The loosehead prop twisted his knee at Highlanders training in Johannesburg last week and flew home over the weekend.
He has injured a ligament in his knee and will miss from four to six weeks.
With the Highlanders having only five games left in the regular season, the best-case scenario is that Hames may come back and play one or two games. At worst, his Super rugby season is over.
Hames, who has signed to play for Tasman this season, has had a tough year.
He injured an ankle last year in the ITM Cup with Bay of Plenty and struggled to find fitness in the Highlanders' pre-season.
He came off the bench in the first game and was then cited for striking.
It appeared to be a tough call and it got even worse when he was issued a five-game suspension by the judiciary.
In light of what has happened at the judiciary since, the penalty for Hames appears to be over the top.
In the same game, Crusaders prop Owen Franks was also cited for striking but he was banned for only two weeks which was effectively one game as the Crusaders had a bye.
Coming back from the ban, Hames had to miss another week because the Highlanders had a bye and he played a couple of games of club rugby for Taieri.
The prop then started three games for the Highlanders and was named to start for the team against the Lions at the weekend, but the 26-year-old damaged his knee at training in South Africa and is now back in Dunedin.
Daniel Lienert-Brown flew to South Africa to replace Hames.
With Ma'afu Fia gone for the season because of injury, both the Highlanders' main starting props from last year have had limited seasons.
Hames had a breakout year last season, his first at this level, playing all but one game for the side.
