Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
T If you can take some of the load off the tear you may be fine. If the partial tear is off the bone and not in the tendon, then it will never heal. That is where some mis-conception can happen, internal tears can repair, attachment tears cannot. Good luck, all is not lost and keep in mind that an extended break in running will only allow all tendons in your body to heal and you will be back running faster and better than before.
T If you can take some of the load off the tear you may be fine. If the partial tear is off the bone and not in the tendon, then it will never heal. That is where some mis-conception can happen, internal tears can repair, attachment tears cannot.
Good luck, all is not lost and keep in mind that an extended break in running will only allow all tendons in your body to heal and you will be back running faster and better than before.
But they can still reattach, correct?? I had a customer that made arthroscopic tools for drilling into bone & pulling cartilage thru the bone to reestablish connection of the tissues. (I could pass out just typing this)
But can tendons heal themselves?? (I'm googling as I type)
I know a lot depends on blood supply to particular cartilage but I never can keep tendons/ligaments straight. I know tearing any of them is not good so I try to avoid it. But that's bullsh1t cuz I run. In essence, I'm trying to injure something every time I step out the door!
Randy
Wow, sorry to hear about it LTH.
You are tough, and will no doubt work through it until the time is right. Good luck.
Brad, that's a tough break. I have been fortunate and not had to deal with this, and hope I don't. Good luck working through it.
Healed Hammy
Redrum, in my case they put 3 anchors into the bone, rough it up (scraping) and then using surgical stiching pull the detached tendon onto the anchor where it then fuses back to the bone. Anchors remain in the pelvic bone although they are really difficult to feel.
So yes they can re-attach and the results are 95-97% pre-injury strength. Think of string cheese, if you cut it in half you can put it back together and it fits in the package just fine, if you tear it vertically, you can reassemble it but it will never be the same.
Brad, sorry to hear you're dealing with this but I'm glad you've got an answer since I know you've been dealing with this pain for a while. I think in cases like this there's no 100% right way to deal with it since continuing to run on it isn't going to improve things but following a treatment plan isn't a guarantee either (and guarantees a tremendous amount of downtime). Hope you are able to manage it better now that you know what it is, and that you can keep running on it as long as you want to.
Barking Mad To Run
So sorry LTH. I sympathize with you, I had a small tear in my calf a few years back and it sucked...took almost 8 weeks to heal completely and I had to do some of the stuff you mentioned...and that was just a small tear..can't imagine how long a hamstring tear will take. The good news is that it did heal and I was able to continue running. As you said, was it worth it? And as you responded, Hell, yes! Agree with you 100 percent. Wishing you a speedier recovery than anticipated!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Redrum, in my case they put 3 anchors into the bone, rough it up (scraping) and then using surgical stiching pull the detached tendon onto the anchor where it then fuses back to the bone. Anchors remain in the pelvic bone although they are really difficult to feel. So yes they can re-attach and the results are 95-97% pre-injury strength. Think of string cheese, if you cut it in half you can put it back together and it fits in the package just fine, if you tear it vertically, you can reassemble it but it will never be the same.
I'm just recovering from having passed out after reading your first paragraph.
And I am now LMAO at the string-cheese analogy!!
race obsessed
Ouch
I had a minor tear in my quad last summer. I ran through it and it seems no worse for the wear, but I still have a slight knot. Noticeable if I flex and hold my leg a certain way.
However, there is a lot of blood going to the quad and rolling helped wonders. Quads also do not get the extended workouts in running that hammies do. (Unless you hammer out tons of downhills).
Good luck and heal up,