numbness in the bottom of my foot along with a pain radiating down the length of the back of my leg. I saw my doctor and he said that it may be Sciatica and I scheduled an MRI. I'm also on a new prescription of pain killers and muscle relaxants. These are helping the pain, but I know that it is only a treatment of the symptoms. I will await the review of the MRI and hope for recommendations to recovery that will get me back on the road soon.

Thanks for your input on the hamstring healing. Any thoughts on Sciatica healing?

Also, anything to check regarding my cycling that may have led to this injury? I can't pinpoint the cause to any one event and suspect that my position and technique may have caused the problem.

huhenio said:

I foresee a back surgery somewhere along the way.

Join the club!

I feel 90 percent better since then ... I am 100 percent operational

[font=Century Gothic]The author of this thread almost certainly has a bulging disk & if its the right leg it will be the same as me (L5 area). Ive had 3 back operations with the symptoms starting with terrible hamstring pain off the bike. The last trip to the hospital was due to lifting something way too heavy at work which resulted in my whole right leg being completely numb (It took months for the feeling to totally return). The 2nd trip was caused by really over doing it on a training camp in the Spanish mountains I had 4 morphine shots a day for the pain after that trip & they had to put me to sleep while I was curled up in a ball :eek: ! [/font]
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]The moral of the story is keep well hydrated (spine becomes weak if you get dehydrated) & NEVER lift anything heavy.[/font]

Phil Stone said:

[font=Century Gothic]The author of this thread almost certainly has a bulging disk & if its the right leg it will be the same as me (L5 area). Ive had 3 back operations with the symptoms starting with terrible hamstring pain off the bike. The last trip to the hospital was due to lifting something way too heavy at work which resulted in my whole right leg being completely numb (It took months for the feeling to totally return). The 2nd trip was caused by really over doing it on a training camp in the Spanish mountains I had 4 morphine shots a day for the pain after that trip & they had to put me to sleep while I was curled up in a ball :eek: ! [/font]
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]The moral of the story is keep well hydrated (spine becomes weak if you get dehydrated) & NEVER lift anything heavy.[/font]

I did finally get the diagnosis of the herniated disc between L5 and S1. I had the epidural steriod injection 10 days ago, and that has made big difference reducing the pain. I'm now off the painkiller medication and the doctor says that my recovery is progressing as well as can be expected. I just have to take it easy for the next few weeks. 🙁 Yes, that's progress, but I wish it were a faster recovery.

BTW, I too needed Nubain (similar to morphine) injections 3 times. The pain was horrible. The Nubain provided instantaneous relief. If that same relief came over the counter, I'd be the first in line.

Have you been able to avoid relapses? Any additional hints?