If you feel like you have tight hamstrings, you may also be experiencing pain or a pulling sensation behind your knee. At first thought, the two may seem related. After all, your hamstring and knee are close together; therefore, a tight hamstring muscle may be contributing to pain behind the knee.
That may not necessarily be the case, though.
In fact, many people who have tight hamstrings and knee pain can actually contribute the issue to a pinched sciatic nerve in the lower back. The exception here is an injury to the hamstring, such as a pull or tear, that could cause knee pain. So, if you haven’t experienced an injury, then a pinched nerve in your low back may actually be the cause for both your tight hamstrings AND your knee pain.
How tight hamstrings and knee pain are connected to the sciatic nerve in the lower back
Hamstrings are connected to the base on your spinal column in the lower back/buttocks area. Likewise, the sciatic nerve is a long nerve pathway that runs from the lower back into the calves. When something has compressed this nerve, pain and tightness could spread into the hamstrings and back of the knee.
How can physical therapy help relieve hamstring tightness and knee pain?
First things first, a physical therapist can run through a series of diagnostic tests to help pinpoint the exact cause of your hamstring tightness and knee pain. Once this is determined, there are several therapies that can be used to help treat the condition, or a combination thereof, such as:
- Manual therapy — Manual therapy includes joint mobilization and soft tissue mobilization, which can help relieve muscle tightness in your lower back and hamstrings that is causing pain.
- Trigger point therapy — Trigger point therapy works to relieve tension in the soft tissue by placing manual pressure on certain “trigger points” in the body to relieve muscle tightness and improve joint mobilization.
- Therapeutic exercise — Therapeutic exercise can help strengthen the core muscles in the lower back to help relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve.
If you are experiencing tightness in your hamstrings and pain behind your knees, it may be caused by a pinched nerve in your lower back. Physical therapy can help relieve your pain and also help prevent future symptoms from developing. To find out if physical therapy is the right treatment option for you, contact our team at Panther Physical Therapy today to schedule a free screening.