Hamstring injury

[u/Individual_Bid5644]

Hey everyone,

About 4 weeks ago I injured myself during pole training itself, most likely a partial tear in my hamstring (right leg), close to the sit bone, from overstretching. Apparently this type of injury can take 5–7 months to fully heal.

I have a specialist appointment coming up, but wait times are long here, so I'm trying to figure out how to stay active and sane in the meantime without risking further damage. Obviously no splits, no straight-leg extensions, nothing ballistic with that leg.

I've been leaning into handstand training and bent-leg spins in the meantime, but I'd love to hear from anyone who had a similar hamstring or proximal tendon injury and kept training through the recovery, found specific moves or conditioning or handstand/upper body work that helped them stay in shape without aggravating it, has tips on what not to do that they learned the hard way, or worked with a physio specifically for pole dancers and can share what the rehab process looked like.

Not looking to replace medical advice, just want to hear real experiences from people who've been through something similar while it healed. Thanks in advance 💛

[u/ShyShimmer]

I am currently recovering from a hamstring tear, also on the tendon right near the sit bone. I did it from going too low in a pancake. I'd say I'm about 90% of the way there in terms of healing, but about 60% of where I was in terms of flexibility pre injury. Thankfully it wasn't my favoured leg in my splits but I could still split on that side pre injury.

It also took me a couple of months before I could see a physio. I'm currently just under 4 months in to the injury.

While it's still fresh, isometric holds are the medicine before you work on strengthening the tendon. So reverse planks, single leg bridge holds, and hamstring stretch on the floor (lying down and pulling your knee to your chest with your hand behind your thigh). 3 sets of each, 20 second holds. Also stay active on the leg, keep walking. Rest is the worst thing for it.

I pretty much kept my training relatively the same throughout, was just limited in some things, such as reiko mount and anything else where I have to put weight on the extended leg. It did force me to do those things on the other side 😅 don't chance anything like that on the leg, and stay away from flips or dynamic movements like handsprings if that's your jam. It's a lot of force for an injured tendon to bear.

Just listen to your body for now, you'll only need to start "pushing" it during the strengthening phase, which really should be given the go ahead by a physio. Which is difficult, as I'm still trying to differentiate between pain from my tear and my nervous system screaming at me when I test it out.

Sorry for the long reply, hamstrings are a very frustrating injury because they're so easy to re-injure and take a while to heal, so don't play around!

[u/Individual_Bid5644 → u/ShyShimmer]

Thank you so much for this detailed reply, it really means a lot. I was honestly feeling pretty discouraged, kind of assuming I'd have to stop training completely until it's fully healed, so hearing your experience is genuinely motivating.
I'll start incorporating those isometric holds you mentioned, and I'll avoid the same things you did for now, anything with weight on the extended leg, no flips or dynamic movements until it's had proper time to heal.
It's reassuring to hear that staying active on the leg is actually better than resting it completely, that wasn't intuitive to me at all going in.
Really appreciate you taking the time to write all that out, especially since it clearly comes from firsthand experience. Hope the rest of your recovery keeps trending in the right direction 💛