High hamstring tendon pain

[Bentnose]

I did the 75 km Hanover ride recently and pushed myself to a much greater speed than I would normally would, at about the halfway mark I started to develop pains in my legs at the top of my hamstring, where the thigh meets the bum. I kept pushing myself and found with about 10kms to go I could barely pedal anymore. I was in a lot of pain over the next few days and went for a short easy ride yesterday, 21 km at about 50 minutes. I felt a number of twinges while riding but nothing too serious, the problem is I found that I had trouble sleeping because the pain in my legs got worse, every time I moved my right leg I had a sharp stabbing pain in the same place and it would wake me up. My legs are now as bad as they were a few days ago so I'm thinking I may need to have an extended time off the bike

Does anybody have any experience with a similar injury and the time taken to heal?

[foo on patrol]

Do you get any relief by stretching?

I have had twinges there in the past but have relieved the pain through stretching.

Foo

[you cannot be sirrus]

I've had tight hammies in that area for ages, I used to find I was OK riding but in agony when driving. A visit to a chiro and some Xrays revealed lots of issues with my spine/pelvic alignment. Once this was sorted the hammies were still sore but not as bad. Lots of stretching has worked for me since seeing the chiro. I'd be seeking professional advice from a physio or chiro and doing some stretching on a daily basis.

[Bentnose]

I generally stretch after every ride and am quite flexible, haven't had this problem before. I'll try to stretch it daily and give it a week then I'll probably see a physio if it hasn't gone by then. Its not so much a tight hammie as more the tendon is very sensitive, no pain in the hamstring muscle itself. It hurts most climbing stairs and when I have to squat down and/or get back up again. I had to pick my daughter up last Sunday and nearly dropped her with the pain.

[foo on patrol]

Make sure you see a sports specific physio.

When I was riding at my best but not at peak fitness, I found it painfull to walk down stairs but my legs were always tight and
bordering on painfull climbing stairs.

Foo

[toolonglegs]

There was an article on the fitness section of cyclingnews.com not long ago.
I got it a little bit (amongst all my other issues)...for me a good piriformis type stretch seems to help a lot.Seemed to disappear quite quickly.
But I think the cyclingnews article said there is an issue with tendonitis in that area.

[Bentnose]

If anyones interested, Physio says I strained my tendons by taking them beyond their limit and it usually takes 10 days to recover, should have used ice and Nerofen when I first did the injury, riding last Friday made it much worse and delayed the recovery. Also no stretching, it agravates the tendons, I've been told to go for a gentle ride on the Sunday and because I couldn't crouch down properly, I've now injured my back, having a good time

[anth73]

Given you've presented with this issue after riding beyond what you normally do, it may indicate that your current bike fit is borderline and the additional load with your longer ride took your hammies beyond their comfortable working zone.

Pain like you suggest is normally related to a saddle height that's a touch too high. You may want to drop your saddle 1mm to 3mm and see how you go with that.

[sumgy]

Agree with anth73.
It may also be that your saddle is too far back as well.
As always I recommend that you take a look at Steve Hogg's website .

Read these topics in this order:

The right side bias
Seat Height, how hard can it be
Seat set back for road bikes
Addendum to road pedals, which are best
Power to the Pedal - Cleat Position
Foot Correction Part 1

Also read "Perspectives on Fitting".

[Bentnose]

Interesting, I've always felt my frame was a little small and moved the seat back to compensate a little while ago, I'll definately look at the links you suggested and am looking at replacing the bike next year, partially because it feels a little small. I may look at going to the LBS to have them look at my fit, I did that when I had some illiotibal band syndrome on the MTB and it helped a lot.

[UpDownUp]

I've suffered from pain in the same place, although it was caused by running rather than cycling. This was "proximal hamstring tendinopathy" according to my physio. The best advice I have is:
1. Significantly reduce or stop the activity causing the irritation for a couple of weeks (ie rest). Leave it alone at this stage - no stretching.
2. When the irritation and pain has reduced do some stretching around the hip / buttocks and maybe some core work too.
3. More rest and some icing after activity if it becomes irritated again.

You really do NOT want this injury to become chronic as injured / irritated tendons can be hard to get free of. Cortisone, blood injections (PRP), shock therapy are things that I've heard of being used in more severe and chronic cases.

Good luck.

[Bentnose]

I'm still off the bike, so still resting, my sore back turned into an extremely tight and painful illiotibial band on the RHS. I was in extreme constant pain for about 96 hours and pain killers didn't help. Lots of Physio, rest and eventually some stretches and using a tennis ball on the pressure points along with Voltaren has ended up with almost full movement and limited disconfort. Visiting the Physio again tomorrow and hope to go for a gentle easy ride on Friday; tendons take a very long time to heal.

[sumgy]

I'm still off the bike, so still resting, my sore back turned into an extremely tight and painful illiotibial band on the RHS. I was in extreme constant pain for about 96 hours and pain killers didn't help. Lots of Physio, rest and eventually some stretches and using a tennis ball on the pressure points along with Voltaren has ended up with almost full movement and limited disconfort. Visiting the Physio again tomorrow and hope to go for a gentle easy ride on Friday; tendons take a very long time to heal.

Good that you have managed to treat the result.
But the important thing is now to treat the cause (which I reckon will be bike fit).
Unless you do this, you will end up back where you started.

[Bentnose]

Just waiting on a call back from a bloke anth73 recommended. I also changed my seat as I felt it was partially to blame.

[Joelzeb]

I found a Physio Roller helps with all tight muscles. Esp Hamstring.
$50 from your local Physio. You will not regret it. inf. massages no charge.