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How to Wrap Your Hamstring

Because the hamstring is one of the largest muscles in the human body, it stands to reason that it gets used a lot. The hamstring is responsible for helping the knee bend, performs most of the motions in walking and even is at work while you are standing. The hamstring is the muscle that runs up the back of your thigh, between the knee and the buttocks. With all of this action, it is very possible for you to injure your hamstring. When this happens, one of the ways you can treat it is by wrapping or taping it.

Things You'll Need

  • Athletic prewrap
  • Athletic tape or wrap
  • Ice pack
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Instructions

    • 1

      Get off your feet. This is the first thing that you should do when you experience a pull of your hamstring. You will want to lie down as soon as possible and, if possible, remain off your feet for a while. Resting the muscle will give you the best recovery.

    • 2

      Ice the area. You will want to use a bag of crushed ice or an ice pack on the injured area. This will take down any swelling that you are experiencing.

    • 3

      Elevate your leg. This too will bring down any swelling that you might get in the hamstring. These are important steps to take before you consider taping your hamstring. This is mainly because taping the hamstring when it is swollen, without treating it first, will make the recovery much slower.

    • 4

      Wrap the athletic prewrap around your thigh. You will want to start a couple of inches above the knee and continue to wrap up, overlapping the prewrap, to within a few inches of your groin. This prewrap will not only make the wrap stick better, but it will also make it easier for you to take it off later.

    • 5

      Use athletic tape to begin taping over top of the prewrap. You will want to follow a very similar pattern when using the tape as you did with the prewrap. The only difference is you will want the tape to be tighter. Be careful--you should be taping while you are standing up and you should not be taping so tightly that the areas around the tape are bulging.

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