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About a year and a half ago, I injured my right hamstring muscle during the football season. I'm a kicker, I had a weird new coach who was having me do this drill/stretch thing and I heard the muscle rip. The trainers confirmed that it was a torn hamstring, and it took me a few weeks to get back into everything, but the doctor who took care of me said that I would feel this injury for the rest of my life. He really wasn't kidding.

It's never really given me a problem in vaulting but since a meet this past weekend, it is hurting worse than it ever has before. I'm not sure if this is a direct result of the pole vault since I also long jumped at the meet. I tried vaulting a little bit yesterday but my speed was not where it needs to be because my leg was hurting. I don't think I've reinjured it because I don't remember a pull or strain from the meet. I still have my full range of flexibility, it's just incredibly sore.

I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with or is dealing with hamstring injuries, or if anyone knows of stretches, strengthening, ANYTHING that can help me move on from this because I'm tired of an old injury dragging me down.

Vioxx helped me a lot... then they took it off the market

I heat mine before practice and ice after. Check with your trainers on the heat though, if you recently reinjured it, heat might not be a good idea.

i don't have hamstring problems, but i know the feeling of an injury that plagues you forever...i still have a bum right knee (my takeoff foot, figures) from 8 years of gymnastics plagued by tendonitis in both knees for the last couple of those years. my left knee is usually okay, but my right knee almost always aches and feels weak. usually icyhot/bengay (and advil on really bad days) helps enough to vault.
if i wear bad shoes (as in, unsupportive, because i also have COMPLETELY flat feet, my entire arch touches the ground) for too long a period, my knees will die. I could hardly walk for about 2 days once after i did that. also, dancing at prom and stuff can set them off (not the shoes this time, because i never keep my shoes on). my right knee hurt for about a week after prom last year.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Vioxx helped me a lot... then they took it off the market

I miss that stuff

i used to take vioxx, that stuff was good!! now i take naprosen (or naproxen, whatever) but it isn't quite the same.

Dude, I had the same problem with the hamstring. I Tore mine two years ago and missed my entire sophomore season becasue I reinjured it 3 more times. (Once in a completley different spot on the muscle).

Anyway yea i know how you feel with the extremely sore feeling and I know that it really isnt easy to vault when your hamstring is that sore. Just make sure you warm up really really well every time you vault, and that you ice and stretch after. The most important thing I learned from my hamstring injury was to trust my body, if it hurts a lot and you want to take one more vault cause you think it can hold up, dont take that last vault beasue I injured myself doing that mulitple times.

Or you can just take a ton of painkillers and suck it up.

Word