This innovative book presents the latest insights into hamstring strain injuries (HSI), one of the most common problems in elite and recreational sport, with a unique focus on prevention and rehabilitation. The research within this area has evolved rapidly over the past 10 years and this text offers a comprehensive overview of the recent and most relevant advances. It fills a gap in the literature, since other books focus on muscle injuries in general and their surgical treatment.
Structured around the current evidence in the field, it includes sections on functional anatomy and biomechanics; basic muscle physiology in relation to injury and repair; assessment of risk factors; and factors associated with hamstring strains. It also discusses considerations in relation to acute and chronic injuries and hamstring injury prevention, including pre-season and in-season interventions, as well as management strategies and rehabilitation protocols. The final chapter is devoted to additionalinterventions when conservative rehabilitation and injury prevention fail. Written by renowned experts in the field, this book will be of great interest to sports physiotherapists, sports physicians, physical trainers and coaches.
Kristian Thorborg is an Associate Professor at Copenhagen University. He is currently employed as senior researcher, at the Sports Orthopedic Research Center – Copenhagen (SORC-C), and the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Research – Copenhagen (PMR-C) programme. Both centers/programmes are part of the Copenhagen IOC Research Centre in Injury and Illness Prevention. Kristian is a Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy since 2004, with more than 20 years of clinical experience within sports and orthopedic injury prevention, assessment and treatment. Kristian Thorborg has published more than 145 peer-reviewed articles and 25 book chapters. Kristian is ranked as no. 1 by expertscape.com (online guide to find biomedical experts and institutions) within the area of both “Hip” and “Groin” and currently publishes more than 30 peer reviewed papers annually.
David Opar is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Exercise Science at Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus). Having completed a Bachelor degree (with Honours) in Human Movement at RMIT University in 2008, Dr Opar commenced a PhD on hamstring injuries at Queensland University of Technology under the supervision of Associate Professor Anthony Shield in 2010. Dr Opar was conferred his PhD in December 2013. Since, Dr Opar has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, most of which are focused on hamstring injury. Dr Opar’s research covers many areas in hamstring injury, from risk factor analysis and intervention strategies through to optimising rehabilitation and return to play strategies. In conjunction with Associate Professor Shield, Dr Opar was a co-inventor of the NordBord device, which is tool utilised around the world to measure eccentric hamstring strength in the field.
Anthony Shield is an Associate Professor of Exercise Science at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. He completed his PhD at Southern Cross University in 2003. Dr Shield has written more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, of which, more than 30 are on the topic of hamstrings. He and his group have introduced the concept that neuromuscular inhibition may be a contributing factor to hamstring injury recurrence and have investigated the role of eccentric strength and hamstring muscle architecture on injury risk.
