Calf injuries

[were triing]

Just wondering if anyone has ever had a calf injury before and if you did, what did you do to get over it?  Rest?   I think the 13 miles I ran after about a month off of training, was too much too soon?  I was fine while I was running but the next day I went out for a short 5 miler and I ended up limping back home after 3 miles!  I gave myself a few days off and my calf felt good to go but once I got about a mile into my run "bam"  it hurt so bad I had to stop again   Then it hurts all day!  SO what the heck did I do?  It feels okay after a few days but the minute I run on it...the pain comes back?    I've been going to massage but its not helping.   So any suggestions?

Donna

[runnerangie]

Too much too soon Donna! It could be your calf but often the achillies is the culprit with calf pain. Is it low in the calf area or right in the "meat" of the calf itself. Eithe way it sounds like you have strained it good and you need to stay off it till it's better. The usual~ ibuprofen, ice, light stretching, massage..... and then you have to start over slowly. You had a long time off and your legs were not ready to take 13 miles right off the bat.   Sorry you have to deal with it~ hopefully a 4-5 day rest and treatment will be good and you can start up slowly.....a few miles at a time.

[were triing]

thanks Ang, yep its right smack in the meat of my calf.  Its just strange that I can run on it for a little while without any pain but then all of a sudden it really hurts.  I stopped running for 4 days and that wasn't long enough, I also did a stretch after a short jog and that totally made it worse...it fricken killed!   So I'm going to wait at least 2 weeks I think?  I just don't know how long I should wait?  It always feels fine when I start out?   

[runnerangie]

I think you just went to long after being off for so many weeks with the vertigo   I am guessing that you maybe have a little tear in the muscle fibers. You can't feel a tight knot in the calf can you?   If not my bet is a small stress related tear in the fibers. If it has been 4 days then I would switch over to heat on the muscle to promote blodd flow and healing, the ibuprofen will take care of the inflammation aspect. Ice this far out won't be of much benefit. I would give it another few days and try a slow jog and see how it goes. It may take awhile to feel it because you have to engage the entire muscle in order to feel it? Not sure. See how it goes in a few days.

[were triing]

thanks doc, I'll start with the heat and give it some more rest...it won't be easy but I'll hang up my running shoes for a little bit longer!  Whatever it takes to get back to normal! 

Donna

[Hannahs dad]

I would agree with Angie's assessment by and large.

This sounds an awful lot like the symptoms I come up with usually in the hamstrings.  It seems that the only thing that heals it is time.  Stretching more and keeping good flexibility helps to keep them from happening or so I've heard.  Obviously I must need to work on this more than I do.

Hope that your calf heals quickly!

[were triing]

Thanks and yes I agree that time will help, thats the difficult part!  I have been cycling instead, I hope that doesn't make things worse?  It doesn't seem to be aggrivating my calf at all?  So I will continue to wait....impatiently :

Donna

[ZonaRunner]

Donna,
I had a similar injury last year.  While running on the treadmill, pain in my left calf quickly intensified and instead of stopping, like I should have, I ran until I felt a very painful 'pop'.  It turned out that due to poor stretching and hill work I had slightly tore my soleus muscle (smaller calf muscle that connects to the Achilles), which by the way, Angie diagnosed for me before I even went to the ortho.  I was told 2-3 weeks of no running, moderate biking was ok. It feels fine now, but I do have a knot in the calf I must massage before every run.  I bought "the stick" in December and it has worked great.  Hope you recover quickly.
Bob

[were triing]

Bob, glad to hear you recovered from your injury, this gives me hope!  I have comitted to no running for another week and then I will ease back into it.  We bought the stick at the LVM expo 2yrs ago and it does help but I always forget that we have it! : 

Donna

[Kevin A (NYC)]

Donna,

Not sure how I missed this corner of the board, but I had a similar injury a week or so after New Orleans.   It happened during a simple training run.  My mistake was thinking I could run through it when it seemed to started as a minor cramp.   

As you already know, the key to recovery is rest and personally I found the best transition was first the  elliptical machine, then stationary bike, then treadmill, then outside.  The key for me was keeping my strides relatively short.  Keep in mind though that feeling better can give you a false sense of security.   The muscle might not hurt, but it may still be weak and for me at least, nothing brings a calf injury back faster than running outside (which of course I love!). 

Anyway, hope you feel better soon.  When you do though, just take those first few outdoor runs easy, even if you're tempted to go full speed ahead.

[rkmjtk]

Hope you heal quickly Donna!

[were triing]

Thanks Kevin and Rob!