Lauri Markkanen is on the sidelines of the basketball league NBA games for the third week already. All in all, Markkanes has missed eight Utah games in a row.
The last time Markkanen was sidelined longer was in January-February 2022. At that time, the Finnish star suffered an ankle injury in Cleveland and was sidelined for eleven consecutive matches.
Now Markkanen has been on the sidelines because of back problems. According to the Utah Jazz, Markkanen experienced pain in his hamstring muscles on Friday, November 24.
On Sunday, November 26, Markkanes was diagnosed with a hamstring strain, according to Utah. More specifically, Markkanen’s injury has not been opened. Strain can mean tear or stretch in Finnish.
Utah local media Deseret News told last friday, that the Finnish star’s return to the games would be close. Markkanen had trained at full capacity last Thursday. Finnish time early on Tuesday, however, Markkanes missed the away game in Oklahoma.
– This is the first time I have a hamstring, Markkanen stated to the Deseret News after Thursday’s practice.
– If my ankle turns, I know when I can play and what kind of pain I can tolerate. You can expect it to happen. Hamstring muscles, however, are apparently a bit different. Such injuries can easily recur. We need to make sure that all power levels are stored.
Utah’s support team has made a plan for Markkanen on how he can return to the games. Markkanen stated in an interview with the Deseret News that he still has a few ticks left on the plan.
– I have been able to increase the load every day without setbacks, so we are on the right track, Markkanen said.
KSL Sports reporter Ben Anderson, who follows the Utah Jazz closely, posted a video of Markkase practicing last Thursday.
A familiar injury for an athlete, but the risk exists
Orthopedic specialist Lasse Lempainen various hamstring injuries are familiar. He and his team are known for operating on many hamstring injuries of international soccer stars.
Most hamstring injuries do not require surgery.
Lempainen comments on hamstring injuries on a general level. He does not know any more newspaper information about Markkanen’s injury.
According to him, hamstring muscle tears are relatively common in athletes.
– Hamstring injuries are especially common in football, but also in other sports with quick changes of direction and acceleration. The vast majority of hamstring tears are relatively small and good-quality injuries that can be treated with good results through rehabilitation, Lempainen states.
For an athlete, the hamstring muscles are very important, as they are used in almost every movement. They are used to run and jump high. The hamstring muscles are made up of three different muscles in the hamstrings.
Hamstring injuries can be difficult to treat. There are many reasons for that. One of them is the sensitive recurrence of the injury mentioned by Markkanenki.
Lempainen highlights the big risk in general, even in top sports, if we start too early to pull at full 100 percent before the injury is fully rehabilitated.
– There are many examples when the athlete has already returned to training, but when the last 15 percent is needed in a sprint or a kick, there has been a new tear. The injury had not healed well enough, Lempainen says.
According to an orthopedist from Turku, the healing of a hamstring injury can be difficult for an athlete to assess.
– You can already think that the injury has already been rehabilitated. However, it is not yet good enough to withstand hard sports performance, Lempainen illustrates.
You praise Markkanen for the important consideration
Markkanen’s comparison of the difference between an ankle injury and a hamstring injury sounds familiar to a top orthopedist.
– That’s how it is sensitively. When it comes to elite sports and performance, 85% recovery is still not enough. When you go 100 in the glass, the hamstring must be in good condition so that the injury does not recur, Lempainen estimates.
Different hamstring injuries have different rehabilitation assessments. In the smallest injury category, sprains or strains, the healing time is from a few days to a couple of weeks. Lempainen reminds that rehabilitation and recovery is individual.
Orthopedist, who has studied the origin of hamstring injuries a lot, has been pleased with the comments related to Markkanen’s strength level.
He reminds that in addition to the actual hamstring injury, it is good to take care of risk factors related to recurrence.
– Even in top sports, risk factors can be neglected. Markkanen has understood this matter correctly. A risk factor can be, for example, weakness of muscle strength, poor mobility, or a non-ideal strength ratio of hindquarters and forequarters. These can expose you to hamstring injuries, Lempainen states.
According to Lempainen, there are three different mechanisms of origin for hamstring injuries. One type of injury is hard running sprints, another is hard stretching, and the third can be, for example, a sudden fall on a slippery surface.
According to Lempainen, hamstring injuries for regular exercisers can be very different from those of elite athletes.
– Hamstring strains that occur in ball games or athletics are quite rare for regular exercisers. On slippery winter roads, serious tears can happen when, for example, you slip or fall on a ski slope. These are different types of injuries. The target area is the same, but the injury mechanism and treatment lines are different, Lempainen says and points out that ruptures may require surgery.