arrghh - calf strain strikes - now what?

ct_roy

ok so I was enjoying a nice sunday afternoon run today when I pulled up with a sharp nip in my right calf. i walked off the pain for 5 mins or so and was able to finish off my run with only a small bit of pain.

doing some research into it I'm nearly sure I pulled a muscle in my calf so I'm gonna take it handy for a week or two and see how it goes.

any recommendations for good cross training options while I lay off the running - would swimming be safe with a calf strain or should I just stay off my feet altogether.

Not looking for medical advice - just interested in other peoples experiences when they have calf injuries.

serves me right for probably overtraining this week and running hungover

macinalli

ct_roy wrote: »

Not looking for medical advice - just interested in other peoples experiences when they have calf injuries.

Well from my experience the best thing you can do is go to a physio. What you felt as a small nip may be just a minor tear and could have done damage. Without treatment (massage etc) that will stay as a little piece of scar tissue, make your calf tighter and more likely to tear again in the future. A physio will also give you stretches to do that make your calves more loose and less likely to give you problems down the line.

Domer

Take a read of this.

http://www.thestick.net/Articles/Calf_%20Heart_%20Attack.htm

The rehab of this is type of injury is critical to prevent re-injury.

Hope it helps,
Domer

fitness fan

I had a similar experience and went to a physio. My problem was a slight tear to the lower calf muscle. 6 weeks off the slowly built up my pace and distance and back to normal now. My advice...go see a physio quickly.

ct_roy

thanks for all the great tips guys
off to see the physio with me!