Kareem Hunt Limited Due to Hamstring Injury - Why do Hamstring Injuries Linger?

It's that time of year again where NFL training camp begins.  Unfortunately, the nature of the beast is that players will get injured.  One player who has been dealing with a lingering Hamstring injury is Kareem Hunt.  He initially injured his Hamstring in late May and you can read more about his status here.  However I want to talk briefly about why Hamstring injuries tend to linger especially in athletes.

Typically with injuries, they are diagnosed via MRI and a Hamstring Injury is no different.  Initially, an athlete may undergo an MRI to determine the severity of the Hamstring Injury.  One area that is not clear with the MRI is when can an athlete return to playing their sport.  To summarize a literature review by Greenky et al, they determined that an MRI should be done acutely however there is conflicting research determining the prognostic value.  Basically, they are saying that its great to have an MRI initially however you cannot always determine a person's return to sport status depending on what the MRI says.  Unfortunately we see this in professional sports all the time, their MRI or imaging comes back normal and a person is rushed back only to get injured more severely.  Therefore the take home point is, a Hamstring Injury does not necessarily linger, it just may just take longer to heal and the MRI does not necessarily provide an accurate timeframe.

I take this point into consideration everyday as a healthcare practitioner and I tell people that you cannot cookie cut a person's recovery.  The MRI may look normal after their injury however because everybody is so different it is important to treat the person and not the diagnosis.  In Kareem Hunt's case, it may just appear as a Hamstring Injury however these things take time and should be treated accordingly despite what the MRI may show.  He needs to perform at an elite level and needs to play a full NFL season.  Therefore it's important to take this into consideration for all Hamstring Injuries to get an athlete back to sport effectively and safely.

For more information on Hamstring Injuries click here.

Here is a video with some sample Hamstring Exercises exercises to treat a Hamstring Injury: