A sudden sharp pain at the back of your thigh, often while sprinting, kicking or stretching for a ball. A hamstring strain can stop you in your tracks and leave you wondering how long it will take to get back. The good news is that most hamstring strains heal well, and starting gentle movement early can help.

What a hamstring strain is

Your hamstrings are three muscles at the back of your thigh, running from your sitting bone to just below your knee. They help you bend your knee and straighten your hip, and they work especially hard when you sprint, kick or stretch forward.

A strain means some of the muscle fibres have been overstretched or torn. Strains range from mild, where you feel tightness and discomfort, to more significant, where walking is painful and there may be bruising.

The early days

In the first few days, the area may be painful, tight and sometimes bruised. The aim is to protect it while keeping it gently active. Some things to try:

• Use a wrapped cold pack for 10 to 15 minutes at a time to ease pain.
• Walk as normally as you comfortably can, taking shorter steps if needed.
• Avoid stretching the hamstring hard or sprinting for now.
• Keep moving the rest of your body.

Why starting early helps

Research suggests starting gentle exercise early helps hamstring strains recover more quickly than resting for a long time. In one trial of people with recent thigh or calf muscle strains, those who started gentle exercise two days after their injury, rather than nine, got back to their usual activity around three weeks sooner.

Muscles heal best when they are gently loaded, as this helps the new fibres line up and get stronger.

If you have been given a plan by a physiotherapist, keep following that.

Gentle loading

As the initial pain settles, you can start gentle strengthening. Something to try a few times a day:

• Heel presses. Lying on your back with your knees bent, press your heels gently into the floor for five to ten seconds, then relax.
• Bridges. Lie on your back with your knees bent, lift your hips, then lower slowly.
• Heel slides. Lying on your back, slowly slide one heel along the floor until your leg is nearly straight, then slide it back.

If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos you can use at your own pace. A mild ache is fine. If an exercise brings on sharp pain, make it smaller or easier.

Building strength

As your hamstring feels stronger, you can gradually make exercises more demanding. Some ways to progress:

• Single-leg bridges.
• Bridges with your feet further from your bottom, which ask more of your hamstrings.
• Hip hinges. Standing with a soft knee, slowly bend forward from your hips with a straight back, then return.
• Reverse lunges, going only as deep as feels comfortable.

Research suggests that exercises which strengthen the hamstrings while they lengthen, like slow hip hinges, can help people return to sport sooner. If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos you can use at your own pace.

Returning to sport or activity

Getting back to running and sport is best done step by step. Something like this tends to work well:

• Walk comfortably, then build up to brisk walking.
• Start jogging, then gradually increase speed.
• Add changes of direction and faster running.
• Return to sprinting, kicking and full training last.

Moving to the next step when the current one feels comfortable, during the activity and the following morning, helps reduce the chance of it happening again.

Reducing the chance of another strain

Hamstring strains can come back, especially if you return too quickly. Keeping up hamstring strength work, even after you feel fully recovered, and warming up well before sport can help protect against another strain.

When to get it checked

If you feel a pop high up near your sitting bone and have large bruising or find it hard to walk, it is worth getting it checked promptly.

Your VIDA pain check-in can help you notice how your hamstring improves as you build back up.

What to take away

• Most hamstring strains heal well.
• Starting gentle exercise early can help you recover more quickly.
• Load the hamstring gradually, from gentle holds to bridges and hip hinges.
• Return to running and sport step by step.
• Keep up hamstring strength work to help prevent another strain.

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