Hi All,

Had the misfortune yesterday of pulling/tearing/straining my hamstring on the second run of the day. Catapulted, and somehow ended up travelling feet first towards the mast which was on the water. 90% of the body went under the mast, 10% of the body went over the mast (ie my right leg), so I ended up with my kneecap much closer to my face than it was ever intended to be, plus a mighty sore hamstring.

Anyone got any advice about the recovery process? Currently icing it, resting it, and mourning a public holiday without windsurfing. Any idea when it would be safe to get back on the water?

Eckas

Sorry to hear that eckas .. agree 100% with nat's diagnosis. You just have to grin and bear it and put windsurfing out of your mind until it's well again.

My understanding is this: When you rip a muscle/tendon, it bleeds into the surrounding skin, which is why you need to get ice and compression onto it straight away. The ice constricts the blood vessels, and the compression helps to reduce the bleeding as well. Some suggest icing every 30 minutes for the first few days, but I've never managed to achieve that!

Once the bleeding has stopped, and the vessels have closed themselves, then the idea is to get extra blood to it to (promote healing) by applying heat and massage to the area.

With the hamstring, you tend to keep it stiff, because it hurts. Is it right that you need to keep your stretches going while it's injured, or do you wait until it's better? Never quite sure - recently read a book by Barry Sheen the motorcyclist, and he had mega prangs and always kepts his body parts moving as soon as possible after the injury...

..Lozza