Half of Hamstring Injuries Happen in NFL Preseason

Reuters Health—February 21, 2011   

The mid-air grabs of wide receivers, the elegant sprints of defensive secondaries, and the gaping kicks of special teams players make them the most vulnerable football players to suffer hamstring strains. And a new study shows more than half of those injuries happen before they ever get to a regular season game

The report, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, shows a spike of injuries during July and August. That means athletes are losing condition during the off-season.

Dr. Brian Halpern, who treats athletes with muscle injuries at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York and who was not involved in this study, said the findings make sense.

"You're out of condition, you're out of flexibility, and then you get into this aggressive program of running, cutting, and sprinting," he told Reuters Health. The study "confirmed what we clinically see."

Read the full story at reuters.com.