My son suffered a partially torn hamstring (left proximal) during preseason of his college sophomore year (2017). He rushed to get back in the lineup for opening day, but it wasn't healed and he was forced to sit out for 3 weeks. He missed 14 games during the season, and played with a very weak and painful hamstring the entire season. He took another 2 weeks off before starting summer league, but also suffered from pain and weakness for the entire summer season. He was doing PT and ice therapies pretty much from Day 1. After nursing it through fall ball without much improvement, I sent him for a Percutaneous Needle Tenotomy (PNT) treatment. You can google for clinical trials and videos, but here are the basics. The physician makes a small incision in the skin near the tendon and inserts an pencil shaped instrument with a needle and suction at the tip. The doctor uses ultrasound to guide the needle to the tear, then pokes and breaks up the scar tissue and sucks it away. “This turns a non-healing chronic injury into an acute injury with enhanced healing capability.” He started light exercising about 2 weeks after treatment and was back to full workouts in about 6 weeks. To my great surprise, this procedure was covered by my health insurance (Aetna). I was expecting to pay about $1,000 out of pocket.
It’s been almost 4 months since the treatment, and while it wasn’t a miracle cure, his pain has decreased significantly and his strength is much improved. I just wanted to share his experience for anyone else suffering from chronic hamstring injury pain. I think this treatment is more common for plantar fasciitis, but this doctor (Wilmington DE) has been successful using it to treat hamstrings.
