Hamstring Injury Recovery

Two very different injuries share the name "hamstring injury." Most people are treating the wrong one.

A sprinter feels a pop chasing down a ball. A runner's sitting bone has ached for fourteen months and she can't name the day it started. Both say the same three words. Both are told the same three things: rest it, ice it, stretch it.

For one of them, two of those instructions are actively making it worse.

In Hamstring Injury Recovery, Dr. David Geier — orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine specialist, and author of That's Gotta Hurt: The Injuries That Changed Sports Forever — separates acute hamstring strains from chronic proximal hamstring tendinopathy and gives each the treatment it actually requires.

Reinjury rates for hamstring strains commonly run between 12 and 33 percent. Those aren't the numbers of a fragile muscle. They're the numbers of a muscle that gets under-rehabilitated and returned to sport on a calendar and a feeling.

What this book covers:

- The anatomy that explains everything — why three muscles anchored to a bone the size of a quarter behave the way they do
- How to tell the two conditions apart — a self-assessment that takes about two minutes
- Getting a real diagnosis — what a thorough exam includes, when an MRI earns its cost, and the red flags that shouldn't wait
- The first two weeks — why resting until the pain stops and stretching aggressively are the two most common mistakes
- A four-stage loading program with specific sets, repetitions, and tempo, built on eccentric and lengthened-state training
- The tendinopathy playbook — why sitting hurts, why stretching backfires, and what finally works
- An honest look at PRP, stem cells, and shockwave therapy — including where the evidence is thin and what questions to ask before paying
- When surgery is warranted — and the one time-sensitive decision that can't be recovered later
- Return-to-sport criteria — a seven-phase running progression and four objective gates, because feeling fine is not a criterion
- The maintenance program that takes eighteen minutes, twice a week, indefinitely

Written for people who intend to stay active. High school and college athletes and their parents. Recreational soccer, tennis, and pickleball players. Runners, cyclists, golfers, hikers, and gym-goers. Nurses, teachers, contractors, and warehouse workers who can't simply rest a leg because the job doesn't allow it.

Every program includes modifications for hip and knee arthritis, joint replacements, back problems, limited equipment, and age. Dr. Geier rarely tells people to stop being active. The answer is almost always to change how you load, progress, and prepare.

Evidence handled honestly

Where the research is strong, this book says so plainly. Where studies disagree — as they do throughout the regenerative medicine literature — it says that too, rather than picking a side that can't be supported. Sources include the clinical practice guidelines from the Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, along with peer-reviewed research from AAOS, AOSSM, ACSM, and major sports medicine journals.

Includes 18 medical illustrations, printable checklists, a symptom log for your next appointment, exercise progressions with specific programming, a glossary, and a full reference list.

Important: This book is general education and information only. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for examination, diagnosis, or treatment by a qualified professional. Every injury is different, and no book can evaluate yours. Readers should consult their own physician, orthopedic surgeon, or physical therapist before beginning any exercise program or making decisions about treatment. Certain findings described in Chapter 3 warrant prompt medical evaluation.