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Monday, March 29, 2010

Calf Strain

Day 6 of the calf strain. I am saying strain as I don't feel as though I hurt it too badly this time. The first time I did it I was out of action over 6 weeks. The second was at least a month or so. It has been a week and it feels much better now. I still can't run on it but I don't notice it while walking. Stopping the instant I felt pain was definitely the correct action to take. I iced it back at work off and on for about 2 hours. That probably helped too.
I started researching calf strains/tears and how to heal them quickly. Most advice says the standard: Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation. Some websites say to massage it other say not to massage it. Some people say to stretch others say not to stretch. One of the consistent suggestions is to start exercising it as soon as the pain is gone. They suggest calf raises, with the knees bent and the knees extended.
The strange thing with these calf strains that I get is that doing calf raises does not hurt (or barely causes any pain). I can do both seated and standing raises and all feels well. However, after running about 3 steps the pain in the calf is extreme. So I wonder if the exercising I am doing is actually getting to that part of the muscle. Does only running exercise that part of the calf? Does stretching really help or not? I can do a full stretch of the calf with no pain now, but again, when I run it hurts. When it comes down to it, I don't believe that anyone really knows how to stop calf tears and what the best actions are to heal them.
For me the best results have been to start running as soon as possible. I run (slowly) for a brief amount of time, then walk, run then walk. If the pain level elevates I stop. I keep doing this every other day or so until the pain just magically goes away one day. As suddenly as it appears it goes away too. Strange!
Have a great day.
Gary

1 comment:

  1. I am also getting these calf strains. I see a pic of Vibrams on the side. Are you using them? Could it be from the shoes? Or the running style? This is my 3rd strain in 2 months. I thought I was done with these, argh! Have they gone away for you? If so, what did you do?

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