The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Injuries › Hamstring injury
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Hello
I am sorry that my first post would contain some bad news. I started doing bikram yoga just over a month ago and quickly became hooked; for the last few weeks I have been practicing at least 5 days a week, and might have done more had it not been for some travel. In my first weeks I experienced some soreness which I considered normal; my initial reaction would have been to take time off between classes to recover, as I would do between weight-training sessions, but the reading I had done suggested that I work through the soreness, and indeed, that worked. I have been making rather rapid progression and this has contributed to my eagerness and dedication, perhaps to an over-zealousness.
This week I was again feeling a little stiff and less flexible than usual but I worked gently through it. Yesterday, however, I seemed to have opened up considerably and was going quite deep into the postures without much discomfort at all. I was quite encouraged and may have pushed a little too hard, but didn’t feel anything abnormal. On my way home, however, my right hamstring began to ache terribly and I noticed some bruising. I got progressively stiffer and more painful so I applied ice and elevated it for the rest of the day. This morning, the whole of the back of my thigh is black, swollen and stiff.
Aside from the fact that I am curious as to how I may have injured myself without knowing it, I am now wondering about the best way to deal with recovery. I hate the idea of having to lay off the practice entirely, and since light stretching is usually recommended for hamstring injuries, I am wondering if there any modified postures which may actually assist. Does anybody have any insight as to how long I should lay off completely, and what the best way to ease back into the practice would be?
thanks in advance for any insight
JefferyHi Jeffery
Firstly OUCH!!! I read your post and had a visceral reaction to finding out about your injury. Bruised and swollen and also stiff. Doesn’t sound good at all.
It would appear you have torn some soft tissue. But I guess you already know that. I would probably go and see a therapist about it so they can really advise you as to your recovery. There will definitely be some exercises for you. Plus you will benefit from professional advice which goes beyond “the yoga will fix it” and help you work out what movements to avoid.
The problem with this style of yoga is that there are a number of poses in which you can stress and injure hamstrings due to what I consider to be poor technique. And couple that with the advice to push through pain and discomfort (with often a blurry subjective line as to which is which) and you’ve got a recipe that can be and for you has proven to be disastrous.
Please go and look at some other important related posts. Pop the word “hamstring” in the search box and see the plethora of threads which is one of the most popular subjects in this whole forum.
In it you’ll find the oft-referred to post called Opening Up Your Hamstrings With Hot Yoga. Although at the moment you should really be resting and recovering, otherwise you could really be worsening your problem.
I know it’s disappointing to have to put the brakes on. But see someone, read the posts, and avoid creating more injury. In your case light stretching may work but probably not more than being able to mobilize your leg and get movement there by walking and distributing whatever chemicals of inflammation are there and to prevent scar tissue from taking over the site (which could inhibit your healing).
In those hamstrings injury posts you will discover that there are plenty of people out there who have had nagging injuries that they thought the yoga would fix but actually irritated the problem.
If you have any other details to enlighten me then go ahead and let me know. It’s not often a single post can give me everything I need to know. But after reading the rest you will get a sense of what resonates for you.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂At the time of writing, I’ve practised Bikram Yoga for 2 months and practise about 5 days a week. I had a hamstring injury from Bikram Yoga and after 6 weeks, I’ve completely recovered. Below is what I discovered in my journey to recovery.
Rest is the best thing you can do for a fast recovery. I believe you need to take some days off for your hamstring to recover. However, if you’re like me, you’ll want to keep up your practice. Go easy in the following poses: hands to feet, standing head to knee (only pick up your foot – don’t extend your leg), Standing Separate Leg Intense Stretching Pose (sit out completely or just touch your hands to the floor), Standing Separate Leg Head To Knee Pose (bend your knee as much as you can on the injured side or sit out), floor head to knee (sit out or bend your leg as much as you can – mine was almost completely bent).
I found that I rarely sat out and just pretended to do a lot of the poses with the modifications outlined above. I did this because I felt that it was a less of a distraction to fellow students.
Only go into the above postures when you know that your hamstring is 100% recovered. My injury was at 90% and although I thought I went easy on it in the next class, I had to start the healing process all over again.
There’s still plenty of poses you can work on with a hamstring injury 🙂
Hi Mario
Thanks for the sage advice. I agree with you and am so happy you chimed in with your experience.
The information in the Opening Up Your Hamstrings post actually covers the basic pose mechanism in several poses that you’ve mentioned.
Because it is SO important in the healing process, and to help Jeffery, I would actually say that I disagree with you here:
Do NOT do Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretching pose if your legs are straight. This is the main culprit of this problem and is oh so prevalent in most studios that I have to mention it here at the risk of offending you! You would be better off doing another Hands to Feet pose or a narrow stance Intense Stretch pose but with almost no pull on the heels at all and very little lift.
In Standing Sep Leg Head to Knee: If your healing leg is the one at the back, then if that is straight you will probably exacerbate the tear. The safety mechanism on this is that in order to protect it you will (unconsciously) go out of alignment (so is that a good thing?).
Ultimately what I resonate most with here is: Rest is best. And because we have limited info I strongly recommend getting a physical therapist to put their hands on it, assist with treatment to help heal and with exercises to help it get strong again without going through the pain of more tearing.
Don’t let your passion (aka attachment) for this yoga get in the way of your healing, because sometimes it will make things worse and cost you dearly (in time, in comfort and in head space!). There’s always a lesson ain’t there? 😆
Thanks again
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Tom
What matters is good teaching skills and good ability to respond to instruction.
Sometimes you’re better off at home or with a book or DVD. It would certainly be preferable to poor instruction in any public class. And always whether you are being taught by an able practitioner or doing it under your own steam, you still have to take responsibility and respond to your own body and what it’s ‘telling’ you.
Jeffery any progress on your problem?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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