Hamstring

Hamstring
In human anatomy, a hamstring

(/ˈhæmstrɪŋ/) is any one of the three
posterior thigh muscles in between the hip
and the knee (from medial to lateral:
semimembranosus, semitendinosus and
biceps femoris).[3] The hamstrings are
susceptible to injury.[4]
Etymology Hamstring
The word "ham" is

derived from the Old
English ham or hom
meaning the hollow
or bend of the knee,
from a Germanic
base where it meant
"crooked". It gained
the meaning of the
leg of an animal
around the 15th Posterior view of left
century.[5] String lower extremity.
refers to tendons, Details
and thus, the
hamstrings are the Origin tuberosity
string-like tendons of the
felt on either side of ischium,
the back of the linea

aspera
knee.[6]
Insertion tibia,
Criteria fibula
The common Artery inferior

criteria of any gluteal
hamstring muscles artery,

profunda
are:
femoris
1. Muscles artery
should Nerve sciatic

originate from nerve
(tibial
ischial nerve and
tuberosity. common
fibular
2. Muscles
nerve)[1][2]
should be
Actions flexion of
inserted over
knee,
the knee joint,
extension
in the tibia or in
of hip
the fibula.
Antagonist Rectus
3. Muscles will be femoris
innervated by muscle
the tibial Identifiers
branch of the
MeSH D000070633
sciatic nerve.
(https://mes
4. Muscle will hb.nlm.nih.g
participate in ov/record/u
flexion of the i?ui=D00007
knee joint and 0633)
extension of Anatomical terms of

the hip joint. muscle
Those muscles
which fulfill all of the four criteria are
called true hamstrings.
The adductor magnus reaches only up to
the adductor tubercle of the femur, but it is
included amongst the hamstrings because
the tibial collateral ligament of the knee
joint morphologically is the degenerated
tendon of this muscle. The ligament is
attached to medial epicondyle, two
millimeters from the adductor tubercle.
Structure
The three muscles of the posterior thigh
(semitendinosus, semimembranosus,
biceps femoris) flex (bend) the knee, while
all but the biceps femoris extend
(straighten) the hip. The three 'true'
hamstrings cross both the hip and the
knee joint and are therefore involved in
knee flexion and hip extension. The short
head of the biceps femoris crosses only
one joint (knee) and is therefore not
involved in hip extension. With its
divergent origin and innervation, it is
sometimes excluded from the 'hamstring'
characterization.[7]
Muscle Origin Insertion Nerve
tibial part of
semitendinosus ischial tuberosity medial surface of tibia
sciatic
tibial part of
semimembranosus ischial tuberosity medial tibial condyle
sciatic
biceps femoris - long lateral side of the head of the tibial part of
ischial tuberosity
head fibula sciatic
linea aspera and lateral lateral side of the head of the

biceps femoris - short common
supracondylar line of fibula (common tendon with
head peroneal
femur the long head)
A portion of the adductor magnus is

sometimes considered a part of the
hamstrings.[7]
Function
The hamstrings cross and act upon two
joints – the hip and the knee – and as
such they are termed biarticular muscles.
Semitendinosus and semimembranosus

extend the hip when the trunk is fixed; they
also flex the knee and medially (inwardly)
rotate the lower leg when the knee is bent.
The long head of the biceps femoris

extends the hip, as when beginning to
walk; both short and long heads flex the
knee and laterally (outwardly) rotate the
lower leg when the knee is bent.
The hamstrings play a crucial role in many

daily activities such as walking, running,
jumping, and controlling some movement
in the gluteus. In walking, they are most
important as an antagonist to the
quadriceps in the deceleration of knee
extension.
Clinical significance
Sports running injuries
A common running injury in several sports,

excessive stretch of a hamstring results
from extensive hip flexion while the knee is
extended.[4][8] During sprinting, a
hamstring injury may occur from
excessive muscle strain during eccentric
contraction late in the leg swing phase.[4][8]
The overall incidence of a hamstring injury
in sports and professional dancers is
about two per 1000 hours of
performance.[4] In some sports, a
hamstring injury occurs at the incidence of
19% of all sports injuries, and results in an
average time loss from competition of 24
days.[4]
Imaging
Tear of the hamstrings muscles at the

ischial tuberosity seen on MRI
(coronal STIR). The arrowheads
indicate the tuber and the retracted
tendon stump. Significant bleeding
around and into the muscles.
Picture of pulled hamstring showing
location of hamstring.
Imaging the hamstring muscles is usually

performed with an ultrasound and/or
MRI.[9] The biceps femoris is most
commonly injured, followed by
semitendinosus. Semimembranosus injury
is rare. Imaging is useful in differentiating
the grade of strain, especially if the muscle
is completely torn.[10] In this setting, the
level and degree of retraction can be
determined, serving as a useful roadmap
prior to any surgery. Those with a
hamstring strain of greater than 60mm in
length have a greater risk of recurrence.[11]
Use in surgery
The distal semitendinosus tendon is one

of the tendons that can be used in the
surgical procedure ACL reconstruction. In
this procedure, a piece of it is used to
replace the anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL). The ACL is one of the four major
ligaments in the knee, which also include
the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL),
medial collateral ligament (MCL), and
lateral collateral ligament (LCL).
See also
Hamstringing
Hamstring curl
Lombard's Paradox
Popliteal fossa
Pulled hamstring
References
1. "University of Glasgow - Schools - School of
Life Sciences" (http://www.gla.ac.uk/ibls/fa
b/tutorial/anatomy/knee1.html) .
www.gla.ac.uk.
2. "Biceps Femoris - Short Head —
Musculoskeletal Radiology — UW
Radiology" (http://www.rad.washington.ed
u/academics/academic-sections/msk/mus
cle-atlas/lower-body/biceps-femoris-short-
head) . Rad.washington.edu. Retrieved
2012-11-02.
3. Mayo Clinic Staff (3 Oct 2015). "Hamstring
injury" (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases
-conditions/hamstring-injury/basics/definiti
on/con-20035144) . Mayo clinic. Retrieved
6 July 2016.
4. Danielsson, Adam; Horvath, Alexandra;
Senorski, Carl; Alentorn-Geli, Eduard;
Garrett, William E.; Cugat, Ramón;
Samuelsson, Kristian; Hamrin Senorski, Eric
(2020-09-29). "The mechanism of
hamstring injuries – a systematic review" (h
ttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC7526261) . BMC Musculoskeletal
Disorders. 21 (1): 641. doi:10.1186/s12891-
020-03658-8 (https://doi.org/10.1186%2Fs
12891-020-03658-8) . ISSN 1471-2474 (htt
ps://www.worldcat.org/issn/1471-2474) .
PMC 7526261 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/pmc/articles/PMC7526261) .
PMID 32993700 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/32993700) .
5. Brown, Lesley, ed. (2007). Shorter Oxford
English Dictionary II (Sixth ed.). Oxford:
Oxford University press. p. 3611.
6. "Online Etymology Dictionary" (http://www.e
tymonline.com/index.php?search=hamstrin
g) . Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
7. postthigh (http://www.wesnorman.com/po
stthigh.htm) at The Anatomy Lesson by
Wesley Norman (Georgetown University)
8. Kenneally‐Dabrowski, Claire J. B.; Brown,
Nicholas A. T.; Lai, Adrian K. M.; Perriman,
Diana; Spratford, Wayne; Serpell, Benjamin
G. (2019-05-22). "Late swing or early
stance? A narrative review of hamstring
injury mechanisms during high‐speed
running". Scandinavian Journal of Medicine
and Science in Sports. 29 (8): 1083–1091.
doi:10.1111/sms.13437 (https://doi.org/10.
1111%2Fsms.13437) . ISSN 0905-7188 (htt
ps://www.worldcat.org/issn/0905-7188) .
nih.gov/31033024) . S2CID 139106410 (htt
ps://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:139
106410) .
9. Koulouris G, Connell D (2003). "Evaluation
of the hamstring muscle complex following
acute injury". Skeletal Radiol. 32 (10): 582–
9. doi:10.1007/s00256-003-0674-5 (https://
doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00256-003-0674-5) .
nih.gov/12942206) . S2CID 23597752 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:2359
7752) .
10. Schache AG, Koulouris G, Kofoed W, Morris
HG, Pandy MG (2008). "Rupture of the
conjoint tendon at the proximal
musculotendinous junction of the biceps
femoris long head: a case report". Knee
Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 16 (8):
797–802. doi:10.1007/s00167-008-0517-y
(https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00167-008-05
17-y) . PMID 18360748 (https://pubmed.nc
bi.nlm.nih.gov/18360748) .
S2CID 23953024 (https://api.semanticscho
lar.org/CorpusID:23953024) .
11. Koulouris G, Connell DA, Brukner P,
Schneider-Kolsky M (2007). "Magnetic
resonance imaging parameters for
assessing risk of recurrent hamstring
injuries in elite athletes". Am J Sports Med.
35 (9): 1500–6.
doi:10.1177/0363546507301258 (https://d
oi.org/10.1177%2F0363546507301258) .
nih.gov/17426283) . S2CID 174755 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:1747
55) .
External links
MRI Images demonstrating avulsion
fracture of the hamstring muscle origin
(http://www.melbourneradiology.com.a
u/mri-gallery/mri-hamstring.html)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Hamstring&oldid=1152220878"
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In human anatomy, a hamstring

The word "ham" is

the back of the linea

The common Artery inferior

hamstring muscles artery,

should Nerve sciatic

extension of Anatomical terms of

linea aspera and lateral lateral side of the head of the

A portion of the adductor magnus is

Semitendinosus and semimembranosus

The long head of the biceps femoris

The hamstrings play a crucial role in many

Sports running injuries

A common running injury in several sports,

Tear of the hamstrings muscles at the

Imaging the hamstring muscles is usually

The distal semitendinosus tendon is one

This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at

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