UAN:212 Article type:--Hamstrings are unusual in that they pass over two joints, the hip and the knee. They are therefore most likely to be injured when the hip is bent and the knee fully straightened. Further stretching may cause an injury

UAN:151 Article type:--SymptomsYou’ll feel pain of course, particularly as you take off from the injured leg, and also after sleep when you first stretch the slightly-healed scar tissue that has formed overnight (a ‘drop-foot splint’ can keep

be produced by gas), and could also be the cause of your discomfort.—Dr Patrick Milroy, RW Medical Advisor

, it should be at a gentle tempo without any pressure. You can then slowly increase intensity and mileage over time, building up to full training after the six-week mark.—Dr Patrick Milroy, RW Medical Advisor

this feeling of lactic acid build-up by experience, and because the symptoms tend to come on gradually. In some cases, if you feel pain on a training run it’s quite sufficient to stop and stretch, change the surface you’re running on or go to the other side

appropriate treatment in the early stages. You should not deviate from its use, continuing the treatment during rehabilitation. The most effective exercise to stretch the muscles safely resembles the yogic lotus position.Medical treatmentA doctor and a

or physio may find swelling in front of your Achilles tendon or an indication that there’s fluid within your ankle joint. However, there may also be other tender areas where soft tissues have been over-stretched or pulled. A specialist will look for signs

is to maintain the shape of the longitudinal arch. (This arch, along with the transverse arch which stretches across the metatarsal heads, allows proper pronation, which helps to absorb landing forces and provides some elastic recoil as your foot pushes away from

, to be inserted behind the knee on the inside and outside to complete our tripod. If you think of them as being like the guy ropes of a tent, a tightening of one group will stretch the other, and it is this alternate movement that enables the knee to function

, and pronation syndromes of the foot.Self-treatmentRICE, periodically, for the first 48 hours at least. Later, gradual stretching and strengthening, as with any other muscle injury.Medical treatmentUltrasound and, in the convalescent stage, massage by a