IT Band Syndrome
Shin Splints
Hip Bursitis
Hamstring Injuries are muscle strains. And that is good news because there is a clear and well understood path to healing any muscle injury. Knowing the path and how to avoid the common missteps will help you quickly heal your hamstring injury in far less time than most people.
The Hamstrings are a group of three muscles in the back of the thigh. If you have an injury in one of those muscles, chances are you know right when it happened. It was probably while playing sports, but it could be injured from stretching or an awkward fall. Sprinting, football, gymnastics. Any situation where the muscle is overexerted from rapid movements or overextended in an accident.
Most people understand the bicep in the arm and how it contracts and bends the arm. The hamstrings are similar to that. Except you have three muscles doing this job. One of them is actually called the biceps femoris. The other two are the Semimembranosus and the Semitendinosus. You don't have to remember the names. Just know if you tear any of these three muscles even just a little bit you have a hamstring injury. You might hear it called a Hamstring Pull, Hamstring Tear, Hamstring Strain. It's all the same thing.
Your quadricep muscles are on the front of your leg, and they straighten your leg.
Your hamstring muscles are in the back and they bend your leg.
The two of them are both pulling on your leg at the same time, giving you stability, when you stand or move.
The Hamstrings are used to walk, climb stairs, run, etc.
They also play a crucial role in slowing down the lower leg when we walk or run.
If it were not for the tireless job these muscles do, your lower leg would snap out like a whip every time you took a step.
As you can imagine this would not be good for the knee.
But this is also one of ways they can become injured.
Sprinting or playing fast sports with sudden changes in direction is a common cause of Hamstring Injury.
Your Hamstrings have the job of controlling your lower leg.
Slowing it down so your foot does not swing out too rapidly and cause your knee to lock out too hard.
And in sports this job can get pretty intense.
It's also one of the reasons it hurts to walk when you have a hamstring injury.
With every step you are asking your hamstrings to contract the same injured muscle fibers again and again.
It's no wonder some people have lingering hamstring injuries.
To heal you are going to need to protect the muscle from reinjury and stimulate blood flow to the area so the muscles can get the nutrients required to repair.
First off, don't do things you probably already know you should not do.
Like go out running two days after an injury.
Many people love sports and getting them to take time off can be a challenge.
You know who you are.
Put the pickleball racket down.
Take some time off to heal.
Next, when you have to do normal walking around or go back to work, use tape to protect your Hamstrings.
Medical Tape. Not 'sports' tape. Not 'kinesiology' tape. Big difference.
Most tapes are made from toxic materials and not at all designed to be worn all day.
And, for a muscle you use all day long like the hamstring, you need to wear the tape all day for it to be effective.
KB Support Tape is specifically designed for this type of injury.
KB Tape is medical tape.
It only takes one wrong move to reinjure a muscle tear, so stay proactive in protecting your injury.
Your injury can heal quickly if you don't reinjure it.
But reinjury is very possible since you have to use your legs all the time to walk around.
Wear your tape all day and stay away from strenuous activities that are likely to cause reinjury for at least a couple of weeks.
Longer for a more severe strain.
And listen to the pain signals your body gives you.
If you feel increasing pain, coming from that area on the back of your leg, stop what you are doing immediately.
If you have a Hamstring Injury you already know the main symptom.
It hurts.
You might have a mild strain.
Maybe you felt a burning or sharp pain that was not too severe.
But you knew something was not right.
Maybe you even kept doing whatever you were doing but decided to "go a bit easier".
Then later you get some aching, swelling, pain over time.
It might be worse the next day.
This is what a milder strain can be like.
A bad strain is very obvious.
You may actually feel the tearing sensation.
Sometimes there is a pop or sudden sharp pain in the back of the leg.
Bruising is a sign of a larger muscle tear and indicates that you might have a more serious injury.
You already know which of these you have.
But, even if you do have the milder strain, take it easy.
You have a weakened muscle with torn fibers.
Avoid a more severe muscle tear by resting, taping, and avoiding situations that put the muscle under stress.
Muscle injuries come in three grades. A Grade 1 injury is pretty mild. It is often referred to as an overstretch. Really, it is an injury to the muscle that involves a small amount of torn muscle fibers. Since not that many fibers are torn it will be less painful, probably won't have any bruising, and will heal in a couple of weeks. But be careful. Until it heals the muscle has a weak point that could set you up for an even worse injury if you do not take it easy. It's important to take this one seriously. Tape it, and go easy.
A Grade 2 Hamstring Injury is more severe with more torn fibers.
This one will hurt a lot more.
You may have bruising because the torn muscle fibers will bleed.
Moderate bruising and swelling are common.
This one does take longer to heal but it can be accelerated by avoiding reinjury.
Taping and increasing blood flow are key to healing a Grade 2 as quickly as possible.
Grades 1 and 2 are the most common.
They can both be healed in fairly short order if you protect them from reinjury and stimulate blood flow to the area.
Do not use exercise or stretching to stimulate blood flow as these put direct stress on the injured muscle fibers.
BFST is a great way to stimulate blood flow to injured tissues without directly stressing the muscle tear.
The third degree of muscle injury or Grade 3 is severe damage to the muscle and doctors may call this a "severe strain" or "really bad tear" or "rupture".
With this level of injury there is likely to be severe pain and little ability to move around at all due to the pain.
Your doctor would have likely done an MRI and may have recommended surgery if you had this level of injury.
The forces needed for this kind of injury are higher and would be something like getting tackled from two different directions on a football field.
For this grade of injury the healing modalities we talk about in this article would be more suited to the recovery period after surgery.
Medical literature states that these injuries require surgery and typically take over 6 months to a year or more to heal.
You can use the passive methods of rest and tape discussed to help protect your Hamstrings from reinjury.
You can also use proactive treatments such as BFST diathermy and ColdCure to speed up healing in Grade 1 and 2 Injuries.
You can also use the proactive treatments in the rehab stage after surgery to speed up healing in a Grade 3 injury.
Regardless of the injury grade, you will need to avoid reinjury and increase blood flow to the area to speed up the healing process.
The web is full of sites giving out bad advice for Hamstring Injuries. Below are some of the major ones. But even if it's not in this list keep in mind a few key points. You need the muscle to rest at first so it can re-bond the torn fibers. Anything that interferes with this re-bonding process will slow down your healing. Respect the pain signals your body gives you. If you are doing something that is supposed to help but it hurts, then stop.
Stretching at the wrong time is a good way to injure yourself again or cause additional injury.
You will see so many sites on the web talking about stretching for Hamstring Injuries.
Don't do it.
Stretching works by creating slight damage to a muscle so the nervous system gets the message to let the muscle relax a bit further the next time.
You have a torn muscle.
Stretching puts the broken fibers in the Hamstring muscle under direct intense stress.
Imagine a frayed rope that is being pulled from both ends.
That is what it is like for your torn muscle fibers when you stretch them.
Once your hamstrings are fully healed if you want to stretch then go ahead.
But always stop if it hurts and don't stretch too soon, no matter how many sites and videos on the web tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread.
Understand that the biggest single factor slowing down your healing process is reinjuring your hamstring. It is one of those injuries where a mild strain might not hurt that much. And if you warm up a bit it may feel like you could just go back and "play through the pain". This is not a good idea with this injury. Or really with any muscle strain. You have a weakened place in your muscle that is susceptible to further injury. Give a mild injury a couple of weeks. If you can't do this for some reason at least tape it. Use high quality medical grade tape. Give a more severe injury 6 weeks to heal.
It is ok to take pain medication to sleep. But during the day it is best to use the pain as a reminder and let it signal you not to do things that could make your injury worse. Pain killers mask the pain and don't do anything to address the injury causing that pain. This can cause a false sense of ability that will lead to a worsened condition and much longer recovery time. If you have to take painkillers, try to restrict them to times when you're at rest. Using them when you are active is a recipe for permanent damage.
If you have an injured muscle don't massage it at first. Massage is good later to help relax a muscle after it is healed. But when you have a Hamstring injury you have actual torn fibers in the muscle. Massaging those fibers can pull apart the initial repair bonds that your body is making. Wait at least two weeks from a mild injury and 2 to 3 months from a severe injury. And always respect what the pain is telling you.
Tens is not designed for this application at all.
A TENS machine does not stimulate blood flow.
TENS is an acronym that means Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation.
What a TENS machine is designed to do, is overstimulate the nerves to relieve pain.
But you don't want to mask the pain in this injury.
Reducing pain is desirable, yes.
But masking the pain is a bad idea since it may increase the chance of additional injury.
Tens also causes muscle contraction.
And muscle contraction therapies are not a good idea in a torn muscle that has not healed yet.
You run the risk of further injury.
There are way too many sites out there saying exercise will somehow heal your hamstrings.
Again if you have a hamstring injury you have torn muscle fibers.
Exercise will put stress on those torn fibers.
Weight lifting would be a huge no no in this scenario.
But so is repetitive stress.
For at least a couple weeks stop the cycling, jogging etc.
Don't lift anything heavy.
Another big one in this category is bands.
They tell you to use resistance bands because they are easier than weights.
But really, they place continuous stress on the muscle through the whole range of motion of any exercise.
This is fine for a healed muscle, but for a muscle that is not truly healed yet it is a recipe for disaster.
There are 3 Key Factors:
1. The severity of your injury.
2. The amount of reinjury you do.
3. Proactive treatments you apply.
What people really want to know is, "When will the pain be gone and I can return to normal life?".
That's very different than when your tissue is actually fully healed.
Long before the Hamstring Injury is fully healed, you will be doing most of what you could do before.
If it's a very minor tear and you really protect it to not reinjure it, the pain can subside in 2 weeks.
Once the pain is gone you can start to slowly go back to normal life and if you do it carefully you will probably be doing what you did before the injury within 1-2 months.
Even though you return to normal activity and have no pain, the tissue is still healing underneath and it probably will be doing so for an additional 3 months after that.
So, for a minor tear, pain gone: 2-3 weeks, Normal life: 8 weeks, tissue as-good-as-new: 3 months.
If it's a moderate tear and you really protect it to not reinjure it, the pain can subside in 6 weeks.
Once the pain is gone you can start to slowly go back to normal life and be doing what you did before within 3 months.
Fully healing the underlying tissue to good-as-new in about 6 months.
For a major tear, if you really protect it, the pain can largely subside to almost nothing in 6 months.
Once the pain is gone, slowly go back to what you did before within 10-16 months.
Fully healing the underlying tissue to good-as-new in about 2 years.
At this point, people want to know what they can do to speed up the process.
There are definitely things you can do to proactively speed the healing process.
You don't have to do them but athletes and those who want to shorten the healing time as much as possible will use diathermic processes like BFST and Ultrasound.
It will heal on it's own, even without those proactive steps.
It will just take longer.
The short-list of things to avoid are to not drive through the pain, avoid using painkillers, and avoid exercising and stretching that can make the situation worse. As long as you are still in the painful stage, stretching is bad, not good. Physiotherapy is also for after you get past the painful period - it's good then, but it can be damaging if started too soon. If you aren't happy with the best case healing times, don't do things that are going to drag out the injury.
There are things you can do to speed up your healing.
Stabilize the injured area and protect from Reinjury with KB Support Tape®.
Use ColdCure® to reduce pain.
Use BFST® to bring blood flow to the area and speed healing.
ColdCure® will take the pain right out of the injured area.
And it will do it without dangerous pain killers and without masking the pain.
KB Support Tape will help protect the injured muscles.
It reduces how much the skin under the tape can move.
This in turn will limit the movement of the damaged tissues below the skin.
It works remarkably well.
Use only high quality medical grade tape.
Not Athletic tape.
BFST will help the injured tissue heal by bringing blood flow right where it is needed most.
This way you can get all the benefit of blood flow to bring healing nutrients to the injured are without resorting to therapies that can be damaging like exercise or stretching.
For a little while - not forever - it is really helpful to give your Hamstrings a rest.
In many cases, resting your leg for a few weeks will give it time to heal to a point that your body gets ahead of the healing / reinjury cycle.
It's important to realize that once the pain and any swelling go away, your underlying injury will not be healed completely, so take it easy.
Go back to regular life gradually, once the pain and swelling are gone.
If you want to be more proactive about healing the problem, you can scroll down to the "Medical Products for Your Recovery" section.
If you want your Hamstring injury to go away as quickly as possible, you need to rest the affected area.
Avoid any physical activities that could cause further injury.
Do your best to avoid the activity that caused the tear in the first place.
Do regular ColdCure® treatments to control the pain and swelling.
You can also focus on healing the strain with regular BFST® treatments.
This combination will work to accelerate the healing process.
Around the 4-6 week mark - not before - you can start doing some light stretching and strengthening exercises.
Slowly work your way back to your regular level of activity.
Continue doing BFST® treatments long after the pain and any swelling disappear to maintain the healing you've done.
Do a ColdCure® treatment if you experience any flare-ups of pain and swelling and after any significant activity.
There are two important things you should know to get the best results with tape.
The internet is full of crazy ideas on how to tape your Hamstrings.
The KT-Tape people and Rock-Tape people have some silly suggestions.
The thing is, no two injuries are the same.
You don't need a fancy or elaborate taping process.
You need to tape right where it hurts.
For the Hamstrings use two pieces of tape.
The first piece will be longer, perhaps 8" to 10" long and it should run up and down your leg in the direction of the muscle.
The main thing is to place the tape so it passes right over the area where you feel the pain.
The hamstrings are a very large muscle area so 3 inch, wide tape will be much better than 2 inch wide tape for most people.
The second piece of tape will be shorter, perhaps 5" or 6" long.
Place the second piece across the first piece so the two pieces together form a "T" or an "X" shape.
The two pieces should cross right over the most painful injured spot.
This simple taping method is the most effective method for stabilizing the injury.
If you feel compelled, you can add additional tape as you feel appropriate, but the simple X or T is what your really need.
Keep in mind that tape is not an excuse to go right back and do the thing that caused the injury.
You still need to take time away from strenuous activities.
But tape is a good way to protect your damaged muscles while you are healing.
The second thing is not all tapes are created equal.
Use medical tape not athletic tape.
You want tape that is safe to wear all day.
At King Brand®, our tape is medical tape, not athletic tape.
This means our Tape is manufactured to ISO 10993 standards, which ensures that our Tape is made from extremely safe, biocompatible materials.
Our Tape is actually made from safer materials than most baby products, including toys, clothing and even diapers.
Don't let the big brand tapes fool you.
Most of them, like KT-Tape and Rock-Tape are made from toxic materials, because there are no standards for athletic tape like there are for medical tape.
Some big brand tape glues even contain carcinogenic ingredients.
At King Brand®, your health and safety are of utmost importance, which is why KB Support Tape™ is manufactured to such high standards.
You don't have to undergo surgery in order to recover from most Hamstring Injuries.
Most tears will heal with conservative treatments.
However, it's possible that your situation does require surgery but do get a second and maybe third opinion as surgery is a big step and not all doctors will agree that it is needed.
If surgery is your only option, make sure your post-surgery recovery goes as smoothly as possible by using BFST and ColdCure.
Use a ColdCure® Leg Wrap to reduce the inflammation and relieve the pain for the first few days following surgery.
Once the inflammation has gone down, promote blood flow to the injured area using a BFST® Leg Wrap.
This will improve your circulation and help you heal faster.
Always get an opinion from more than one Orthopaedic Surgeon before committing to surgery.
Consider what each one has to say.
Painkillers mask the pain, causing you to continue to stress and injure your hamstrings.
This will only make your condition worse.
It is understandable that people need relief from the pain, so if you have to take painkillers, restrict them to times when you are off your feet.
You can use painkillers to help you sleep.
Using them when you are active is a recipe for permanent damage.
Your choice of pain killers is important.
You can give us a call to discuss which ones are best.
The ColdCure® Leg Wrap is designed to relieve the pain associated with hamstring injuries.
This safe and effective pain reliever is also great at bringing down swelling and inflammation.
The ColdCure® Leg Wrap is incredibly soothing and provides support and protection for your hamstring.
The painkilling element is incredibly powerful and it works instantly - there's no 20 minute wait like with pills.
Hamstring Injuries can be extremely painful and debilitating.
Painkillers such as ASA or acetaminophen are often used to treat the pain but these drugs do nothing to treat the actual condition.
In fact, most painkillers are also blood thinners and make the bleeding worse for fresh tissue injuries.
With little exception, people who rely on pain killers through the day have longer recovery times and greater likelihood of permanent tissue damage.
When it comes to pain killers, some products are much more effective than others.
Some can actually help your injury when used correctly and others will only make it worse.
According to the National Institute of Health, our own government body tells us that Acetaminophen overdose is the leading cause for calls to Poison Control Centers (>100,000/year) and accounts for more than 56,000 emergency room visits.
And acetaminophen (Tylenol) won't help you get better one bit. It only puts you at risk of more injury.
If you want help choosing the right pain killer and want advice on how to use it more safely and correctly, give us a call at 1-844-672-9440.
We will give you excellent guidance. No charge. No purchase necessary.
Cortisone injections are used in extreme cases but these too are intended only to address the pain.
They do not promote healing of the injury itself and they put you at a very high risk of further injury.
Typically, cortisone injections are given to patients who are destined for surgery to relieve the pain in the interim.
Never get cortisone injections if your desire is to heal properly and quickly.
They may reduce the pain but they will do so at the expense of the long-term health of your hamstring.
There's no doubt about it, for healing most tissue injuries in the body, blood flow is the most critical element in rapid recovery.
The blood flow brings the building blocks for new cell growth.
It carries away the waste and damaged tissue.
It brings antibodies to protect against infection.
Your blood flow supplies the cells in your body with everything it needs and removes much of what needs to be taken away.
While your heart ensures a sufficient supply to your body as a whole, in the individual parts of your body there are a lot of factors that determine how much that area receives.
Motion in local tissue can play a significant factor in blood supply.
But when you are injured, that motion is less and so is that trigger to bring blood to the area.
People often don't understand that motion is enough and that doesn't mean putting a heavy load on your joint.
When you dangle your leg - not strain it - and swing it gently back and forth with limited range of motion, that's enough to stimulate circulation. Adding the weight of your body or doing stressful exercise doesn't improve the flow significantly more than unloaded motion.
The motion plus the added loads can end up resulting in reinjury.
Find light gentle motions that you can do with no pain at all and do those several times each day.
Just move the body part without any strain, you don't need to add more load.
Diathermy is a medical process to promote blood flow in tissue that is at rest.
Diathermy is a process by which energy is sent deep into the body to stimulate blood flow in tissue far below the skin.
An example of diathermy are the ultrasound treatments that people get when they go to physiotherapy.
The challenge with ultrasound is that all diathermic treatments are only effective for up to 4 hours.
But people go to the physio clinic once every couple of days, so they are only getting occasional treatments when their body needs several each day.
Also, ultrasound is an older, more risky process that can damage subdermal tissue, so it needs to be performed by a technician - you can't do it at home.
The good news is that you have an option to ultrasound.
BFST® devices from King Brand are diathermic devices that people can buy to treat themselves at home.
With a home diathermic device, you can treat yourself multiple times each day and significantly improve your blood flow and the healing process.
And they're more powerful than ultrasound too.
And safer.
An Ultrasound device is very focused and the effective area can be less than 1 square inch in the underlying tissue.
That's why it needs to be constantly moved around, both to cover the whole injury and to prevent the tissue from burning.
BFST devices have massive coverage areas, treating up to 70 square inches without needing to move it around.
They are typically up to 10x more powerful than ultrasound too - and completely safe.
Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy® (BFST®) gives your leg the blood flow it needs to heal quickly and completely. BFST® brings extra oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the injured area - a requirement for the body to heal itself.
With a King Brand® BFST® Leg Wrap, blood flow can be stimulated in the area of injury while you are at rest. With improved blood flow and without physical activity and the risk of re-injury, you can recover from your Hamstring injury or surgery at a surprisingly rapid rate.
If you want to go the proactive route, here are the most effective and popular items that people use.
You can save some money by not using these options and your body will still heal on its own.
It will just take longer.
But if your injury is severe or you just want to heal faster you can take advantage of same methods the pro athletes use to dramatically speed up your healing time.
The King Brand Recovery Packs listed below include everything you need to heal as quickly as possible from your Hamstring injury.
As an added bonus, the Recovery Packs include a significant discount that's been built into the package price.
Three Piece Recovery Pack - Save BIG on the Essentials
The Three Piece Recovery Package deal has been created to include everything you need to heal your hamstring.
This recovery pack gives you all the essentials to help you heal as quickly as possible.
These are the three most important tools for your hamstring recovery. They work together to heal you, protect you, and reduce the pain.
Four Piece "On The Go" Pack - The Biggest Savings
The Four Piece Recovery Pack is designed for people who are always on the go, and want the convenience of treatments anywhere and at any time.
This bundle includes everything mentioned in our Three Piece Recovery Pack, and also includes our BFST® Battery Pack. With the BFST® Battery Pack, you don't need an outlet. You can take your treatments in the car, on the plane, or wherever your day takes you.
With a full charge on your BFST® Battery Pack, you will have more than enough power to complete all of your treatments for 2 or 3 days between charges.
If you want to just stick with the most essential piece, the BFST® Leg Wrap is your best choice to deal with the underlying injury. Treating any large part of your leg, this Class II medical device actively stimulates healing in your entire leg to get you on the mend ASAP! As is, this device plugs into a wall outlet for 20 minute sessions of comfortable soothing Blood Flow Stimulation. To Stimulate Healing for a quick recovery, it is really all you need. Treat yourself in the morning and at night and before any strenuous activity and your healing process will happen as fast as possible.
If your biggest issue is the pain, then you definitely want the ColdCure® wrap. The ColdCure® Leg Wrap comes with 3 swappable cold packs that contain our unique XC RigiGel® formula. This isn't that 'blue goo' that you get from the drug store, no way. This is super gel. It holds tons more cold and stays cold much longer. Its ice that bends like rubber. It's amazing. The elasticized wrap holds the cold firmly in place against your injury sucking away the pain while it gently reduces swelling and pushes the synovial fluid back into place. If pain is your #1 concern, this is your #1 solution. With the extra gel packs included, you can treat the pain over and over again, never running out of ice.
KB Support Tape™ - Protection from Re-Injury
Too busy to be injured? Have to keep going? Then KB Support Tape® is your "must have". Constant re-injury is often the biggest reason your muscle doesn't heal. It heals when at rest but when you get back on your feet the injury gets worse. Athletes are always taped up. That's to prevent against re-injury while they are active. And KB Support Tape™ is the best for that purpose. Taping is very under-appreciated and very effective. If you have to keep moving, you have to tape.
This is not your ordinary tape. It's wider and stronger and made for leg injuries. At 3" wide instead of 2", you get more than twice the support when you form the 'X' over your injured area.
The color is purely your sense of style.
This Rechargeable Battery Pack is designed to make your BFST® Wrap completely mobile. It attaches anywhere on your wrap and lasts for a minimum of 4-10 treatments, depending on what level you're on. This means you can do your treatments wherever you go! You can do treatments in the car, at work, or while you're doing chores around the house, all without being plugged in. Use it wherever the day takes you.
The Battery Pack is easily charged using your BFST® power supply. The indicator lights on the Battery let you know when it needs to be charged again. It takes approximately 4 hours to achieve a full charge when the Battery is at 0%.
The Battery Pack makes it so much simpler to get in your 3-4 BFST® treatments per day, because you don't have to wait around while you're plugged into an outlet anymore.
*The Rechargeable Battery Pack is specifically designed to work with your BFST® Leg Wrap. Your BFST® Wrap comes with the components you need for treatments and to charge the Battery.
The Accessory Strap can provide a more customized fit for the BFST® and ColdCure® Wraps. The strap provides up to 11+ inches of additional extension so you can use as much or as little extension as you need.
Without an accessory strap, the BFST® and ColdCure® wraps fit 26 inches around your leg. We all come in different shapes and sizes and this Accessory Strap will allow you to increase the size of your Wrap to a maximum of 37 inches if required. Simply attach one end of the Accessory Strap to the side of the wrap that has the Velcro patch, and wrap it around until it meets the Wrap on the other side.
An accessory strap can make your wraps more versatile if you want to use it on other parts of your body besides your leg. Adjust your wrap to your desired fit for every body part!
If you want mega coverage of your leg, try our ColdCure® Large Body Wraps. They cover a massive treatment area of 16" x 16", so you can almost wrap your entire leg. This is a great alternative for people who find that most other products aren't large enough.
These wraps are also extremely versatile and can be worn on other areas of your body aside from your leg. It's so huge that you can use it to treat any bodily injury, especially the back. We don't know of any other compression ice pack that's this big or holds this much cold. This is a very serious ice pack!
If you're looking for lots of cold coverage, look no further than the ColdCure® Large Body Pad.
Are Other Parts Starting to Ache? - Our Vibe Massagers Relieve Stiff Muscle Pain
Suffering from a torn hamstring often leads to other parts of your body aching as you attempt to compensate for your sore leg.
King Brand Vibe massagers are professional grade units that can unknot tense tissue and free you from the pain and stiffness.
There's no doubt you know the pain of muscle tension.
Lots of people feel it in their feet, their hips, and even their back.
Muscle pain can ruin your day and it can ruin your sleep.
If you haven't used a professional massager before, it's time you try one.
You'll love it.
20 minutes of targeted massage on any part of your body leaves you feeling so relaxed. You can really feel the difference.
Long after your injury is forgotten you'll still be using your massager. It will become your new best friend.
The Vibe Max shown here is our most powerful and versatile hand held massager that gives excellent results at an affordable price.
ColdCure® Wraps are FDA Registered Class I medical devices. They exceed all government and health agency regulatory requirements for cold therapy, specifically for use in treating soft tissue injuries. When applied, the ColdCure® Wrap immediately reduces the risk of further damage from excessive swelling. Doctors and Therapists agree that controlling swelling is a fundamental part of reducing long-term permanent damage resulting from soft tissue injuries.
All of our ColdCure® Wraps are entirely made of very soft, stretchy material.
They come with 3 swappable cold packs that contain our unique XC RigiGel® formula.
The gel packs are inserted inside the wrap one at a time, so you can have the other two charging in the freezer to keep your therapy going.
Do your ColdCure® treatments in 20 minute intervals throughout the day, or as long as you need the relief.
Many people follow the RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation - formula when treating a soft tissue injury.
While RICE is a popular method, the reality is that ice can actually freeze your skin and numb your nerves, causing 'cold burns' and even permanent damage to your skin and underlying tissue.
The proper solution is RCCE® - Rest, Cold, Compression & Elevation.
We don't want to apply ice - we want to apply cold that is just above freezing.
Yes, you want cold - and lots of it - but not so cold that it is below the freezing point of water.
ColdCure® RigiGel® packs are much safer and more effective than ice and products that use mushy blue gel.
Why?
Because RigiGel® packs are like ice, but they stay at 32°F, the exact and best temperature for pain relief.
While they may start at about -4°F straight from the freezer, after a few minutes they will go to 32°F and stay at 32°F for a long time.
The XC Gel® danger zone is very small, but the benefits are huge.
Not all freezers are the same so we build extra safety into the packs.
If you find the gel pack too stiff from the freezer to use in the wrap, that's because it came out too cold to be safe.
Leave it out for 1-2 minutes though and it's good to go!
Then it will bend enough for inserting it inside the wrap.
When the pack is soft enough to bend, it's ready to use for treatment.
So simple and so safe!
More Gel = More Cold. XC Gel® packs contain 3x more gel by weight than ordinary gel packs. This means they cover a much larger area. When stored in the freezer, XC Gel® packs have 10x more cooling power than other products. So, you get longer treatments without having to recharge the gel packs as often. It also means faster relief of pain and swelling. Bigger gel packs with more gel inside, plus superior cooling power, ultimately means a better, more effective treatment.
Regular gel packs are notorious for having hot and cold spots. When cold pressure is applied to an injury, the gel starts to warm up in that specific spot faster than the rest of the pack. Our XC RigiGel® packs distribute cold energy evenly throughout the entire gel pack. The energy in our gel packs is transferred from the cold spots to the warm spots much more effectively. This is a valuable improvement as your injury will receive a consistent cold treatment, every time. The temperature balancing power of this gel formula is unmatched.
XC RigiGel® is firm yet flexible. We describe it as 'gel that bends like rubber' because even though it bends and molds to the shape of your body, it always stays in place. Unlike gooey blue gel that easily gets pushed to other areas of the wrap, our gel won't flow away from your injured spot. Even under very extreme pressure, it stays soft, but it won't budge. No matter how much pressure, the gel always stays in place over your injured spot. RigiGel conforms to the painful area for an even, consistent treatment every time.
ColdCure® Leg Gel packs are specially designed to conform to your hamstring to provide your injury with an even distribution of cooling power.
Every one of our ColdCure® Wraps comes with gel packs that are custom designed for the body part to ensure the best fit and treatment possible.
We don't just use one generic gel pack shape.
Every body part is uniquely shaped, which is why all of our gel packs are uniquely shaped too.
If you want a product that is 100% designed to treat a Hamstring Injury, you need the ColdCure® Leg Wrap.
The illustration shows the Cold Treatment effective coverage area.
The coverage wraps around the entire back of the leg providing coverage to the entire area.
The BFST treatments are very comfortable and soothing. The BFST® uses Electromagnetic Energy to stimulate blood flow underneath the surface of the skin. It is warm, but not hot. It does not vibrate like a massager. (You shouldn't use a massager on soft tissue injuries) It does not cause your muscles to tense in jolts like with a TENS machine. (TENS machines are very bad for soft tissue injuries) The BFST® isn't supposed to do either of those things. Rather, it is soothing and sometimes gives you a gentle tingling sensation in the treatment area. BFST treatments are very pleasant and enjoyable.
Don't be confused, while the treatments feel gentle, they are still very powerful.
Think about an X-RAY or an MRI.
Even though you don't feel the energy during those procedures, a lot of energy is definitely going deep into your body.
If you put your ear close to the BFST when it is on, you can actually hear it going through the cycles.
It's not loud, but you can hear it if you listen.
It isn't just delivering one energy level at one frequency.
Just like an MRI machine, the BFST buzzes and hums and gets louder and more quiet as it goes through the treatment cycle.
It sounds just like a mini-MRI machine.
Over the 20 minute treatment period it goes through a treatment cycle to deliver the most energy in the most effective way.
It is designed to help give you the fastest healing time possible, in the comfort of your home.
During each BFST® treatment you will only feel a mild warming sensation.
If it feels hot you are using it on too high of a setting.
Over time, after several treatment sessions, the treatments will feel like they are getting less and less warm.
This is your body responding to the BFST® treatments by increasing your subdermal blood flow.
The more BFST treatments you do, the less warmth you're going to feel.
This is a good sign.
Your tissue is becoming healthier.
Your body is getting stronger.
This means that your circulation through your injury is improving, and your injury is improving.
When the feeling of warmth during a treatment is almost all gone, this is the signal that it is time to move up to the next level.
People usually move up to the second level after a few weeks of treatment.
BFST® + ColdCure® Treatments
BFST® for Rapid Healing
ColdCure® for Pain & Swelling
KB Tape® to Prevent Re-Injury
Combination Therapy means using ColdCure® and BFST® in combination by alternating treatments, as well as using KB Support Tape®. Combination Therapy is much more effective than using just ColdCure® or just BFST®. This is because you're getting both the pain and swelling relief of ColdCure®, the healing benefits of BFST®, as well as the protection and re-injury prevention of KB Support Tape®. The combination results in the absolute best treatment for your Pulled Hamstring.
A very important part of treating your condition is to use the ColdCure® Wrap. This will help to help reduce the inflammation you may have and cannot see, deep down in the soft tissue. You can use it several times a day. Use it anytime you want pain relief and after any significant exercise of your leg, even if it doesn't hurt afterward.
You should rely more heavily on ColdCure® treatments immediately after exercise because the inflammation will continue to re-develop when you are active. Being aggressive with back to back cold treatments after exercise will give your body a chance to get ahead of the inflammation.
Introduce your BFST® treatments at your less active times of day and before significant exercise if you have to do some. Keep your swelling and inflammation under control with ColdCure® but do not use ColdCure® and BFST® close together. Use BFST® in the morning, before bed, and after longer periods of resting your injury. When doing your treatments, you should only feel a slight warming sensation. At any time, if it feels HOT or uncomfortable, the treatment will not be as effective as if it is just mildly warm.
Each BFST® Treatment will last only 20 minutes, but the increase in blood flow will last up to four hours. Ideally your treatments should be spaced out throughout the day, so you can promote good blood flow all day long. If you can't do 3-4 treatments a day, your two most important treatments are first thing in the morning, and right before you go to bed. This will ensure that you have a great start to your day and you can rest well at night.
If you are planning on being active throughout the day, complete a BFST® treatment before any type of physical activity. It can be as simple as mopping the floor. Always assess how you are feeling after your activity, as there's a chance you may need to apply your ColdCure® to treat any new inflammation generated during your activities.
The goal with your BFST® Treatments is not to increase on the levels as quickly as possible, but to condition your circulatory system to allow for the much needed increased blood flow. Staying on the lowest level to where you feel any warmth - remember it's just a slight warmth - will be the most effective way to start healing your hamstring injury. When can you move up to the next level? You can move up in levels when you feel barely any warmth from the wrap at all. This means that you've successfully conditioned your circulation and you're ready to move up. Some people can move up in a few weeks, some people it takes a lot longer. It just depends on how well your body adjusts to the increase in blood flow.
Do a ColdCure® treatment any time you experience a pain flare-up or after any physical activity to prevent further injury and reduce swelling and inflammation. Remember, staying on top of your inflammation will allow you to complete more BFST® treatments throughout the day.
Wait 30-45 minutes after your ColdCure® treatment before doing another BFST® treatment. This time will allow the blood flow and body temperature to regulate again. Refrain from using ColdCure® within the 4 hours following your 20 minute BFST® treatment, unless you notice an increase in pain during your BFST® Treatment.
ColdCure® treatments will slow down the blood flow, which isn't ideal, but is sometimes necessary to relieve the swelling and inflammation generated. The BFST® will increase your blood flow which is important for faster healing.
KB Support Tape™ is very important to help with your condition's recovery. As you move throughout the day, your skin and your tendons move with you. Using the KB Support Tape™ over your injury will make your skin less flexible - therefore protecting your injury - without restricting your range of motion. KB Support Tape™ can be used at the same time as your BFST® and ColdCure® Treatments without any issues. Try to have your first BFST® treatment of the day without the KB Support Tape™ applied. After your BFST® treatment has been completed, then apply the tape. Removing the tape before the last BFST® treatment of the day will provide the best results.
When you're recovering from a Torn Hamstring, the pain ends long before you've finished healing. In fact, the pain is usually gone once your tissue is about 20-30% healed. The entire healing process is very complex, and takes much longer than most people realize. (You can click here for the full story on tissue healing). The key thing to remember is that long after the pain stops, your underlying injury is still healing. This means you need to keep doing BFST® treatments in order to complete the healing process. Doing regular BFST® treatments for several months after the pain is gone is extremely beneficial. Do a BFST® treatment prior to any physical activity. This will act as a warm up for your circulatory system. You should also continue to use KB Support Tape® to help protect the muscle from re-injury.
I've been using the system for a hamstring injury and have been very, very pleased with the results. The injury and the pain went away fairly quickly after using the system. I am continuing to use it as suggested in spite of pain being basically gone.
Susan from Texas - BFST Leg|Coldcure Leg - June 21st, 2018
I'm a figure skating athlete and also teach, I actually just competed.
Last night I did the BFST.
Oh my gosh I have to tell you that after 1 treatment I felt so much better.
I actually slept last night!
It was wonderful!
Thank you so much.
Kathy from New Jersey - - BFST Back|ColdCure Back - May 17, 2022
My only regret is that I did not find your website and products sooner.
I have been nursing a sports induced injury for 5 months and could not get any improvement until I started using the BSFT and ColdCure Wrap.
Only after 2 weeks I am able to get back on the tennis courts with limited play but with continue treatments looking forward to full court mobility soon.
The description for my type of injury matched what my MRI showed.
Your website is very educational about soft tissue injuries and easy for anyone to understand.
Thanks for your products and great website.
Linda from Texas - - ColdCure Back|BFST Back|Pre-Cut Tape - Sep 13, 2017
King Brand® soft tissue rehabilitation medical products are the #1 choice of top Athletic Therapists and Medical Practitioners worldwide. We provide guaranteed results and customer satisfaction. Like all King Brand® products, there simply isn't a better performing option. All King Brand® products come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Try our products and if you're not completely impressed, you can send them back for a full refund. We know you will love them though because hundreds of thousands of people already use them and rave about the results.
The King Brand® products shown are FDA Registered medical devices. That is not all. They have also been registered with Health Canada which means they received twice as much review.
FDA and Health Canada Registration does not mean that we filled out a form to become Registered. Our medical claims are significant, and because of these claims the various agencies have looked deep into our technology.
We have submitted to FDA our proprietary research and technology to back up the claims that we make.
King Brand has participated in far more than a basic registration process. All the agencies have come to our facilities for week-long inspections to ensure that the end user is always receiving the safest, most effective medical devices we can offer. With two different countries of regulators this means our products have twice the oversight, ensuring exceptional quality and performance.
It is not required by the government agencies, but we are also ISO-13485 compliant and registered. This enforces medical standards that are established by the International Standards Organization for global manufacturers of medical devices. This means more on-site, week long, audits every year, ensuring our quality and products meet strict international standards.
Beyond what is required by any regulator, we use only the safest materials in our products. ISO-10993 regulation ensures that our products are made from higher quality materials than most baby products, including diapers. This is the highest bio-compatibility safety standard in the world. This is the highest hospital grade - think Intensive Care and Operating Rooms. Our materials go through ISO-10993 testing to ensure they are safe for you. No consumer products are produced to this high standard.
King Brand products are, in fact, hospital grade through and through. IEC-60601 is the International Standard for Medical Device safety from an electrical standpoint. In spite of the BFST® being an electrical device, BFST® can be used in hospital emergency rooms and operating rooms without affecting other equipment. You can use any medical device with a BFST® and neither device will know the other one is there. This is a very tough standard to meet, but we do it and you benefit.
King Brand products meet over 20 different safety and quality standards that are not required even for medical devices and FDA registration. If we think there is anything that can be done to make our products safer and more effective, we have done it. That is the approach to everything we do and that is why our company and products are so highly regarded.
