OT calf pull

[wc1934]

3 miles of running barefoot on the beach on hard sand - (stupid I know) - I believe I pulled a muscle in my mid calf, inside portion sort of near my shin bone. Painful walking but even more so when descending stairs. I didn't run for about 3 weeks and I thought I was better. Went for a slow run and pain came back after three quarters of a mile and had to walk home. Same issue - pain when walking and worse when going down stairs. I can ride with no problem - sometimes can feel a twinge when standing while climbing, but overall riding is fine.
Any idea regarding recovery time - I am now pain free again, but how long should I wait before I try running again.
Thanks!!!

[dustyrider]

3 miles of running barefoot on the beach on hard sand - (stupid I know) - I believe I pulled a muscle in my mid calf, inside portion sort of near my shin bone. Painful walking but even more so when descending stairs. I didn't run for about 3 weeks and I thought I was better. Went for a slow run and pain came back after three quarters of a mile and had to walk home. Same issue - pain when walking and worse when going down stairs. I can ride with no problem - sometimes can feel a twinge when standing while climbing, but overall riding is fine.
Any idea regarding recovery time - I am now pain free again, but how long should I wait before I try running again.
Thanks!!!

What kind of condition and stretches are you doing for running?
Just wondering if you can isolate it a little more than inside mid-calf region.
What does ankle rotation feel like? How do calf/achilles and shin stretches feel? Is it just one leg?
Given the general region and one leg I'd be thinking high ankle sprain, though if it were both legs, or just one, might be some sort of shin splints. Do you know anyone in the physical therapy world who could maybe give you a once over? Nothing worse than not knowing...

[wc1934]

What kind of condition and stretches are you doing for running?
Just wondering if you can isolate it a little more than inside mid-calf region.
What does ankle rotation feel like? How do calf/achilles and shin stretches feel? Is it just one leg?
Given the general region and one leg I'd be thinking high ankle sprain, though if it were both legs, or just one, might be some sort of shin splints. Do you know anyone in the physical therapy world who could maybe give you a once over? Nothing worse than not knowing...
Just the one leg - definitely not shin splits - ankle is fine - when sitting I did experience pain when pointing my toes forward and back, but no pain when stationary. Internet search (I know.....) suggests gastrocnemius tear.

[dustyrider]

Hmm... sounds higher than I thought. If I get the chance, I'll try to pick a cross-country runner trainer/coach brain, or two, tomorrow about the gastrocnemius muscle. Our team has our first 5k race!

[jimcav]

you could try to do a slow heel drop--starting up on toes, let the heel go below the level of the stair. keep leg straight and it is mostly gastroc, do it again with your knee bent and that will isolate soleus better. I wouldn't run unless you can do these one-legged with no pain for 15-20 reps at least. i'd also recommend freezing a bottle of water and rolling the area of your calf on it--focus more on putting the bottle perpendicular to the lower leg and then rock you lower leg: with toes pointing up sweep from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock. When i went through my "calf heart attack" it took weeks to get better, and the ice rolling was key for me--i put my other leg on my affected leg shin to increase the pressure as i rolled--have to grind out any adhered/scar-like tissue from the pull/tear
good luck

[slinkywizard]

N


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[mjb266]

Oh man, I had that last fall and it took months to get better. I kept trying to come back when it was feeling better and would reaggrivate the thing.

[wc1934]

Oh man, I had that last fall and it took months to get better. I kept trying to come back when it was feeling better and would reaggrivate the thing.

Exactly what keeps happening to me. I think I'm ok, go out slowly etc but keep re-injuring it. Trying to figure out how long I should go without even attempting - how long to be on the shelf. I am impatient and I am getting so antsy. Right now I can do a "slow heel drop--starting up on toes, let the heel go below the level of the stair" as suggested by jimcav.

[Hank Scorpio]

I will ask the obvious question are swelling, redness or warmth in the region? Most doctors won't even attempt a repair of a tear unless it is greater than 50% torn. I had a pretty severe tear from running on the beach as well. Not much you can do but RICE. I found wearing Gasp a compression sleeve on that calf to be helpful. My leg still doesn't look right and gets cramped much faster that the other in the site of the injury many years later. Did you happen to be running on a cold muscle? That is how I injured mine. You could also try freezing a waterborne and using that as a calf roller.

[wc1934]

I will ask the obvious question are swelling, redness or warmth in the region? Most doctors won't even attempt a repair of a tear unless it is greater than 50% torn. I had a pretty severe tear from running on the beach as well. Not much you can do but RICE. I found wearing Gasp a compression sleeve on that calf to be helpful. My leg still doesn't look right and gets cramped much faster that the other in the site of the injury many years later. Did you happen to be running on a cold muscle? That is how I injured mine. You could also try freezing a waterborne and using that as a calf roller.

Yes - initially I did have swelling and pain - muscle was warmed - finishing a three mile barefoot beach run by doing fartleks. Lesson learned - dont run barefoot on the beach.

[sdrides]

Hopefully at was a fun run at least! You should get a real diagnosis. Go see a sports medicine somebody: athletic trainer/PT/doctor, etc. There's a lot going on in that part of the leg, and you really want it in good condition as a bipedal animal!

[pbarry]

Ice is your friend.

[MesiJezi]

Hopefully at was a fun run at least! You should get a real diagnosis. Go see a sports medicine somebody: athletic trainer/PT/doctor, etc. There's a lot going on in that part of the leg, and you really want it in good condition as a bipedal animal!

Agreed--get it looked at for your own peace of mind!

I strained my soleus (back/inside of calf) a few years ago and the pain was intense and long lasting enough that I thought I had done more serious damage. I went to see an athletic trainer at my university and they gave me a quick diagnosis and a timeline for getting back in to activities. It was just a strain, and RICE was the prescription. I took the icing seriously and that really helped. I also did some medieval-torture levels of self message and rolling. It took a couple months to get back to normal. Cycling was recommended as a recovery exercise because of the low impact.