One common strain often found in sportsmen and athletes is the hamstring muscle strain. The part that is highly susceptible to injury is known as biceps femoris. However, muscle strain can take place in the semitendinosus as well as the semimembranosus muscles too.
The type of pain experienced during a hamstring muscle strain
If you have the above-mentioned strain, you might hear a popping sound or feel a sensation akin to tearing. You might also feel a bit weird while running, walking, and climbing stairs. There have also been some cases where the patient might also have swelling along with bruising.
How to diagnose hamstring muscle sprain
Most patients which come to an acupuncturist for treatment in NYC have already been diagnosed. However, if the practitioner wants to affirm the injury, he will feel the patient’s posterior thigh, while palpating the hamstring group tool.
After palpating the sprain site, the practitioner might also test your range of motion. You will also be instructed to lie down flat in a supine position and lift your leg until you experience any pain in your posterior thigh. Plus, the practitioner will also need to note the inactive hip flexion.
Make sure your practitioner manually tests the muscle too, using resisted flexion of your knee. Lying flat with your face facing the floor, you will be instructed to flex your knee. Meanwhile, the practitioner will resist movement by putting his hand on your heel. If you experience pain, then this confirms that this muscle is injured. In a Grade-I and a mild Grade-II injury, your muscles fibers will only be mildly torn or in some cases, stretched.
However, if you experience severe pain and your practitioner feels a depression in your muscle, you should seek orthopedic evaluation as soon as possible. Although, acupuncture is a logical treatment, surgery and immobilization might become necessary in chronic cases.
Treating hamstring muscle pain using acupuncture
A hamstring injury should be treated twice a week consecutively for three weeks. After three weeks, the patient’s injury should be analyzed. The strain can be completely healed in six weeks if there are no complications. In fact, treating a simple strain only takes a number of acupuncture treatments. However, treatment for chronic patients should be continued once every week after the initial three weeks.
Simple steps of an acupuncture
Certain techniques should be followed to treat all types of hamstring muscle strain. Following are four processes that help to understand the right needle technique. These can also guide you on point selection needed, making it efficient and understandable for all acupuncturists hailing from all sorts of backgrounds.
Using points which have instantly affect the symptoms. Your first step should be to use techniques along with points which immediately affect the patient. One place that has an instant impact on symptoms like stiffness is called the jing-well point. You should also treat the corresponding ahshi points present on the corresponding end. After inserting the needle, you should instruct the invalid to move the affected region to see if there is any change in flexibility.
Using microsystem along with meridian points away from area of injury. The most effective and fundamental point compound in hamstring pathology is using both the shu-stream points present on the Taiyang channel. You can also try electrically stimulating both points.
Using points which are beneficial for the blood, qi, and zangfu organs. Since hamstring strain is not a chronic injury, acupuncture does not affect any imbalances in the organs. Nevertheless, the practitioner might still cure any zangfu disproportion occurring in the individual.
Using points near the place of injury. By palpating the hamstring muscle, you might feel a delicate zone or a depression that is point-sensitive. You might need to insert a few needles in this area, depending on its size. Make sure you insert the needle in the indentation found in the middle of the bands of a patient’s back thigh muscle. You can also try electrically stimulating both the needles except in cases where direct needing is not possible.
Reactive Neuromuscular Training on Kineo
Kineo – the most versatile muscle testing using artificial intelegence
In this instance, an athlete was originally diagnosed with minor quadriceps muscle strain and was treated for four weeks, with unsatisfactory results. When he came to our clinic, the muscle was not healing, and the patients’ muscle tissue had already begun to atrophy.
Upon examination using MSUS, we discovered that he had a full muscle thickness tear that had been overlooked by his previous provider. To mitigate damage and promote healing, surgery should have been performed immediately after the injury occurred. Because of misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment, the patient now has permanent damage that cannot be corrected.
The most important advantage of Ultrasound over MRI imaging is its ability to zero in on the symptomatic region and obtain imaging, with active participation and feedback from the patient. Using dynamic MSUS, we can see what happens when patients contract their muscles, something that cannot be done with MRI. From a diagnostic perspective, this interaction is invaluable.
Dynamic ultrasonography examination demonstrating the full thickness tear and already occurring muscle atrophy due to misdiagnosis and not referring the patient to proper diagnostic workup
Demonstration of how very small muscle defect is made and revealed to be a complete tear with muscle contraction under diagnostic sonography (not possible with MRI)
Complete tear of rectus femoris with large hematoma (blood)
Separation of muscle ends due to tear elicited on dynamic sonography examination
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