General Question

leopardgecko123's avatar

How to heal a strained calf?

Asked by leopardgecko123 (777points) November 26th, 2012

I have been exercising since this past summer, and recently have changed my bad eating habits and have a fairly healthy diet. About a month or so ago I started running. A little after a week I got up to running a solid mile without stopping, but then my calf started hurting and I couldn’t run! My dad said I probably strained it running these huge hills in my neighborhood. So I rested it for a week and iced it a few times. I continued strength training for the rest of my body. After maybe two weeks I did a cross-fit workout that involved burpees, mountain climbers, and jumping. I think those moves, especially jumping, irritated my calf and it hurt real bad the next day.

So it’s been four weeks since the injury and I haven’t gone running and have been real easy on it. It starts to hurt if I do any jumps or that sort and is tight and painful the next day. Besides resting it and icing it, what else can I do to speed the recovery and have a safe recovery? Also, how long should it take to heal?

I really appreciate any help.

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8 Answers

WestRiverrat's avatar

Rest it, strained calves can take a long time to heal.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Sounds like you jumped full-bore into tearing it up! Do little exercises on it. Give it 6 weeks.

Coloma's avatar

Yes, rest,massage and heat.Hot baths and heating pads. Mild stretching, frequent massage and anti-inflamatories like Advil.

ucme's avatar

Call a good vet, oh bugger it’s in general…...rest, that’s the trick.

marinelife's avatar

Rest it means no exercise that involves your calf. Keep icing it. Consider seeing a sports medicine doctor.

_Whitetigress's avatar

I’ve strained my calves a ton of times through out my adolescence when I was super active with basketball. Ironically I never strained it during football which I think is a much more physical demanding sport. After every strain I simply would stretch it out. This Stretching Method Pre Work Out Helps A Bunch

This one is also more indepth

My coaches always preached stretching before and after, even with injury it’s important to stretch it out time to time. They even preached jogging it out. Of course nothing extraneous!

kimchi's avatar

Ouch! When you’re watching tv, put a cushion on it.

Dutchess_III's avatar

I keep seeing a straining baby cow every time I read this question! Did it poop yet??

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