Calf Tear and what to do about it
We hope this email finds you well. The Runnersworld shop will re-open on Weds 2nd December at 9.30am, Gary and Sharon are taking bookings at The Treatment Room, Runnersworld Eastcote from 12pm Weds 2nd December onwards. We will continue with the Covid-19 precautions we put into place from July 2020 and thank you in advance for staying at home and re-booking your appointment if you feel unwell, or are advised to self-isolate at any point leading up to your appointment.
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At some point in life you may experience stiffness or pain in your calf muscles, which sit at the back of your legs. The calf muscles are responsible for plantar flexing your ankle (pointing your foot away from you) and assisting with stabilising the knee and ankle joints when standing, walking, running and jumping.
A lack of strength and or mobility in either of these muscles will affect walking, running and jumping/landing.
An overload in these muscles can lead to stiffness around knee, leg and ankle. Stiffness and pain will intensify with muscle strain, muscle tear and in the worst case rupture (where the muscle parts company with it’s associated tendon). With the right approach, you can fully recover from all of these instances.
What you can do to help yourself
Rest, seek help and guidance from a soft tissue specialist – The sooner you rest and seek help and guidance the sooner you will be back to enjoying your sport.
If you are struggling to stand and your calf muscle has disappeared up behind your knee then seek help immediately, In this case you may find you are referred to A&E triage for a referral to a consultant who can assess whether you need surgery.
Whilst it can take up to a year for our bodies to remodel soft tissues and fully regain strength, most calf tears will heal and allow us to walk and run pain free within 3-6 weeks (depending on severity of the tear). With adherence to specific exercises/training for your calf/lower leg, you should be able to continue to enjoy your sport without the irritation of re-occurrences. I personally suffered a grade 2 calf tear in April 2012 – with Gary’s guidance (because I knew I would likely do too much left to my own devices) and training I was running Pbs in the September and have not suffered any recurrences.
In the first two days following the initial pain, very light massage, as in gently stroking the backs of your legs along with limiting time on your feet and just gently exploring comfortable movements about your knee and ankle is one of the best things you can do.
For mild stiffness you may find a week’s rest from running and jumping is all you need, it is best to start back at 50% effort compared to whatever level you were at prior to pain/stiffness.
For Grade 1 tears you need to prepare yourself for 3 weeks off running and jumping, walking, swimming and cycling at low intensity are usually ok.
For Grade 2 tears you need to prepare yourself for 6 weeks off running and jumping, again walking, swimming and cycling at low intensity should be ok.
Exercise Classes – when you can get back to them etc
After the first week, as long as walking is more comfortable, you can resume low level intensity at exercise classes. You will need to make a few adjustments and it is well worth explaining you have an injury, to your instructor as they can help to guide you towards appropriate adjustments.
You will need to avoid any jerky/ jumping movements – replace these with stepping into positions, initially keeping the steps small. You may also need to accept reducing the number of repetitions and depth or height you do within each set for things like squats, lunges, calf raises.
It is important to really notice and listen to the signals your body is giving you whilst you are recovering, when a muscle is repairing, it will tire/fatigue more quickly than before and if you start to feel wobbly or weakness in your legs accept the need to rest for the day, this will allow your body to do its repair work and give you a little more the next day or so. Pushing through this period could result in tissue damage or altering how you move to accommodate the weakness, which in turn can lead to a problem or pain elsewhere in your body.
Strengthening and Mobilising Exercises to help Calves
See attached video – in the early stages less is more, as you feel stronger and as pain level reduces you can gradually progress the intensity and load that you put through your legs. Too much too soon will likely see you in a vicious cycle of pain, recover, pain.
Tweaks to help you continue yoga or exercise classes
See attached video for tweaks to yoga
In general avoid and jumping/plyometric movements.
Keep exercise to a low intensity as you recover and take breaks as and when you need to.
Listen to your body and work within what you are able to comfortably do, as frustrating as it can be to have to stop and accept that you need to rest, remember rest makes you stronger. Your body does its digestion and repair work when we are at rest.
Get in touch if you need to book an appointment or are looking for advice specific to you.
sd@runnersworld.ltd.uk
mrgtelfer@gmail.com