PhysioUpdate 8th December 2022

Rise in hamstring injuries may be linked to professional footballers' relentless schedules: BJSM

A worrying rise in hamstring injuries among male European footballers is highlighted in a study that was published online by the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) on 7 December

The article, written by an international team led by Jan Ekstrand from the Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences at Linköping University in Sweden, states that the proportion of footballers’ hamstring injuries and lay-off days has doubled over the past 20 years.

Nearly one in five of the hamstring injuries was a reoccurrence, with two in three of them happening within a two-month period after the player returned to the football field. The figures reveal a stark divide: while the number of hamstring injuries sustained during match play remained stable from 2001-2014, they increased in the following years, prompting various initiatives to cut risks.

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